by Keta Kendric
Although my eyes were tightly closed, I sensed that we were in a confined space. There was no sound, and the air had gotten tighter. Were we afloat, moving but not on our own?
“You can get up now,” Khane called back. We lifted our heads with caution, blinking, and unsure of our new surroundings. I flinched as I rose, expecting more bullets to come at us.
Were we safe now?
22
Desiree
“Where are we?”
My eyes quickly roamed the interior of the cab. There wasn’t much to see because of the tinted windows. The only illumination was the little ceiling light.
“Who was shooting at us? Why do they want me?” I had a million questions, and my frazzled nerves had them spilling free in a rush.
“We’re inside the trailer of a friend’s semi-truck. He’s going to drop us near a safe house.” Although I couldn’t see him well, the squeak of the front seat and his voice shifting and growing louder told me that Khane had turned in our direction.
“I don’t know who was chasing us. I first noticed them pointing out the spa before they decided to enter,” he stated before the unmistakable sound of a gun being charged registered and widened my eyes. He was in the front seat, loading a gun. When the sound of another bullet sliding into the ready position sounded, I swallowed a gulp.
“Before this is over, I’ll find out who that was and kill them,” he stated matter-of-factly, and I believed him. The man was fearless. Who in their right mind decides to go walking up to a man aiming a gun at you, then strip him of the gun and his life?
“Normally, I wouldn’t stop until I’d found out who they were and destroy them. But, if I leave you in the hands of someone else and something happens to you, Arjen will kill me. If I let anything happen to you while you’re with me, Arjen won’t have to kill me. I’ll do it myself.”
His words gave me a strong sense of security and the reassurance that he would protect me or die trying. The bad guys were getting away, but as long as Khane wasn’t going to leave me, I believed I would be okay. Was it wrong of me to be proud of his words? Hearing them vocalized with such emotional force had all types of heart-pounding emotions thundering through me.
“Dayum!” Patrena hissed in my ear. “I do believe he’s in love with you.” She spat the words, her teasing lips brushing my lobe. She was set to keep talking, so I reached up and cupped a hand over her mouth.
Khane turned in the seat again. I had adjusted to the dimness, so I saw him more clearly. His eyes were aimed at Patrena, “Ms. Davis. Do you have a problem with anything you’ve witnessed so far?”
How in the heck did he know her last name? It meant he knew her or had researched her.
“I haven’t seen a thing. My head’s been down the whole time. I left the spa, went home, and realized, oh damn, I left my purse,” Patrena stated, glaring at the gun in Khane’s hand. She was acting like he intended to harm her or something.
My wide gaze rocked back and forth between them before meeting Khane’s stiff glare and her stressed one. He wouldn’t hurt Patrena? Would he?
“Okay,” he stated, finally ending the stare off and allowing us to breathe again. “We’ll regroup at the safe house for a little while. A spa representative has secured your purses and clothing. Ms. Davis, I’ll make sure you get back home safely, and you’ll have your belongings by morning.”
He was talking like he knew things that we didn’t. Had we not been witness to the same situation? There weren’t any updates pouring in, and I’m sure I hadn’t heard him placing any calls. And how the heck were they going to keep dead, bloody, and beaten bodies from being broadcast on the news?
When the ride we had hitched started to slow, the questions that stacked up in my brain had narrowed down to only a few. Who was after us, and where the hell were we?
At a complete stop now, Khane exited the truck and opened the door near me. I gripped his big hand and stepped down, glaring at his darkly-shrouded face. There wasn’t enough room to maneuver so he put me against the wall of the semi. Patrena was helped down and positioned behind me.
Khane stood in front with his back to us, his body a shield as he faced what I suspected was the exit. One of his guns was out and at the ready. The back of the large door to the truck’s trailer started to rise, the movement setting off a loud screeching roar. The orange glow of the sun setting peeked through a cluster of trees, the mountains a dark looming canvas behind them.
