Surrender (Cunningham Security Book 7)

by A. K. Evans

  I couldn’t handle this. I needed to lighten the mood because this was not the Holden I wanted to be around.

  I sighed, “Well, there’s really only one way you can make it up to me.”

  He didn’t hesitate to respond, “Anything you want.”

  Smiling, I shared, “Once I break out of this joint, you can take me dancing.”

  Holden let out a huff of laughter and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he asked, “Can I kiss you?”

  I cocked an eyebrow. “You’re asking?”

  He shrugged. “I screwed up. I’m not going to make any assumptions.”

  “You had your mouth on mine last night,” I reminded him.

  “I was trying to save your life.”

  I lifted my hand to his face and stroked my thumb along his lips. My eyes watched it move until I got to the opposite side, looked in his eyes, and urged, “Kiss me.”

  Holden wasted no time. He stood, sat on the edge of the bed, and leaned in to kiss me. The moment his lips touched mine, I whimpered. It felt like a fairytale come true having him back. When he pulled back, he said, “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “Being gracious enough to forgive me and give me a second chance,” he responded.

  I grinned and explained, “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Then, he kissed me again.

  When he pulled back a second time, I shared, “I have a question.”

  “Okay.”

  “How did you know I was even kidnapped?”

  He shook his head. “You’re not going to believe this.”

  My brows pulled together.

  “Tanya came to the Cunningham Security office. She was frantic.”

  “Really?” I asked, my shock evident.

  Holden nodded. “Yeah, apparently after your class she went to her car and took a phone call. That’s when she saw you come out and then Connor taking you. In fact, he put you in his car and drove away with you. Tanya followed him, but ultimately lost you when she got stuck behind someone at a traffic light.”

  “Wow,” I marveled. “Maybe the yoga classes really are helping her.”

  Holden shrugged. “I told you she’s harmless.”

  “She’s not just harmless, Holden. She’s the reason you had the chance to save me and that I’m alive right now,” I reasoned.

  “Yeah,” he agreed.

  “Are the police going to find Connor?” I asked.

  “If they don’t, we will,” he promised.

  “Okay. I don’t want to talk about this anymore right now. Will you just climb in this bed and hold me for a little while until a nurse comes in and scolds you?”

  Holden laughed.

  But then he climbed in the bed, curled me into his arms, and held me. When the nurse came in a few minutes later, she didn’t say a word.

  Holden gave me a squeeze and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

  Then, we fell back asleep for a little while.

  It had been three weeks since Holden saved my life.

  Three weeks that I’d had him back.

  And it was amazing.

  From the moment we left the hospital, Holden had given me everything. Not material things. Just him. Everything that I loved about him was finally, completely mine.

  He no longer just gave me bits and pieces of himself when it was convenient for him. It was all of it, all the time.

  Admittedly, I was skeptical. But Holden worked hard to prove himself to me.

  I talked to him every day. And it wasn’t just over the phone. For the first week after I left the hospital, he didn’t even go into work. He stayed with me, never once leaving my side.

  Physically speaking, I was back to feeling a hundred percent. The first few days after my whole ordeal, I took it easy and didn’t do much. Even though I’d been gung-ho about getting my studio all finished up before, now I didn’t mind taking my time. Given everything I’d just been through, I decided to give myself a little extra time before going back to work.

  The whole incident had taught me that it was okay to take a step back and slow down. I loved movement, and I thoroughly enjoyed what I did, but I didn’t always have to be moving. When my body and my mind craved it, I could give it extra. But when my heart wanted time with Holden, it wasn’t a problem for me to indulge in that either.

  So, I put an announcement up on my website letting students know that I’d be delaying the re-opening of the studio for at least another week.

  On the attempted murder front, things had finally settled. Before I left the hospital, I had a visit from the police. They came in to question me about Connor, so that I could give them all the details of what had happened. I shared all that I knew, and they were able to confirm everything with the surveillance footage from the gym. Three days after he tried to kill me, Connor was picked up at a motel in Montana. Apparently, the Windsor Police Department put out an APB on Connor, and a motel manager in Montana who had seen him on the news called the police when he walked through the door looking for a place to spend the night.

  And now, it was just a few days before Christmas, and I was finally doing something I’d been wanting to do for months. Since getting out of the hospital, I’d been over to visit my grandmother. I told her about what happened, and she was understandably distraught. I promised her I was okay, and she was relieved to hear that Connor had been caught.

  Of course, in all of it, she had to take the time to express her displeasure with my parents as well—my father for his reluctance to meet anyone else’s needs but his own, and my mother for standing by my father when she knew he was doing something wrong. I couldn’t say I blamed my grandmother.

  When the first week following the situation had passed, I had officially realized that things were final between my parents and me. They made absolutely no attempt to reach out and make sure that I was okay. And there was zero chance that they were unaware of what Connor had done. The police had gone to their place of business to confirm what, if any, evidence he’d left behind there as well. So, my parents knew. They just didn’t care.

  But I was ignoring all of that today. Because I was finally taking Holden with me to visit my grandmother. I wanted her to meet him, and the minute I’d expressed this to Holden, he said, “Whenever you want me to go and meet her, I’ll go.”

