Cain's Salvation (Passion in Paradise - The Men of the McKinnon Sisters) (3 page)

He needed this, and so did she.

“I love you,” he bit out as he sank
into her again and again.

“Yes!  God, yes, Cain! 
Deeper!” Faith pleaded, clawing at his broad shoulders as she tightened the
muscles of her pussy around him.

“Mmmmm, deeper,” Cain agreed,
hammering into her warmth.  He fucked her hard, arching his back and
flexing his ass with every downward lunge.  “I love your pussy,” he panted
against her ear.  “So wet and warm, baby.  I can’t get enough of
you.  I’ll never get enough of you.”

Faith met every stroke of his cock
with an upward tilt of her pelvis, her feet digging into his muscular ass as
she squirmed wantonly beneath him.  “And I love your cock,” she whimpered,
her eyes falling closed as he found his rhythm and moved in and out of
her.  “Oh, yeah!  Right there, Cain!” she gasped a moment later when
his dick found that magical spot inside her and bumped against it.
 Burying her nails in his back, she gasped as her pleasure climbed higher
and her cries grew louder.

Feeling her pussy contract around his
cock, Cain moaned against her ear.  “Oh, fuck yeah!  There’s the
sweet spot, angel,” he purred, nailing it again with a deep thrust and pulling
a keening cry from her lips. 

Grunting as he fucked in and out of
her slick channel, their sweat slicked bodies rubbed together.  He could
feel her diamond hard nipples dragging against his chest.  He relished the
sweet sting of her nails clawing his back and the desperate feel of her teeth
burying in his shoulder.  His woman was on the verge of a second orgasm,
and he couldn’t wait to feel it resonate through his cock.

“Cain!” Faith screamed as a second
pinnacle claimed her.  “Cain! CAIN!” she shouted hoarsely before he
covered her mouth with his.

Swallowing her lusty cries, he
growled into her mouth as his own cock pulsed inside her.  Tearing his
lips from hers seconds later, he threw his head back, grunting as he recognized
the familiar pressure building in his balls.  “Oh, fuck, baby!” he
grunted, straining against her.  “I’m gonna cum!”

“Give it to me, Cain,” Faith
beckoned, her sweet voice adding an extra layer of acute feeling to the
moment.  “I love you.”

~***~

Groaning, Cain’s release barreled into
him with the force of a tsunami, long jets of thick white cum painting the
shower stall door as it shot forcefully from his body.  Pumping his dick
in his fist one last time, he sagged against the wall of the shower, breathing hard.

Opening his eyes, he struggled for
breath and blinked back tears.  While he’d found release, the past few
minutes had been a pursuit of empty pleasure. 

There was no Faith to snuggle and pull
close to him now.  He was still alone.

Leaning his head against the wall, he
swallowed hard as he recognized the cruel truth:  He’d always be alone.

Faith McKinnon was everything he’d ever
wanted…and nothing he’d ever deserved to have.

Especially after being tainted by this
goddamned war.

It was time to let her go.  He had
to release her from their promise of forever.  Her freedom was the only
gift he had left to offer her now.

The man his Faith had loved was dead,
and the shell left in his place was good enough for no decent woman.

It was time he started that letter that
only he could write and leave Faith free to find the future he couldn’t give
her anymore.

Paradise, Tennessee -
Present Day

Faith Ann McKinnon blinked back angry
tears as she stared out the bank of windows facing the parking lot of her
family’s restaurant, the I Don’t Care Café.  Red and blue lights were
reflected in the glass, and two police cruisers were parked haphazardly in the
lot, evidence of their rush to respond to the scene.  Resisting the urge
to release the scream that had been building for the past half hour was almost
more than she could bear.  She really wanted to let loose.

Pressing her lips together until they
formed a thin white line, she realized a mere scream couldn’t define what was
working its way up her throat.  It was more like a war cry.

Closing her blue eyes, she silently
counted to ten and willed her emotions back under control.   She’d
had a lot of practice doing that in the past few months.  She was kinda an
expert.  One screamer in the family was enough and her sister, Patience,
had already claimed that role from the time her tiny ass hit the cradle as a
baby. Faith just had to suck it up and tamp it down – at least until she was
alone and could give her temper free rein.

She could hear one of the Paradise town
deputies reading the Miranda warning to one of the two redneck men that had
wrecked the bar portion of her establishment.  Pressing the bloody rag she
held clutched between tight fingers to her forehead, she could only wonder what
damage had been done to her flesh.  Based on the throbbing pain in her
head, she suspected she would have a hell of a goose egg come morning.

Fuck.  A flesh wound was a small
thing compared to the fact that her sister Honor was going to be
pissed. 
The youngest McKinnon hated when
any
of her sisters was hurt, but
she especially despised when there was blood involved.

“Let me see how bad it is, Faith,” her
other sister, Patience, ordered gently, her hand tugging the towel gently away
from Faith’s head and grimacing at what she saw.