The gradual rise of the door set fire to my nerves and spiked my heartrate because we were clueless as to what awaited us on the other side. The two men that stood waiting were about as deadly looking and imposing as Khane.
Air found its way into my lungs when Khane lowered his weapon at the sight of the men. The blanket of fear that had covered me lifted.
Khane hopped from the truck and reached up for me. One of his men standing next to him reached for Patrena, taking her by the waist. The man’s surprising move caused a yelp of surprise to escape her before he set her on her feet.
Now that we were on solid ground, I noticed the men were of the same eye-catching build and towering height as Khane. There were no introductions, and I knew there wasn’t going to be any.
Patrena reached out her hand to the big burly man that towered over her like a skyscraper. “Patrena,” she stated as the man glared at her hand. Surprisingly, he took it. I suppose she wanted to know the name of the man who had her in his capable hands and had likely been fighting for us.
“Tywin,” he offered, and I couldn’t tell if it was a smile or a frown that had surfaced on his face. Khane had told me about his cousin Tywin, but it was good to put a face to the name. I had also heard Khane talking to him on a few of his phone conversations that he had openly allowed me to listen in on.
No further intros were made, so I assumed the blond of the group wasn’t feeling friendly today. However, I caught the scar on the man’s neck in the shape of a crescent moon. I cast a glance at Khane, who responded with a lifted brow. Was this the boy he had fought with when they were younger? The man hadn’t spoken, and I recalled Khane saying he’d never talked right again after that day.
“Let’s go,” Khane called out. Tywin followed us, but the blond man yanked down and slammed the truck’s door before he walked around the driver’s side and climbed aboard.
“This is the closest we could get to the safe house without leading searching eyes to our location,” Khane stated. Unblinking, my gaze lifted to his and stilled. The confusion on my face must have registered. “Anyone following us or attempting to track us by other means, specifically digitally, can’t.”
Was that why they had backed so close to the woods? The sight of thick roots and broken tree branches scattered across the lumpy forest floor had me glaring at my feet. With no shoes on, our feet were about to be destroyed. Sensing my hesitation, Khane glanced at the bed of roots, broken branches, and unruly terrain.
“I’ll give you a lift,” he offered. “Tywin,” he called, aiming a finger at Patrena. This time, I didn’t miss the smile that appeared on the man’s face.
Patrena straightened the belt on her robe and secured the two front tails of the robe between her legs as I had done. We had no underwear on, so a clothing malfunction could result in an extremely embarrassing moment.
“Are you okay with this?” I whispered to Patrena while we were in our slightly bent positions, facing away from the men.
“Did you see that man? If you think I’m not about to hop on that, you’re crazy,” she whispered, allowing a smile to spread across her face. Patrena was handling all of this better than I expected her to. However, in getting to know her over the years, I had learned that her life hadn’t been a cakewalk either. She had faced as many dark times as me, and this was likely the reason she remained my friend, even after finding out who my father and family were. She had also been receiving some lessons in protection from Mecca that she never really talked about.
Khane and Tywin bent to
allow us to hop onto their strong backs. After Khane tucked his forearms under my ass and adjusted me higher, the thigh-length robe no longer separated most of my front from his back. This was going to be one interesting trip.
“How far do we have to go?” I questioned. “Only five miles,” he replied like hiking five miles with a woman on his back was something he practiced every day.
A glance back at Patrena revealed that she appeared more comfortable with Tywin than I was with Khane. They also had the privilege of not having history on their side.
The men started the trek with long, easy strides, allowing us to get used to being their passengers. After a few minutes, their steps grew to a brisker pace, and their long legs had them nearly jogging with us bobbing on their backs.
It was difficult to accept all that had happened in the past hour. Who the hell was after me, and why? The question would nag me until I was able to give it answers.
The vibration of Khane’s phone scared the shit out of me, feeling like a swarm of insects had been crawling up the inside of my thigh.
