Last True Hero (24 page)

Chavez tsks. “Chase didn't tell me his brother was such a hothead. Patience, Mr. Conners. I'll just check my money first.”

He flicks his wrist toward the goon still standing beside Drake and me, and the man lumbers forward and crouches down in front of the case.

It's at that moment that I can no longer keep Cujo penned. Something tells me, and I just
know
, that Chavez isn't going to turn Berkeley over to me unharmed with no strings attached. I can't let anything happen to her. I won't.

My foot rockets forward and catches the man squarely in the back of the head. As he goes down like a sack of potatoes, both Drake and I lunge forward.

D
are!”

I didn't mean for my voice to sound so desperately relieved when I screamed it. But at the sight of him, his name just hurtled free, and it was completely out of my control.

I am so happy to see him.

He's going to bring me home. And then I was shoved directly next to the devil-man, Chavez, and a cold shiver ran the length of my body. So this wasn't going to be as easy as falling into Dare's arms and getting the hell out of here.

His face is deadly serious; it's a mask I've never, ever seen on him before. Stupidly, in that moment I remember that I haven't seen him in weeks. And that we aren't together anymore. And that he broke up with me. Maybe he hates me. Maybe he's pissed that he has to rescue me from this psychopath.

And then, as I'm having all of these thoughts, all hell breaks loose.

Dare kicks one of the guys hard in the head. All the background noise drops away, and I hear the
crack
, the sound that his boot makes when it connects with the man's skull. The man goes down, hard.

And then both Drake—Drake?—and Dare are flying toward me and Dare is yelling at me to get on the ground. As I'm dropping, the man with a vise-like grip on my wrist jerks it back, and I can distinctly hear the
snap
amid all the other melee going on.

I scream as a gunshot slices open the night. A heavy weight falls on top of me, and the rest of the sounds are muffled.

It feels like forever when Dare's voice finally reaches me, but he's closer than I expect. He groans as he rolls over and off of me.

The weight covering me was Dare.

“Berkeley, talk to me. Everything okay?”

I wince as I try to move my wrist, and then nod my head. Opening my eyes, I stare up at the velvety sky. “Dare? What happened?”

Sitting up, I look over to my left and see him sitting beside me. He reaches a hand out to cup my face. “Are you sure you're okay?”

I nod. And then my eyes flick down to his chest, and I see the hole in the front of his shirt. “Oh, God…Dare, are you shot?”

He fingers the hole, and then smiles wryly at me. “My vest is shot. But other than a bitch of a bruise, I'll be fine.”

I lean back in relief, and my wrist doesn't hold my weight. Crying out, I cradle it against my chest. Dare's eyes cloud over as the hand on my face drops down to support my arm.

“Everybody okay over here?”

I don't recognize the man asking, but Dare calls him Henderson. He tells Henderson that we need an ambulance, and I start to protest.

Dare silences me with a hard look. “Don't, Berkeley. Just let the paramedics take you to the hospital. Your wrist is probably broken. Okay?”

My eyes fill with stupid tears as I nod. Dammit!
Now
I'm crying?

“Oh, baby,” murmurs Dare. “I won't leave you. Never again.”

We watch as the police crawl over the scene. Chavez and his henchmen are gone. There's yellow crime scene tape going up around us, and uniformed officers are taking the statements of everyone involved. I see Dare nod to two tough-looking guys discussing something with Henderson. They both grin in return.

“Friends of yours?” I ask. I need him to talk to me as a distraction from the pain in my wrist.

He meets my eyes, and I'm home again in his light-green gaze. His stare is intense; it causes butterflies to take flight in my stomach.

He quickly fills me in on what's been happening since I was taken. All I can feel is relief at the fact I have someone like Dare in my life.

“Dare…” I begin. His eyes are aflame. “What?”

“I missed hearing you say my name.”
Oh, heaven help me.
“Why did you break up with me?” Against my will, my voice breaks on the last word.

Dare leans forward, and I close my eyes as his fingers tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear.

“I…I heard you. That night at the garden party, when you were inside with your dad. I heard what you said about me being nothing to you.” The pain in his eyes breaks my heart again in two clean pieces.

I swallow, and the vision of his face in front of me sways a bit. Well, damn. I wasn't expecting that at all.