Faith winced when her older sister
inhaled sharply.  “It’s not that bad,” Faith replied staunchly, refusing
to contemplate the possibility that a couple of redneck assholes had gotten the
upper hand in tonight’s altercation.  The truth was that she had no clue
how
bad her injury was, but she hated the idea of upsetting any of her siblings and
it was clear from Patience’s reaction that this might be a doozy.  She
just wanted to clean up the mess and go home.  She’d take a shower, pop a
Band-Aid on her wound, take an aspirin and crawl into bed.

“It needs stitches,” a deep, too
familiar voice drawled from her other side.  Jerking her eyes to Abel
Turner, Faith forced herself not to react with a sharp retort.  It wasn’t
Abel’s fault that his brother, Cain, was the world’s biggest coward and
asshole.  The nice twin (as she taken to calling him in her mind) didn’t
deserve her wrath.  With an inward sigh, she forced herself to
smile.  At least, she hoped the stiff twisting of her lips passed for a
smile.  By the look on Abel’s face, it didn’t.  Not even close.

Sighing, Faith looked between her sister
and her former fiancé’s brother.  “I’m
fine
.  Really.  I
didn’t get hit.  I fell, y’all.”

“Yeah,” Patience snorted, “You tripped
over some drunken yahoo’s feet when he tried to grab your ass.  I was
behind the bar, Faith.  I saw everything that happened.  If it hadn’t
been for Abel and that mysterious stranger over there in the corner,” she said,
nodding to the far side of the room where a lanky man leaned against the
jukebox and spoke quietly to the second sheriff’s deputy, “You would have had a
lot worse than a cut on the head.”

Sighing heavily, Faith let her eyes
drift closed again.  “I know you already called Honor, but tell me that
you didn’t bother Harmony, too,” she begged, hoping against hope that their
eldest sister wasn’t about to join in this pointless melee.  Harmony was a
single mother with a four year old daughter and would freak almost as badly as
Honor when she heard about tonight.  “I don’t want her dragging Heaven out
at this time of night,” she worried, thinking of her cherubic angel of a niece.

“Honor said we’d catch her up on things
in the morning,” Patience answered with a slight grin.  “You’ll be saved
our eldest sibling’s rant about personal safety until tomorrow.”

The sisters traded a look of
understanding, and Faith sighed again as she rubbed her neck.  “That
doesn’t comfort me much.  Honor is worse than Harm.  At least Harm is
in your face with the yelling and screaming when she’s upset.  Honor is
like Mom was; she can break us with one of those disappointed looks.” 

“She worries,” Patience said
quietly.  “Of all of us, Honor is the one that knows how truly ugly this
world can get,” she murmured, frowning as she dabbed the cut on Faith’s head,
her nose scrunching as the blood smeared against the towel.  “And as much
as this pains me to admit, I think Abel is right.  You’re gonna need about
three stitches, sis.”

“Told you so,” Abel Turner murmured from
beside Faith as he watched Patience’s delicate fingers probe Faith’s
wound.  “I’ll go get one of the paramedics.”

Grabbing his arm before he could move,
Faith shook her head.  “Nuh uh.  One of my sisters can give me a ride
to the ER after we clean up this mess,” she decided, nodding toward the broken
glass and overturned furniture littering the floor.

“Sis, it’s not that I
ever
enjoy
agreeing with Abel about
anything
,” Patience returned with a glare at
the Turner twin, “But, he’s right.  You need to get this taken care
of.  Like yesterday,” she stressed.

“And I will, as soon as…”

Whatever Faith had been about to say
died in her throat as the bell above the door tinkled when her youngest sister,
Honor, raced into the bar, her legs flying across the wooden planks of the
floor and her blonde ponytail flopping wildly.  “Faith!” she shouted, her
anxious blue eyes darting around the room as she tried to spot her
sister.  “Faith!”

“Honor, I’m over here,” Faith called,
raising a hand in the air.  She would have risen but Abel and Patience had
each put a hand on her shoulder to keep her in her chair.  “I’m okay,
honey,” she began to soothe as Honor’s eyes widened and she rushed toward her.

“You’re bleeding!” Honor countered with
a hard frown as she took in the blood soaked towel pressed against her sister’s
forehead.  “Don’t you dare tell me that you’re fine!” she ordered,
reaching to pull the temporary bandage away so she could see the damage for
herself. 

Faith watched her sister’s lips tighten
at whatever she was seeing.  “It doesn’t even hurt, Hon.”

Meeting her older sister’s gaze, Honor
merely stared at her, her eyes piercing Faith in a way that made her shift
uncomfortably.

“Okay, it hurts a
little
,” she
amended, feeling the severity of her sister’s gaze.  Honor hated to be
lied to about anything and she knew that her youngest sister could tell she was
fibbing now.  “Abel and Patience think it needs stitches.  Tell ‘em
they’re wrong, okay?” she begged hopefully.

“Can’t,” Honor replied succinctly,
bending to peer at the wound.  “They happen to be right.”

“Fine,” Faith groaned, rolling her
eyes.  “We’ll get this place cleaned up after we get rid of Paradise’s
finest and then…”

“The bar can wait.  It won’t
re-open until tomorrow night.  I’m assuming the restaurant side is fine?”
Honor asked with a glance toward the closed door that led into the dining room
area of their business.

“Yeah,” Abel agreed quietly as Ezekiel
Monroe joined their group.  “Damage is confined to this room.”