“Yes,” he answered, without removing his phone from its spot. I edged up higher, curious to see how he was communicating. He must have understood my movement as he turned his head, and my eyes narrowly caught the tiny device in his ear. It was a small earbud fitted inside his ear that blended with his skin tone, making it nearly invisible.
“Okay, let me know when you have anything else,” Khane stated. He and Tywin glanced at each other with knowing expressions, leading me to believe they were wired into the same call. The need to ask them questions was great. However, I didn’t believe this was the time for me to satisfy my curious nature, so I tightened my grip around Khane and relaxed into the firm warmth of his powerful body.
Thankfully, my pelvis wasn’t flush with his back. Nothing would have been more embarrassing than me leaving a spot on the back of his shirt or me getting aroused enough through our movement to rub one out and orgasm.
A deep inhale closed my eyes. Did Khane know he smelled like sin? Not any sin though. His was the type of sin that seeped into your body and led you to do the kind of things that had taken place on his balcony.
Hmmm. Hmmm. Humm. Humming inside my head didn’t help me clear the sinful ideas that had started the moment I hopped on his back. Being this close to him was wreaking havoc on my libido, no matter what kind of danger we were facing. He claimed that I had taken a wrecking ball to him, but what the hell had he done to me?
As a distraction, my eyes landed on Tywin and Patrena. Like a long-time couple, they appeared perfectly in tune with each other. The sight of them was perplexing, considering they had just met minutes ago. Their faces were set with a level of comfort you gained from knowing someone for some time. She glanced around at our tree-lined surroundings, as he kept up with Khane’s rapid pace.
I wasn’t that comfortable with Khane because my discomfort stemmed from the many desires I harbored for him. I wanted him to fuck me only once and hopefully, it would be bad. That way, the lust would ease away, the emotions would lessen, and I would only be left with my guilt to deal with.
I concentrated on the trees and the woodsy smell of pine, sneaking in past his scent. They all looked the same, fat leaves fluttering about, dancing against the slow moving caress of the wind. Too soon, and with full force, my mind crawled its way back to the man whose back muscles flexed against the points of my tits.
Shit!
How the hell had I gotten here? Hunted down at the spa by gun-carrying killers, chased and shot at, and trekking through the woods on the back of my future brother-in-law, who I just happen to be lusting after?
23
Khane
There shouldn’t have been any emotions attached to me carrying Desiree, but my heart expanded to about twice its size as the warmth of her weight pressed on me. The fast rhythmic pulses she set off in me warmed my blood with the electric heat she radiated.
She and Arjen were an arrangement. They didn’t have any real vows or allegiance to each other, but in our family, you followed rules and guidelines, or suffered the consequences.
I didn’t always follow the rules. I was notorious for breaking them, but I didn’t want Desiree to face hardships because I was too weak to keep my hands to myself. For the life of me, I couldn’t wipe what happened between us on my balcony from my head. I had also revealed to her my deepest secret where it concerned her, and she still hadn’t turned away from me.
In me, Desiree had gained her most loyal protector, even after she became my brother’s wife. She hadn’t yet grasped the concept of becoming a Vallin. It painted a big target on her back, an even bigger one than the Evans name would bring. Although we kept things low-key, it didn’t matter, enemies lurked, and someone was always gunning for us.
Disappointment hit when the slanted edge of the cabin’s roof came into view. It meant releasing her and having to face the loss of her caressing warmth, of her heart beating against my back, and of her legs wrapped around me. The heat between her legs had stirred my lust into a frenzy as her warm breath on my neck had the unusual ability to calm me.
Once we stepped up the five steps that led to the wide, low-slanted porch covering the front of the cabin, I eased Desiree off my back, being careful so that her robe wouldn’t fly open. I didn’t need to add another piece of her to my imagination.
Tywin did the same with Patrena. It had stunned me to see him crack a smile when he shook Patrena’s hand and at the knowledge that she would be a passenger on his back. Tywin wasn’t one to deal with a woman. Like me, he used them for sex when he wanted it, and that was about as far as it went.
