RUSH (Montgomery Men Book 1) (28 page)

Knoxville and Beckett were like brothers I never had. They did, of course, use me to irritate their brother, and I played along because getting Ashton all worked up had become my new favorite pastime. He was so adorable when he got all possessive.

I also had my best friend, Lex. He never judged me, only accepted me, flaws and all. And Rig and Lucy still checked in on me often. The first time Ashton met Rig, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. He was a little thrown off by the big, burly biker with tattoos covering every visible section of his body, and the hard look he gave Ashton when Ashton told my protector that he loved me and would do anything to keep me safe. Rig of course kept up the act until I started laughing so hard I cried, then Rig laughed too and pulled Ashton in for a side hug, slapping his back painfully loud.

From that moment on, Ashton had earned the respect of the two people who had become the closest thing I had to parents.

Ashton and I had fallen into our own comfortable domestic lifestyle. It all felt so natural, like we didn’t even have to give it much effort. I loved the life Ashton had given me, among all the battles I knew we still had ahead of us. But for now we had the life we had created together, and I refused to let Jase take it from me.

I woke to find Ashton hovering over me, freshly showered with only a towel wrapped around his waist. He smiled, knowing just what the sight of him half-naked would do to me.

Without speaking a word, I wrapped my arms and legs around him and pulled his body to mine.

“Good morning,” he cooed before he nipped at my lower lip.

“It sure is,” I said. “And it’s about to get a whole lot better.”

I let my legs fall away and pushed against his chest, causing him to roll to the side and fall to the mattress beside me. I quickly crawled over him and straddled his hips. His towel had fallen away, and his erection was on display as it rested against his lower abdomen.

God, he was beautiful.

I hadn’t put on panties after the mind-blowing sex we’d had last night, so I took the opportunity to rub my sex against him, and he moaned as he gripped my hips tightly. I continued to rub against him, and with each jerk of my hips, he thrust upward as if chasing me.

“You gonna ride me, or tease me?” he asked, and I smiled seductively.

With a gentle shrug, I rotated my hips and he narrowed his eyes at me, trying to appear intimidating. “I may just tease you like this for a while,” I said.

I thought I had the upper hand, but that was short-lived when he veered up and flipped me onto my back, covering me once again with his very naked body. When he pressed the head of his cock to my opening and pushed in just enough to make his presence known, I whimpered.

“Don’t tease me, baby. You know how much I need this pussy,” he whispered.

I loved when he took charge and whispered dirty things to me. I never thought I would enjoying giving all control to another person again, but Ash didn’t abuse that trust, and I knew he never would.

“I’m gonna fuck you now, Kinsley.” He bit my ear and lightly tugged. “I’m gonna make you feel so damn good.”

I knew he would, because he always did.

Before I could say another word, he slammed into me, and the growl that ripped through him was so fucking sexy I almost came at the sound of it.

He was like a madman unleashed. Our lovemaking was raw and dirty, and I’d never felt more powerful.

Ashton gave me that.

ASHTON

“IT’S DONE, BROTHER.”

I gripped the back of my neck and sagged back against the chair. “Yeah?” I asked Beckett, still not believing that what he said was true.

“They were arrested an hour ago, and the entire Miami Police Department is now under investigation, and so is the mayor. It’s a fucking shitstorm, but I can assure you that Bruce and Jase are both going away for a long time and taking a lot of bad people with them.”

This was the news I’d been waiting weeks to hear. But with the pushing and prodding my brothers had been doing, I knew it was only a matter of time before the shit came raining down on everyone involved.

“It’s time to tell your woman that she’s finally free.”

Beck’s words made the weight of the world lift from my shoulders.

It was finally over.

“Go home to your girl, Ash. You need to share this together.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

I would never be able to repay Knox and Beck for the time and energy they’d put into giving my Kinsley her freedom back.

“Thanks, Beck,” I said, feeling like I could finally breathe.

I hung up and hurried from my office, passing a curious Lex, whose crude comments about my manly needs I chose to ignore.

I had one purpose: to get to Kinsley as quickly as possible.

She’d taken up a new hobby. She said it was something she’d always wanted to do, and I knew it gave her tremendous happiness.

Who knew the woman who held my heart was also an artist, and a pretty damn good one at that?

