Banishing Shadows (17 page)

“So empty.” She hit the mattress beneath her with her palms. “Do it already.”

“So romantic.”

“So mean,” she replied. But his hands left her bottom and she heard him squirting out more lube. Then the head of his cock was at her entrance.

They were doing this. Really doing this.

“That feels amazing. You’re so beautiful, Kayla. I love you so much,” he whispered as he pushed into her slowly, pausing every so often as if expecting her to protest. When he was fully submerged inside her, Kayla let out a little sigh.

“You okay? Speak to me, angel.”

Speak? She could barely breathe. She was filled to the hilt. It was strange, exciting, sexy as hell.

“Move,” she demanded.

He tensed. “Are you in pain?”

“Uh-huh, and there’s only one cure. Make me come. Make me come now. I can’t stand it any longer.”

Amazingly, he followed her orders, thrusting his hips, moving his cock in and out of her ass. Stretching his hand around, he used his fingers to strum her clit.

The rush of release caught her by surprise. Overwhelmed, she screamed as she came. Cord tensed, his own hoarse shout reverberating throughout the room as he quickly followed.

“Jesus, Jesus,” Cord muttered as Kayla drifted back to earth. Sweat coated both their bodies. Her heart still thundered in her ears.

He pulled out of her slowly, causing another tremor to run through her body. Then the egg was eased from her pussy.

“Come on, baby. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

She rolled, opening her eyes to see Cord holding a hand out to her.

“Can’t. Died. You go.”

He easily scooped her up and carried her into the bathroom. “Don’t worry. I know mouth to mouth.”

* * * * *

Kayla opened her eyes, staring blurrily at the alarm clock as Cord answered his phone.

6:13 a.m.

“Yeah… Right… Good,” he said.

Rubbing her eyes and yawning, Kayla stumbled into the small kitchen area to brew coffee. As she walked back into the bedroom, carrying two mugs filled with dark, potent caffeine, Cord hung up the phone.

He took the cups from her hands and placed them on the bedside table before pulling her on to his lap.

“Was that Sam?” she asked.

He nodded. “As I thought, one of Reed’s brothers rolled. Seems like family loyalty doesn’t count when jail time is in the cards. One of them confessed that he attacked you in your apartment. He was also driving the van when they attempted to take you from The Rusty Hammer. The guy Sam shot is the one who actually attacked you that night.”

Kayla trembled slightly.

“The assault four months ago was mistaken identity. They thought Lily was living there. Unfortunately, Reed came up with the idea of going after you when they spent a month or more trying to find Lily without any luck after she disappeared.”

“So he did come to work for my brothers to get access to me?”

“Yeah. One of his brothers told the cops that Reed was obsessed with making Luke suffer. They didn’t really expect to find Lily. But an old friend of Jon’s saw her and called them. Suddenly he had two of you. Twice the pain for Luke.”

He tightened his arms around her as she trembled. “Poor Luke,” she whispered. “Lily said Reed adored Jon. But I can’t believe he’d do all this for revenge.”

“He’s a sick bastard.”

“He took a risk, grabbing me in broad daylight. And what about Nash? He survived the drugging. He would have told someone that it was Reed who took me.”

“Reed didn’t plan on Nash ever waking up. The drug he put in the coffee should have killed him—would have killed someone smaller. He must have miscalculated the dose, or Nash’s size. Nash is really sick and he will be for a while. I think Reed was getting desperate and that’s why he made such a risky move. He was impatient, wanting results. They’d found Lily, all he needed was you for everything to be perfect.”

“Have the police spoken to Reed yet?”

“No, he’s in surgery. Bullet wound to the shoulder. The cops will pay him a visit today. I don’t think he’ll talk though. I can’t believe I didn’t find the connection between him and Jon.” Cord’s voice was filled with disgust.

“Reed’s mother never named his father on his birth certificate. You had no way of knowing. What about the one Sam shot? Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’ll live.”

She’d have to meet Sam properly one day. Thank him.

“So why did Lily run? Did she know Jon’s brothers were after her?”

He nodded. “The police talked to Lily as well. Shortly after Jon’s death, two of his brothers threatened her. But there was a witness who intervened and they had to let her go. Instead of telling the cops or Luke she decided to take off, thought that would make Luke safer. She thought they would follow her.”

“You know what I don’t understand? Why didn’t he just take me that night we had dinner together?”

“I don’t know, baby. Perhaps it was because you called Joe and told him you were with Reed? He probably decided to wait for a better opportunity.”

She clasped him close, shocked by such callousness. Cord tucked her in tighter against him, brushing his lips against her forehead.