I believe it was him hearing Patrena stand up to me to protect Desiree that may have gotten him to dish out a little extra personality. We had been linked through our earpieces from the moment the women had arrived at the spa. I had no idea we would be leaving with Desiree’s friend, but I couldn’t leave her there to face the unknown group.
With my hand on Desiree’s back, I eased her closer to the door. Standing behind her, I took her right hand, positioning it so that her finger sat atop the six digits that would open the door. Then, I directed her to look into the small black lens that looked like a door peephole, so that it could scan her eyes.
I repeated the wordless sequence so that she would remember it before I allowed her to do it on her own. Becoming a member of our family meant that she would more than likely see this safe house and others we owned in the future.
First try, the door sprang open. Once we were secured inside, Tywin walked over to where I stored the computer equipment. When he pressed the right notch on the wall painting, the floor shifted apart and lifted a portable workstation. The women stood staring at the scene. They were getting a peek into my world, where tech had become just as big a part of my job as the physical training.
Desiree had no idea that Arjen had programmed her fingerprints and retinal scan into his and my house’s security systems, otherwise she would not have been able to gain access into either.
“Ladies, I’ll go and find you something to wear,” I stated before I headed to one of the two bedrooms. Patrena was just as small as Desiree so my large T-shirts and basketball shorts would swallow them.
When I re-entered the living room, I was stopped in my tracks at the sight of Patrena sitting in a chair next to Tywin, observing him as he worked. Neither spoke and although I doubted she understood what was displayed on the screen, she appeared interested just the same.
“I think she likes him, which is rare for her. She hardly likes anyone that easily,” Desiree offered, eyeing her friend sitting next to Tywin.
“Same for him,” I volunteered, handing Desiree her stack of clothes with a pair of socks I had never worn. A few steps more, and I was handing Patrena an identical stack. I stood at Tywin’s side as the women headed to the bathroom to change.
“I like her,” Tywin offered, aiming his head towards the bathroom the women had entered. His words left
me in awe as I cast a curious glint at him. “And I know what you’re going to say, so let me save you the trouble. I like her because any woman brave enough to stand up to you has balls. Also, she’s witnessed five murders, has been dragged from a spa in nothing but a robe, shot at, and trekked through the woods on a strange man’s back, and she hasn’t complained once.”
My brow lifted. I was used to the mayhem, and even Desiree to a certain point, but Tywin was right, Patrena was handling this situation better than most would have.
He released a low chuckle. “I feel sorry for you.”
“Why?” I questioned, perplexed by his statement.
He aimed his head towards the bathroom. “She is the only woman I have ever seen you interested in, and she’s marrying your brother. What’s even worse, it’s not one-sided. Arrangement or not, Arjen is going to lose his fucking mind if he sees the way you two look at each other.”
“What?”
Desiree and Patrena came into the room dressed in the clothes I had given them just when I was about to ask Tywin for an explanation. As soon as Desiree filled my view, my words dissolved on my tongue. I no longer had to ask Tywin for an explanation, my reaction to seeing Desiree had proven his point.
I diverted my eyes and pretended indifference, lest everyone bear further witness to me losing my shit over a woman that didn’t belong to me.
The light touch of her hand against my bare arm sent a chill through me, but I managed to hide my reaction. It was perplexing that not even an active and unknown threat was enough to stop the hulking power Desiree held over me.
“Do you guys know who’s after me yet? Do you know if my cousin’s all right?” she questioned.
Her hand remained wrapped around my bicep. Tywin’s insinuating gaze landed on our connection before he flashed a smirk.
“Not yet, and we don’t know why either, but I can assure you, we will find out. Your cousin is protected. She’s fine.” I couldn’t even lift my gaze from her once our eyes met. “You can rest assured, whoever’s after you will die. As far as I’m concerned, they have personally asked me to kill them.”