“Those were just words to shut the Admiral up, Dare! I swear to you, I meant none of that. You
are
worth it. God, you are so worth it! I haven't spoken to my dad since that night, anyway, and I haven't needed his money. I don't want it. I want
you.
Only you.”

I'm crying quietly now. The thought that he heard those words I never even meant is tearing me up from the inside out.

“Please forgive me, Dare. Please come back to me. If you do, I swear I will stand up to my father and tell him exactly where he can shove his money and his opinion of you. I've been going insane without you, Dare. I miss you so much—”

“Stop.” He cuts me off, and both hands gently encase my face.

“You didn't mean what you said to him?” he asks. “You promise me you didn't mean that shit?” His fingers are firm on my face, his lips only inches from mine.

“I didn't mean any of it. Dare, I want you with me. So much.”

“Oh, baby.”

And that's all he gets out before his lips crash into mine.

“Excuse me?”

We break apart, and there's a paramedic standing there smiling amusedly at us. “Are you the girl with the broken wrist?”

A little dazed, I nod. “Yep. That's me.”

I can feel his eyes on me as the paramedic gingerly turns my wrist this way and that, and then she declares that it's indeed broken and I need to head to the hospital to have it set.

“Dare will take me,” I announce.

He smiles. “Damn straight. I'm not letting you out of my sight anymore.”

We're preparing to leave the loading dock when a black-haired woman is led past us in handcuffs.

“Oh, my God.” I breathe, and the officer walking with her stops. “It was you. You came to my apartment, and you…you drugged me! Why? Why'd you do it?”

The petite woman lifts her chin. “I didn't want to hurt you. But Chavez threatened my son. His son. So I did what I had to do.”

The officer nudges her, and they continue walking while I stare after her.

Dare is shaking beside me, and I reach out to grasp his hand in my good one.

“It's okay, Dare. She can't hurt me anymore.”

He meets my eyes, a determined gleam in his gaze. “No, she can't. And neither can Chavez. He's going back to prison for a long time, Berkeley.”

I lean against him as we begin walking toward the front of the building. “I know, Dare. And I have you.”

He kisses the top of my head. “Always. You'll always have me.”

B
erkeley is the proud new owner of a hot pink cast. I laughed so hard I almost choked when she picked out the color. But was I actually surprised?

Hell, no.

Since I still wasn't able to let her out of my sight, we said good-bye to her parents at the hospital. Her mother and father were actually cordial toward me, and the Admiral shook my hand and told me he'd be proud to have me in Berkeley's life.

I feel like I'm living in an alternate universe right now.

Mea and Greta greet us at the door of the apartment, and both girls sweep Berkeley up into a gentle hug, cautious of her arm.

“I was so scared, Berk-baby!” Mea's tearful gaze is locked on her friend. “Are you okay?”

Berkeley holds up her casted wrist. “Other than this, I'm good you guys. Thanks for worrying about me. Dare was my hero.”

Greta cheers. “Yay for Dare!”

I smirk and sit down on the couch, watching their reunion. “It was nothing.”

“So, what now?” asks Greta. “What happened to the people who took you?”

Berkeley sighs, sinking down next to me on the couch. I put a reassuring arm around her shoulder. “They were arrested. I'm sure it will be a long road, but I'll cooperate with their prosecution as much as I can. And that's all I can do.”

I'm still so fucking angry that she has to deal with any of this. I'm going to eventually have to sit down with Chase and have it all out. I'm trying not to feel resentful of him for bringing Chavez into Berkeley's world, but it's hard. Really damn hard.

Thinking about Chase is souring my mood, and I excuse myself to go in the bathroom and rinse my face.

Sitting on Berkeley's bed a few minutes later, my heartbeat begins to race. We haven't talked about what we expect from each other, now that we're back in each other's orbit. I'm not sure how far to push things with her tonight, and I don't have to push them at all if she's not ready. I just want her in my arms, where I know she's safe.

I'm leaning back on my elbows, just waiting for Berkeley, when the door opens and my girl is standing there to greet me.

I just sit still, drinking her up with thirsty eyes. She's wearing a long, ribbed tank top that stretches snugly over her breasts and tight, gray leggings. Her hair is exactly the way I like it best, wild and loose, like it's attempting a grand getaway. I notice now that it's a little lighter than the last time I saw her. Must be the summer sun adding those bleached streaks. She's staring right back at me, a slow fire burning in her eyes that's been lit just for me.

Fuck. Me. Slowly.

