Davis, Keyonna - Faceless Enemy [Pine Valley 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (6 page)

“I’m helping you. You can’t stand on your feet yet.” His voice was hoarse. “I would get my sister to help you, but she can’t lift you.”

Keri released her grip on him and shook her head. “No, it’s okay. You just caught me off guard.”

She didn’t move as Chase gently lifted her and pulled her panties down to her knees. He lifted her off the counter and sat her on the toilet and walked out of the bathroom, all without looking at her or saying a word. Kerri smiled as she did her business. Who would have thought she could embarrass a big strong man like Chase. Surprisingly, Kerri wasn’t embarrassed as she should have been. She noticed that Chase left the door cracked, and once she was finished, she called out to him. He came in and efficiently slid her panties back into place and sat her on the counter again.

“I would really like to brush my teeth if you have an extra toothbrush.”

Still not saying anything, Chase began to rummage through drawers, looking for the toothbrush. Kerri frowned.
He can’t still be embarrassed. What’s his problem?
Trailing her eyes down his body, Kerri realized the problem. He was aroused, and judging by the huge lump in his sweats, Chase was big from head to toe. She reached up to wipe her chin as she continued to stare at Chase’s crotch.
Damn, I wonder if I’m drooling.
Chase hadn’t had time to shave, and the shadow of his beard growing in made him even sexier, if that was even possible. What would the scratch of his beard feel like against her breast or inner thighs? When she ran her tongue across her bottom lip, she heard Chase groan. That caught her attention, and Kerri snapped her eyes up to his. Chase’s green eyes had darkened, and she could feel the lust pouring off him. His voice was deep and raspy when he spoke.

“If you don’t quit looking at me like that, little bit, I can’t be held responsible for what I might do.”

Now it was Kerri’s turn to blush. She was embarrassed that he caught her staring. It made her feel good that he wanted her because she definitely wanted him. Maybe once she was back to 100 percent— hell she would even take ninety—then she would take him up on his offer.

Clearing her throat, she pointed to the toothbrush in his hand. “Is that for me?”

Chase held the toothbrush out to her and waited while she awkwardly leaned over the sink and brushed her teeth. When she was finished, he lifted her off the counter and began to carry her out of the room. Kerri glanced over at the huge whirlpool bath in the corner and sighed. A bath would be lovely, but with her leg and stitches, Kerri knew that was impossible. Hopefully she would have enough strength to clean herself up soon because the sponge bath she had in the hospital was not going to be enough.

Once Chase had her positioned on the bed and pillows stuffed comfortably behind her back, Kerri had a chance to look around the room. Obviously she wasn’t in the hospital anymore. Where was she? It said something about the meds that she was on that her surroundings were not the first thing she noticed when she woke up.
Okay, no more drugs for me.
She glanced over at Chase, who had taken his seat back in the chair at the foot of the bed. He looked slightly more comfortable, and Kerri attributed that to the fact that they were out of the bathroom and she was covered up.

Clearing her throat, she asked, “Where am I?”

“You are in my home. Your dad asked me to guard you, and I couldn’t do that safely in the hospital, so I brought you here.”

“Where exactly is here?”

“I live in a small town in Oregon called Pine Valley. My ranch is on the outskirts of town.”

“Ranch? You mean with cows and chickens and stuff?” Kerri said a little too loudly.

She was in shock. This man didn’t meet her image of a cowboy. He was too big. She imagined ranchers as tall, slim men in dirty jeans and cowboy boots. Chase was nothing like that, sitting here in his bare feet in sweats and a T-shirt.
Although, I bet Chase would look great in a pair of tight, dirty jeans and boots and nothing else.
Kerri smiled at the thought. Was it wishful thinking on her part? Or had Chase been honest in the bathroom when he said he didn’t think he could control himself? He struck her as a man who only spoke the truth. What would happen if he really did lose control? She imagined that it would probably result in the best night of her life.
Kerri was so lost in thoughts and fantasies of Chase that she didn’t hear him call her name until he barked it out. From the worried look on his face, it seemed like he had been trying to get her attention for several moments.

“Are you okay, Kerri? You looked flushed. Are you in pain?”

The concern on Chase’s face made her feel bad. Here she was imagining all the dirty things they could do to each other, and he was worried about her. Deciding to be honest with him since he was honest with her in the bathroom, Kerri answered, “I’m okay. I’m not hurting that much, just really sore. I was flushed because of what you said about owning a ranch. I was imagining you as a sexy cowboy.”

She felt her cheeks heat up at the admission but couldn’t look away. The lust shining in Chase’s eyes held her captive. She had always had a small crush on him, but this was different. She wasn’t some gangly teen. She was a grown woman now. Kerri didn’t move when Chase stood and came to sit next to her on the bed. She held perfectly still when he lifted his hand and caressed her cheek. His hand was so big that it covered the entire side of her face. She shivered, not because she was cold or frightened, but because his one touch sent tingles throughout her entire body.

Chase leaned in to kiss her but stopped before his lips touched hers. Kerri whimpered and leaned in the last inch to meet his lips. Just as her lips touched his, Chase pulled away and stood between her and the door. Shocked at the abrupt loss, Kerri stared blankly at his back. Evidently she had been too caught up in the “almost kiss” that she didn’t hear the knock on the door. Obviously Chase did, because a second later the door eased open. Kerri saw his shoulders relax when he recognized whoever was there.

He turned to her and smiled. “I will give you some privacy to get cleaned up.” With that he turned and walked out of the room, only stopping to kiss the girl standing at the door on the cheek.