  So, I talked to her and explained I wanted her to meet him. At first, she was hesitant. I knew it was because she was secretly still very annoyed with him for breaking my heart. I explained to him at least twice already that I had no doubts she would give him a hard time or do her best to make him feel uncomfortable. It was just her way. But if he survived it, she’d let it go.

  I had stayed at Holden’s house last night and brought a bag with me. We’d actually been doing that a lot. Ever since we’d reconciled, Holden and I hadn’t spent a night apart. I think part of him needed to have me close to him for a while, and since I loved being with him, I never complained.

  When he walked back into the bedroom after going downstairs to grab coffee for the both of us, he found me still in his bed. Smiling at me, he set the mugs down on the nightstand and slid under the blankets with me.

  He wasted no time in slipping his arms around me and tugging my body toward his. “Missed you,” he said with his face buried in my neck.

  “You only went downstairs,” I noted.

  He shrugged. “I still missed you.”

  I gave him a hug in return.

  “Are you planning to spend all day in bed today or are you going to get up and get ready so I can finally meet your grandma?” Holden asked.

  “I’ll get up,” I assured him. “I just wanted a few extra minutes to cuddle under the blankets with you.”

  “Just a few?” he asked. “I can do that for you.”

  Then, Holden did just that by scooting himself even closer to me than he already was. This was him giving me everything. It was about extra cuddles in the morning when I needed them.
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  A couple hours later, after Holden and I cuddled and had breakfast, we walked through the front door of the assisted living facility.

  “Leni!” Pauline greeted me. “You brought someone with you.”

  “I did,” I confirmed. “Pauline, this is my boyfriend, Holden. Holden, meet Pauline.”

  “It’s so lovely to meet you,” Pauline gushed as she held out her hand.

  Holden smiled, took her hand in his, and replied, “Likewise.”

  Pauline kept a good grip on Holden’s hand as she leaned in and whispered, “Don’t let Grandma get to you. She loves her girl here, so she’s going to go tough on you to start. Deep down, we all know she’s really excited to meet you.”

  Holden gave her a nod before Pauline let his hand go and buzzed us through the door. We walked down the hall to my grandma’s room. Since her door was closed, I tapped on it before cracking it open.

  “Come in,” she called out.

  I walked in ahead of Holden with a huge smile on my face. Grandma took one look at me and returned that smile, but it faded the minute she slid her eyes to the man standing behind me.

  I ignored her attempt to be menacing and walked her way. Kissing her on the cheek, I greeted, “Hi, Grandma.”

  She gave me a squeeze and returned, “Hello, my darling girl.”

  I stood and held my hand out to Holden. “Grandma, this is Holden. He’s the man I’ve been telling you about for months now.”

  “Hmm,” she grumbled as she assessed him.

  “Mrs. Ford,” Holden started as he stepped toward her and took her hand in his. After pressing a kiss to the back of her hand, he said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “You could have met me a lot sooner,” she scolded him.

  I bit my lip, worried about how he’d handle it.

  Holden took one look at me, regret flashed in his eyes, and he admitted, “I know. I was such a fool to risk losing Leni.”

  “Well, as long as you know that,” she countered.

  Just then, my attention was pulled away to the television. The commercials had just ended, and her favorite talk show was back on. Seeing it, I realized my mistake. I should have planned for us to visit her later in the day. Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if Holden never wanted to be around her again.

  “Grandma, please tell me you aren’t going to be watching this today,” I pleaded.

  “Of course, I am. Why wouldn’t I?”

  I shifted my eyes to Holden and said, “Because I brought Holden here today to meet you. I thought you two could get to know one another.”

  “Well, if he really wants to get to know me, I should be myself, shouldn’t I?” she challenged. “Besides, they’ve been showing previews for this one all week. I’ve been dying to see it.”

  “But—” I got out before Holden put his hand to the small of my back and cut me off.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart,” he insisted. “We can watch with her if that’s what she wants. In fact, my grandmother watches the same one, and I haven’t seen it in a long time.”

  I jerked my head back in surprise as Holden looked at my grandma and asked, “Can I sit with you?”

  She gave him an incredulous look but nodded.

  I joined the two of them on the couch, Holden sandwiched between the two Ford girls, and wondered if Holden really had watched the show previously with his own grandmother or if he was simply saying it to impress and win mine over.

  As the host began speaking, my grandma explained, “This guy has got himself in quite the situation. He and his girlfriend have been together for years and have discussed marriage, but he hasn’t yet proposed. Today, he’s going to reveal the reason why.”

  Holden seemed curious and asked, “Do you know what the reason is?”

  Grandma nodded and shared, “He’s already married.”

  I gasped as Holden marveled, “Wow, this ought to be interesting.”

  “And highly entertaining,” Grandma chimed in, her excitement palpable.

  “And heartbreaking,” I added.

  Holden glanced at me, threw his arm around me, and curled me into his chest. “I’m not married,” he said softly before giving me a kiss on the top of my head.