“Dare.” It's a whispered statement full of so much meaning that my throat instantly clogs. I open my mouth to respond, but I don't have time to get the words out before she rocket-launches herself into my arms.

I rise to catch her and hold on tight, because whether I want to admit it to myself or not, I
need
this girl. I need every part of her to collide with every part of me right now, and then I need to put it on repeat. Her beautiful scent washes over me, and I'm completely lost, or I'm completely found again.

“Hey, baby,” I whisper into her ear, and her whole body lifts and falls in a sigh that reverberates deep in my soul.

She's wrapped completely around me, legs circling my waist and arms clasped around my neck, so I shuffle backward against the bed. The feeling of her body fused to mine this way is something I'm probably going to patent, so I'll never lose it again.

I feel a searing kiss as her lips burn into my skin. My knees buckle slightly, but I manage to back up until my legs hit the bed and I collapse onto it with Berkley sitting astride me.

We stare into each other's eyes, not saying a word.

Finally, I can't take it anymore. I need those plump lips to be touching mine. I know that there's talking to be done, but I'm reading every word she's writing with her eyes, and right now we both agree that we can save that shit for later.

Keeping her gaze locked in mine, I reach out and grasp the wisp of hair I love, that hangs over one eye, between my fingers, tucking it behind her ear.

Then, moving as slowly as I can, I lean forward to take her lips.

Heat surges between us instantly, a heat that's always been there but we've never fully explored. Our tongues tangle furiously, her hands are up and buried in my hair and I groan my pleasure into her ready and willing mouth.

Damn
. I thought that having her limber limbs wrapped around me like she'd never let go was my new favorite state of being, but now I know that having her lips fused to mine, her tongue teasing the inside of my mouth, is something I can't ever give up again.

I want—no, I
need—
to feel her skin against mine. In the next second, I'm yanking the pink tank up and over her head. She raises her arms to oblige me, then returns her lips to mine and her hands cup my face. The tenderness in her touch makes my chest hurt. It also sends my dick into overdrive, and I push my hips against hers. She moans into my mouth, and I allow my hands to roam freely over her skin.

Running my palms up her bare back, I bring them up to her shoulders, sliding my fingers under the straps of her white, lacy bra. I slowly slide them down her shoulders and leave her mouth to trail kisses down the side of her neck. She tilts it to give me better access, and I gladly take it, sucking my way to the crook of her shoulder. Now it's her turn to rock her hips against my growing erection, and I
groan
.

Gingerly, I flip her so that she's flat on her back in the middle of the bed. I pull the cotton fabric over my head and my shirt disappears, landing somewhere unseen on her bedroom floor. I stalk her as she leans back on her elbows, smiling coyly at me.

“You know exactly what you do to me, don't you?”

Her dimples appear as she feigns confusion. I kiss the wrinkles created by her raised brows, and she giggles.

Giggles.

“That's funny?” I whisper as I lean forward. Her giggle stops abruptly, turning to a gasp as my teeth graze the fabric covering one perfectly round breast. Her nipples are quickly hardening through the fabric, forming two delicious peaks there for the taking.

She drops her head back as her hips move restlessly underneath me. “No, not funny.”

“No,” I agree. “It's not funny.” I reach around her to unclasp the barrier between us, and the bra falls away. I toss it aside and pull one nipple fully into my mouth, sucking hard.

Holy mother
…she tastes like every kind of fruity, succulent candy I wasn't allowed to eat as a kid. And the way her body jerks under mine, just because of how my tongue caresses her…it's enough to send me spinning toward the edge of pleasure.

Rearing back, I reach down to the waistband of her leggings and tug. I tug, and with each pull of the fabric I lay a chaste kiss on another exposed patch of her silky skin. When her pants are tossed in a heap on the floor, I go back to make quick—and I mean really fucking quick—work of her panties.

Now every single dream a man can possibly have is coming to life, right in front of me. Berkeley is completely bared to me, lying back on her bed like the sexy vixen she's always been, her eyes dark and smoldering, her hair wild and free. And she's looking at me like…like she wants me.

Something somewhere deep inside me speaks then, telling me that I want to open up to this girl in a way I've never opened up before. I never even told the VA therapists everything that happened in Africa. Not everything. But for this girl? For this girl I want to pour out my soul right in front of her and lay it on a platter. Just for her.

I love this girl.