The girl was beautiful. She had long, black, curly hair and the same beautiful green eyes that Chase had. She was obviously related to him in some kind of way, but Kerri didn’t know how. She didn’t know anything about Chase’s personal life or family. The girl walked over and sat on the bed in the same spot Chase had just left and reached over to grab Kerri’s hand.

“I recognize that look on your face,” she said, smiling. “For some reason, the Matthews men have that effect on women.”

Unsure of what to say, Kerri just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Um…who are you?”

“Oh, sorry, I’m just not used to seeing my brother with that look on his face, and then I came in and saw the same look on yours. I just couldn’t be happier.”

Who is this chick? Why would Chase leave me alone with her? She obviously has some sort of mental issues.
“Sorry, I’m doing it again aren’t I?” The girl squeezed Kerri’s hand and began shaking it. “I’m Alice, but everyone calls me Ali. I’m Chase’s sister. You will meet the rest of the family once we get you cleaned up and dressed. We would have met last night when you arrived, but you were knocked out. Probably the pain medicine.”

Ali shook her head as if she were answering her own statement and went into the bathroom. Kerri could hear water running, and Ali came back out carrying a large bowl in one hand and a bar of soap in the other. She sat everything on the nightstand and leaned over to remove the sheet covering her. Kerri was too busy eyeing the steam coming off the water in the bowl to care about the invasion of privacy.
Oh, how good would it feel to sink into that hot water right now?
Hearing Ali laugh, Kerri focused her attention back on her. Ali was still giggling.

“I see how you are looking at that water, and speaking from experience, I know exactly how you feel. Unfortunately for you, doctor’s orders say that you can’t get that leg wet, so a sponge bath will have to do for now. Once we are finished, I will change the bandage for you.”

“Thank you.” Kerri felt tears of gratitude. “I don’t care if it is just a sponge bath right now. I just want to feel clean.”

No other words were spoken as Ali helped Chase get cleaned up. Kerri didn’t let the fact that Ali said she was speaking from experience slip past her, but she let it slide. Maybe later, once she got to know the girl, she would ask what she meant. Once she was clean and mostly dressed, in a tank and brand-new panties that someone was thoughtful enough to buy, Kerri leaned back against the headboard. She was out of breath and tired. The blood loss had left her weak, but Kerri wouldn’t have changed a thing she did to escape.

“Okay,” Ali spoke, “let’s get your leg cleaned up now and a fresh bandage then we can go get some breakfast and meet the rest of the family.”

Kerri winced a couple of times as she helped Ali remove the soiled bandage. She grimaced when she saw the long, jagged scar running from her hip to her knee. “Wow, I really did a number on myself,” she said out loud.

“You did this to yourself?” Ali looked shocked.

“Yeah, I jumped out a window to escape my kidnapper. I thought I knocked all the glass out, but evidently I missed a piece,” Kerri said, smiling.

Ali laughed. “Yeah, I would say you missed a pretty big piece.”

The scar was angry-looking, red, and puffy. Her leg was still swollen, judging by the way the stitches pulled in certain places. The doctors did a good job sewing her back up, but Kerri knew she would always have the scar as a reminder of what happened. She was okay with that because it would also be a reminder to never let her guard down again.

Once she was bandaged, Ali helped her pull on a pair of sweats. They fit but were too long, so Ali rolled the legs up a couple of times. Once she was finished, she patted Kerri’s leg and gave her a look of sympathy.

“Don’t worry about the scar. It doesn’t determine who you are. Plus”—she winked—“I know for a fact that Chase won’t care one bit.”

“Oh, I wasn’t worried about that, but what do you mean you know for a fact that Chase won’t care? Does this have anything to do with what you said earlier about speaking from experience?”

Kerri told herself to mind her own business, but Ali was so open and honest that it made Kerri want to know everything about her. She could see innocence in Ali that made her want to not only be her friend but to protect her as well. Ali stood from the bed and smiled. She turned and grabbed the hem of her shirt and lifted it. Kerri gasped when she saw the jagged scar going down the right side of her back from shoulder to hip. The scar was discolored, but Kerri could tell she had received it a while ago. That meant that Ali had to have been almost a child when it happened. Kerri immediately became angry. Who would hurt someone like this? She hoped that whoever did it was either dead or in jail.

“Who did this to you?” She tried but failed to keep the anger out of her voice.

Ali laughed. “Calm down, Kerri. No one did this to me. I got it in a car accident a few years ago.”

Kerri let her anger go and settled back against the bed.

“If you think my scar is bad, maybe I shouldn’t tell you about Cane’s.”

“Who is Cane?”

Ali settled back on the bed. “If you are going to be here a while, then there are a few things you should know about our family. “Cane is married to my brother, Duncan, and his best friend, Logan.”

Kerri couldn’t keep the shock off her face. “Two men? Wow, I can barely handle one.”

Ali giggled. “I’m glad you aren’t disgusted. A lot of the women in town are, and they give Cane a hard time, but she doesn’t care. She loves Duncan and Logan. They are about seven months pregnant with twins.”

Kerri loved babies.
I wonder if Chase loves kids. Whoa, where did that thought come from. Slow down. You only shared one “almost kiss” with him. No reason to be thinking about having babies with the man.
“I bet the women in town are just jealous. What woman wouldn’t want to have two men? Wait,” she said, narrowing her eyes to look at Ali. “Should we even be talking about this? How old are you?” Ali giggled again, and Keri was beginning to suspect that it was something she did all the time.