Glancing up into the hardened face of the
Paradise Sheriff, Faith offered the older man a half-hearted smile.  “Come
to arrest me, Sheriff?”

“I should,” Zeke growled as his gaze
moved to each sister’s face.  “You McKinnon girls are turning my hair
gray.  I heard about the bar fight over the radio.  I decided to come
on over and make sure everything was alright.”

“Does everything look alright to you,
Sheriff?” Honor snapped at the man, her eyes flashing as she gazed at
him.  “My sister is bleeding and our bar is trashed.  How do you keep
getting re-elected when you ask the stupidest questions?”

Faith’s lips twitched.  Her baby
sister was sweet and kind to every soul in Paradise.  In spite of what of
the assault she’d endured when she was in high school and everything she’d been
through, Honor had kept her generosity of spirit… her caring attitude. 
For some reason, however, where Sherriff Ezekiel Monroe was concerned, she
could barely remain civil.  It made things hard since Zeke basically
dogged every one of Honor’s footsteps after they’d found her that long ago
night she’d been abducted.  The man had appointed himself her guardian,
and he took the job seriously as hell....much to her sister’s consternation.

“Beg pardon, Miss Honor,” the Sheriff
replied docilely, tipping his hat to the younger sister.

Faith had to give the police officer
credit.  He never let Honor’s temper rile him.  For her alone, he was
the most amiable man on Earth.  Other’s feared his temper, but to her
knowledge, he’d never even shown it to Honor.

“What I should have asked was what
happened here?” Zeke continued, one eyebrow arching as he waited for an answer.

Faith, Patience, and Abel replied in
perfect unison.  “Bar fight.”

“I think we both figured that much out,”
Honor replied tightly, looking around at the destruction surrounding them with
barely concealed impatience.

“You tell it,” Faith muttered to
Patience, rubbing her temple with one hand while she held the cloth to her head
with the other.  “I’ve already been over it twice with the deputies.” 
God, she just wanted to go home and take a long, hot bath.  Being so near
Cain’s twin was always disconcerting, but tonight it was wreaking havoc with
her equilibrium.  In attitude, the two men were as different as night and
day.  Abel was laid back and personable, while Cain had a quick temper and
more introverted personality.  In looks, however, they were too alike to
be good for her fragile heart.  Quite simply, it hurt to look at him.

“Okay, hon,” Patience murmured, patting
Faith’s shoulder.  Glancing around at the gathered group, Patience
explained, “What you’re seeing around you is what happens when a drunk frat boy
and a drunk trucker meet.  Both of them seemed to have developed an
affinity for our Faith during the course of the night, and when the frat boy
made an ass grab on her, the trucker took offense.  Mr. Trucker went for
Mr. Frat Boy’s throat, and Faith got caught in the crossfire.  She tripped
over Frat Boy’s feet and cracked her skull open on the table, hence the gash in
her head.  Thankfully, Abel,” she continued, jerking her head toward the
man beside her, “and that guy over there by the jukebox interceded and broke it
up.  One of the regulars and I got to Faith and hustled her behind the
bar, and I called the cops.”

“My deputies are arresting both men and
charging them with assault and public intoxication,” Zeke added, shifting his
weight as he leaned against the bar.

Running a hand down her face, Honor
nodded stiffly.  “Okay,” she said softly.  “Let’s get Faith to the
hospital and get her stitched up.  Abel, can you stay with Patience until
she gets the bar closed for the night?”

“I’ll be fine on my own,” Patience
interjected with a frown at her youngest sister even as Abel nodded agreement
to Honor’s plan.

“No arguments.  No McKinnon sister
is gonna be out and about without protection after tonight,” Honor decreed in a
tone that all the sisters knew well.  Honor might be the youngest sibling,
but she was also the heartbeat of their family.  Each of them looked to
her to lead, and none of the sisters argued with her decisions once they were
made.

“I’ll drive you and Faith over to the
Emergency Room,” Zeke stated quietly. 

Faith watched as Honor nodded
slightly.  She wasn’t surprised.  When it came to her, Patience, or
Harmony, she knew that Honor would put her personal feelings aside in favor of
what was best for the family.  She murmured a thank you as Zeke helped her
to her feet. It took a moment to find her balance, but once her vision stopped
swimming, she followed Honor to the door. 

The ride to the small town hospital was
accomplished quickly, and thankfully the ER was virtually empty on a Wednesday
night.  Within an hour, she was the proud owner of three stitches in her
forehead and a bottle of painkillers that she knew she’d never take. 

Twenty minutes after that, Zeke was
pulling his black Dodge Durango into the white clapboard farmhouse where Faith
and her sisters had been raised.  Opening the rear door, Faith climbed out
of the SUV and shot the Sheriff a grateful smile.  “Thanks, Zeke.  I
really appreciate what you did for me tonight.”

“Yes, thank you,” Honor added with a
jerky nod as she straightened her sweater nervously as she stood beside the
vehicle.  “We’re in your debt.  Again,” she mumbled, rather
unhappily. 

Glancing at her baby sister, Faith knew
just how unhappy the other woman was with
that
fact.