I found her in the spare bedroom I’d converted to a studio. It had the best view of the Hudson River in the house, and Kinsley had made it her own little safe haven filled with her creations.

Her back was to me as she carefully analyzed the painting before her, resting the wooden end of her paintbrush against her lip as she tilted her head to the side.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, and she looked back over her shoulder with a smile.

She had become a lot less jumpy lately and seemed to feel safe and comfortable here with me. My home was now her home if every sense of the word.

That was all I’d hoped for when I gave her no choice but to move in with me. I’d needed her here just as much as I knew she needed to be here.

“Thank you.” She lowered the paintbrush to the table beside her and moved toward me.

There was nothing more beautiful than the woman before me. Her presence was so overpowering that I grew weak in it. Before Kinsley, I never liked to feel weak. But with her, I welcomed it.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

“Because I love you,” I said without hesitation. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you.”

“I love you too.” Nothing made me feel more powerful that hearing her say those words.

“I told you I’d keep you safe.” I rested my forehead against hers. “I told you to trust me, because one day everything from your past, everything that still haunted you would come to an end.”

She pulled back and gave me a quizzical look.

“It’s over, Kins,” I assured her, and her body weakened in my arms. “Everything is over. Bruce and Jase are finally gonna get what’s coming to them.”

“How?” Her lower lip trembled, and for a moment I almost lost my ability to continue, but I pushed through.

“They were both arrested and have numerous counts of fraudulent charges against them.” She still didn’t look convinced. “The Feds stepped in, and a criminal investigation is underway into the police department’s cooperation in the Hellmans’ wrongdoings. It’s all out now. Everything is.”

“Are you sure?” Her eyes filled with unshed tears of happiness and disbelief.

“Everything is over. I promise you, baby. It’s all over.” I knelt just enough to look directly at her, hoping she could see the truth in my eyes. “They will never hurt you again. You no longer have to hide.”

Kinsley threw her arms around my shoulders and hugged me with more force than a woman her size should be capable of as she cried tears of joy and continued to say thank you over and over.

I held her that way for a long time, just allowing her to accept the freedom she’d just been granted.

She’d run and hidden for so long that the reality that she no longer had to must have been almost impossible for her to register. But the moment she did, I saw a happiness in her eyes that no one in this world deserved more than she did.

Kinsley had her life stolen from her by a man that didn’t even deserve a second glance from her. She had so much to give the world and so much love to share, and I would make sure no one ever stood in her way again.

She would finally have that happiness and love her father wished for her. I just hoped the afterlife was a real place where her mother and father were sitting back smiling down on their beautiful daughter, knowing I would always protect her, love her, and make sure she shined.

Never again would the light in her eyes be dimmed by anyone.

Six months later

KINSLEY

I STOOD BEFORE MY FATHER’S
grave holding the hand of the man who’d done all he could to give me the closure I needed.

Because of Ashton, Bruce and Jase would possibly die within the walls of a prison, and that thought gave me unbelievable peace. Maybe it was wrong of me, but I enjoyed the idea of them living a hellish life like the one they’d put me through.

But Ashton didn’t stop there, because he’d never have been happy without illuminating every dark place in my heart.

He pushed his attorneys to speak with the judge about granting me a divorce from the man I despised, and he was also able to find the things my father left me hidden in Jase’s office. After the Feds looked them over, along with Jase’s computer and everything else they found in his office to gather evidence for the case against the Hellmans, they finally returned those items to me. They were just small things I would always hold dear to my heart: pictures of me as a child with my mother and father, my mother’s jewelry, and my father’s watch.

As if all those things weren’t enough, Ashton had also found the location of my father’s grave. I knew nothing I ever said or did would repay him for his generosity and his love, but I would forever be thankful for them. In fact
thankful
wasn’t a strong enough word, because I now had a place to visit my father. A place to go when I needed to share my happiness with him.

A loving father, husband, and friend.

A man who will always live on in the hearts of those he touched.

Ashton chose those words when he ordered a headstone for my father’s plot. They couldn’t have been more perfect than if I’d chosen them myself.

Ashton was perfect. I felt like my father handpicked him for me without even knowing him. My parents would have adored him just as much as I did.