  I pressed my palm to his chest and tried to push away. “I know that. But you can’t hold me like this in front of her, Holden. That’s not nice,” I hissed.

  “Why? If she and I are getting to know each other, I should be myself. And I’m a guy who likes to hold you when we watch television.”

  “We don’t ever watch television,” I pointed out.

  “We do when we visit your grandma,” he replied with a grin.

  My eyes slid to hers. She had been watching us, but the second I focused my attention on her, she turned away. Then, I couldn’t help but notice the small smile tugging at her lips.

  I knew she’d like him.

  We spent the next hour watching a talk show with my favorite woman. When it finished, she turned off the television and moved to get up.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “To get your Christmas present,” she answered.

  “Now?” I replied. “I’m going to come here on Christmas Day to visit you.”

  She shook her head. “Aren’t you and Holden spending the holiday together?” she questioned.

  I nodded.

  “Okay, well, I assume you’ll need to see his family, too. You don’t have to worry about coming here that day. It’ll be a lot and you won’t be able to enjoy the day if you’re driving all over town.”

  She broke my heart. To think that she’d give up seeing me on Christmas simply because she wanted me to thoroughly enjoy the holiday was more than I could bear. My eyes welled with tears.

  Holden jumped in and offered, “Why don’t Leni and I come by on Christmas morning to pick you up?”

  “Pick me up?” she repeated as my body tensed.

  Holden nodded and explained, “Yeah. Then, you can come and spend the whole day with Leni, me, and my family.”

  I looked up at the man who still had his arm wrapped around me and whispered, “Holden.”

  He glanced down at me and smiled before turning his attention back to my grandma. “What do you think?” he pressed. “Are you up for breaking out of here for a day?”

  Her eyes came to mine. “My darling girl, you’ve got yourself one fine young man, didn’t you?”

  I grinned and reminded her, “I told you he wasn’t just a boy.”

  “And I told you that until he proved himself, he would always be a boy,” she shot back, not missing a beat. Looking to Holden, she accepted his invitation. “I’d very much like to blow this joint for a day and spend it not only with my beautiful granddaughter, but also the people that I hope will be there for her long after I’m gone.”

  A tear slid down my cheek. “Grandma…” I trailed off.

  “Come here,” she ordered quietly.

  I stood and went to her.

  Then, she engulfed me in her arms and whispered in my ear, “He’s perfect, Leni. I love him for you, and I hope he always makes you happy.”

  Knowing Holden had her approval meant the world to me.

  “You know what,” Holden interrupted us. “Why don’t you two ladies do me the honor of allowing me to take you both out for lunch today?”

  “Boy, am I glad I had Melissa come over yesterday to set my hair for me. Now, at least there will be a few more people who will get to see it.”

  I laughed. “It does look fabulous,” I noted.

  “I’d love a lunch date,” she answered Holden. “If you’ll just give me a minute to get myself ready, we can go.”

  “Take your time,” Holden insisted.

  With that, she turned and moved to her bathroom. Once she closed the door, I turned around and found Holden standing. I walked back to him, threw my arms around his neck, and kissed him. When I pulled back, I breathed, “I love you so much.”

  He gave me another kiss before he returned, �
�I love you, too.”

  Ten minutes later, we broke my grandma out of the assisted living facility for the afternoon. She had the best time.

  I was warm and toasty in my bed, Holden spooning me.

  It was Christmas morning.

  Holden’s hand was dipping dangerously close to the forbidden fruit.

  “I know you’re awake,” he said lazily.

  I smiled and pushed my bottom into his lap. He groaned, but that didn’t stop him from sending his hand lower.

  As I fell to my back, Holden shifted to give me space. I parted my thighs and gave him full access. He wasted no time in slipping his fingers into my panties and right through the wetness.

  The minute he slipped a finger inside, I moaned and lifted my hips, seeking more. He’d only just touched me, but I was beyond ready for anything else he had to offer.

  Holden’s head had been propped up in the hand that wasn’t between my legs, but once my breasts were exposed to him, he wasted no time in dropping his mouth to them. He licked and sucked and teased while his hand continued to work me between my legs.

  Using the arm that was closest to him, I reached down and gripped his length in my hand. I gave a firm squeeze before I started stroking him. Holden groaned and broke the suction he had on my breasts.

  Moving his mouth up toward mine, he continued to plunge his fingers into me.

  “Holden,” I panted.

  He smiled against my lips and whispered, “I love you, Leni.”

  It was a good thing I was in bed. I’d been hearing those words frequently from Holden ever since he’d saved my life about a month ago. And every time he said them, I still couldn’t believe I was hearing them.

  I whimpered and knew the reason for it was because of not only what Holden was doing to my body, but also what he’d done to my heart when he said those words.

  “More, babe,” I begged.

  Holden didn’t deny me.

  He never did.

  Pulling his fingers from my body, he urged, “Roll to your belly, sweetheart.”

  It took some effort because I was dealing with the loss of his hand between my legs. I finally managed to start moving as Holden reached over to the nightstand for a condom. And by the time I made it to my belly, I started to push up onto my hands and knees.