“Luke blames himself for all of this,” she spoke quietly.

Cord ran his hand over her hair. “Luke will be all right, angel. He’s got Lily back.”

He paused before speaking quietly. “Baby, they found Evan.”

Kayla pulled back, staring at him intently.

“Is he dead?” She held her breath, scared of his answer.

Cord shook his head. “No. Apparently, there was a hidden room beneath the cabin. The police found him down there, tied up and drugged. I don’t know what they were planning. But he’s alive. Hurt, traumatized. But alive.”

“Oh, thank God,” she cried, trembling in his arms. He rocked her. “Why did they take him?”

“To make us think it was him so we’d lower our protection around you,” he murmured.

Kayla fell silent, listening to Cord’s heartbeat, letting it soothe her nerves. Poor Evan. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what horrors he may have been through. She shivered. And poor Luke, she knew he was feeling guilty at the unwitting part he played in all this.

“Put it out of your mind,” Cord murmured as if sensing her thoughts. “There’s nothing you can do about any of this except be there for Evan and Luke. And know that I’m here for you, baby. You’ve been through a trauma as well. The panic attacks might come back. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You can always come to me. With anything. Okay?”

Kayla felt old insecurities rear their head. What would Cord do now? He’d moved in with her to protect her, would he want to move into his own place? Would they date? Would he even stick around or would he go back overseas?

She had no idea what his plans for the future were. He’d told her he loved her but said nothing about marriage, children. They’d had none of those normal conversations couples had. There had been no time for any of that.

“What has you worrying?”

“What makes you think I’m worried?”

“You’ve gone all tense. I can practically hear you thinking. What is it, baby?”

She took a deep breath. She couldn’t pretend nothing was the matter. “I, umm, I just wondered about what happens now?” she asked.

“Now? What do you mean? With Reed?”

“No. With us. We haven’t really talked about the future. I just wondered what your plans were? What are you going to do? Are you going to look for a job around here?”

He rolled onto his side and stared down at her intently.

“Are you trying to get rid of me?”

Her mouth dropped open. “N-no.”

“Good. Because I have no intention of leaving. Ever. And I already have a job.”

“You do?” she asked, shocked.
When did he have time to find a job?

“Yep.” He grinned, running a rough finger down her cheek. “It involves taking care of a stubborn little minx who needs constant supervision to keep her out of trouble.”

She whacked him in the stomach with her fist. He lay back on the bed, laughing.

“Jerk. Arrogant ass.” She hit him again.

“Seriously, baby.” He reached up and pulled her down for a kiss. “I’m here to stay. In fact, I’m actually thinking of going into partnership with Sam. Did you really think I would leave you?”

“Well, we’ve never really talked about our future. I mean, I don’t even know where you’re going to live or where you see us heading from here. And well, I was worried life with me might seem kind of boring.”

He let out a bark of laughter. “Boring? A man could hope.”

She hit his arm playfully.

His face grew serious. “From here, I see us moving into your apartment while we look for somewhere bigger. Somewhere where we can raise a couple of kids, maybe get a dog, grow old together.”

She took a deep breath, tears of relief, of love filling her eyes.

“I love you, Kayla. I most definitely intend to marry you, to have children with you. You know I love you. Did you think once this was all over that we’d go back to the way things were before?”

“No, but I guess I just needed to hear you say it.”

“Listen to me well, angel. You are mine, just like I am yours. We are going to get married. You will never get rid of me.”

Her eyebrows rose. “If you think you’re getting away with that as a wedding proposal, Cord Marsden, you’ve got another think coming.”

“Damn.” He rolled over her, nibbling at her neck. “Are you sure I can’t just order you to marry me?”

“I’m sure. Contrary to what you think, mister, you are not the boss of me.”

“Kayla Sinclair, will you marry me?”

“Nope.”

“No?” He glared in outrage and she had to work hard to hold in her grin. She didn’t want him to think she was joking.

“You can do way better than that. Something romantic, something to tell my grandchildren about, something—”

He growled. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re a damn stubborn woman?”

“Gotta be. Got myself a hard, arrogant man.”

Leaning down, he took her mouth in a possessive, heated kiss.

* * * * *

Two months later, Kayla said yes.

It only took Cord five tries to get it right.

About the Author

Lorna Jean lives in beautiful New Zealand with her partner. Reading has always been her favorite pastime, and when she’s not reading stories filled with passion and romance she finds herself dreaming up new ones. When she’s not in front of the computer screen or curled up with a book, she can usually be found drinking coffee, or shopping, or watching re-runs of
Kath and Kim
on DVD.

Lorna welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her
author bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.

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