Before The Night Is Over (22 page)

Kimberly nodded, stuck her thumb in her mouth and put her head on Teresa’s shoulder.

“
You’re a lifesaver, Teresa.”

The ride to the hospital gave her a moment to think and time to calm down. It wouldn’t do Elizabeth any good if she lost her temper and killed her sister’s husband. As it was, the asshole could have pressed charges against her for hitting him at the bar. She wasn’t surprised he hadn’t, really. The man didn’t have any balls.

Laurel parked her car and took a deep breath. The hospital would handle it. They had to report it just like she had to if she suspected abuse. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t or couldn’t do anything unless Elizabeth pressed charges and this time, she would if Laurel had anything to say about it.

She walked into the waiting room and approached the glass window.

“
Can I help you?” the woman behind the desk asked.

“
They brought my sister in a little bit ago. An assault. I want to see her.”

“
Let me call back there and find out if it’s okay.”

Laurel tapped her foot impatiently while she watched the woman talk on the phone for several minutes. The woman kept glancing at her fretfully and she had to wonder what the deal was.

“
I’m sorry, but I can’t let you back there.”

“
What do you mean, you can’t let me in? She’s my sister,” Laurel snarled at the receptionist sitting behind the desk.

“
I’m sorry, ma’am, but the patient has requested no visitors except her husband.”

“
No fucking way! The man beat the hell out of her!”

“
Laurel?”

She spun around to find the last person she needed to see, but the only person she wanted there. “Kale,” she whispered, throwing herself against his chest and wrapping her arms around his neck.

“
God,” he murmured in her hair. “It scared the hell out of me when I heard your address on the scanner.”

Kisses rained over the crown on her head and she fought the tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.

“
What’s going on?” he asked, pushing her back so he could look into her eyes. The small sniffles she wasn’t able to hold in made his eyes narrow and search her face. “Is it Kimmy? Is she hurt? Please tell me she’s not hurt.”

“
She’s fine. It’s Elizabeth.”

“
Your sister?”

She nodded stiffly and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “When I pulled into the parking lot of my apartment, she was sitting on the steps. She lost consciousness. He could have killed her, Kale.”

“
Easy, darlin’.”

“
She won’t let me go in with her. If I’m not there, she won’t tell—she won’t press charges. I know her.”

“
Honey, there isn’t anything you can do. She’s an adult. She can make those decisions for herself,” he said.

The anger returned in full force as she pushed against his chest, forcing him to let her go. “Then I’ll take care of the problem for her.” Her steps took her toward the door and her car. The police revolver in her glove box called to her.

Go blow the fucker’s brains all over the wall.

“
Laurel, wait. Come on.” Kale followed her outside and around the side of her car. “You can’t do that, sugar,” he said, taking her keys from her hand like he knew exactly what she’d planned. “Think of Kimmy. If you shot him, you would go to jail and no one would be there to take care of her.”

Kimberly meant everything and what he said was true.

“
What am I going to do, Kale? Eventually, he will kill her.”

“
You can’t do anythin’, darlin’, unless she wants you to,” he replied, wrapping his arms around her. “All you can do is be there for her and hope she comes to her senses.”

“
How can a man beat on a woman like that?” she asked, looking into the deep brown of his eyes—wanting—no needing him to reassure her not all men were animals.

“
I don’t know, Laurel. I wish I did. I’ve seen it a few times myself and I don’t understand it from either side.”

Silence enveloped them for several minutes while she battled the demon on her shoulder telling her to take matters into her own hands and the angel in the form of a rugged cowboy, keeping her calm.

The calluses on his fingers along her jaw had her thinking of something besides killing her brother-in-law and she fought with herself over whether she should take solace in his arms. Her heart won out. “Come home with me, Kale.” His eyes asked the question she wasn’t ready to answer, except only for now. She needed him tonight. “Please?”

“
Sure.”

“
Let me tell the receptionist I’m leaving so they can get a message to Elizabeth since she won’t see me.”

“
I’ll come in with you.”

“
I’m okay, Kale.”

“
I want to be there for you, Laurel,” he told her as he grasped her hand and entwined their fingers.

She nodded and walked inside the hospital with him by her side.

They returned to her apartment with Kale following behind her car in his truck. She didn’t know what she planned, but the need for him to hold her tonight and chase away the demons, ruled everything.

She quickly unlocked the door, but the chain held so it would only open part way.

“
Laurel?”

“
Hey, Teresa. Yeah, it’s me and a…friend.”

The door closed and the chain slid back.

She glanced at Kale and felt the heat from a blush creeping up her cheeks.
I’m blushing? Seriously?

“
How is your sister?” Teresa asked when they stepped inside.

Laurel scowled. “I don’t know. She refused to let me in once I got there.”

“
No.”

“
Yes and the only person they told me she’d let back there was dick-wad.”

“
I’m sorry, honey,” Teresa replied, patting her shoulder. “I know how much you want to help her.”

“
Teresa, this is Kale Dunn. Kale this is Teresa, my friend, savior and neighbor.”

“
Nice to meet you handsome,” Teresa replied.

Red crept up Kale’s neck and splashed across his cheeks at the compliment. “Nice to meet you, too, Teresa. Thank you for helping Laurel so much.”

“
Oh, it’s my pleasure. I’d do more if I could.” One painted on eyebrow arched over her right eye and a little grin played on her lips. “I’m gonna go on home now. You two have fun and just remember, these here walls are a bit thin so keep down the moans and groans. You do have a supply of condoms, right?”

Her wicked little cackle had Laurel smiling for the first time in what seemed like days and Kale roaring in laughter.

“
Teresa!”

“
What? I’m thinking of you, honey. I mean you’re gonna have this hunk of a man in your bed tonight, right? Be prepared, I always say. Have fun you two,” she said before she disappeared out the door with a very final snap of the latch.

“
You’ll have to excuse her.”

“
Why’s that? I like her.”

Laurel shook her head, glancing at the tips of her tennis shoes. “You would. She’s got such take-no-shit attitude.”

“
Wait until you meet Natalie’s grandmother. Oh my, she’s a hoot. If we go out there on Sunday, you’ll meet her. She definitely gave me and Cade the what for when we were dating Natalie.”

The image of Cade making love with Natalie flashed across her mind and jealousy zipped down her spine.
I can’t be jealous. To have those feelings means I care more than I’m willing to admit.

“
What’s wrong, darlin’?” he asked, pulling her into his arms.

“
Nothing.”

“
Uh-uh. Spill it.”

She licked her lips and ran her finger over the front of his T-shirt. His fingers under her chin brought her face up and he looked deep in her eyes.

“
There’s no need to be jealous of what happened between me and Natalie. It will never happen again.”

“
I’m not,” she murmured, but she knew he could see the lie in her gaze.

“
I’m a one woman man, Laurel. If you and I are together, there will be no one else.”

“
If?”

“
Are you saying you want there to be an us?”

“
I don’t know what I want, Kale, except you in my bed tonight. Don’t ask me what happens afterwards.”

“
If it’s all you can give me for now, I’ll take it.”

All of the sudden his lips and his hands were everywhere. His kiss wasn’t soft and coaxing, but hard and demanding. Both of his hands tightened in her hair and tipped her head as he slipped his tongue between her parted lips when she gasped. He commanded her acceptance and dominated her body with each stroke of his tongue. Her nipples tightened into almost painful knots of need. Her pussy wept with want and desire, readying her for the eventual completion of the teasing and touching they’d done over the last few days.

One of his palms cupped her breast through her shirt and teased the hardened nub with soft touches.

“
God, I need you,” he growled when he lifted his head.

The heat in his gaze scorched her skin as if he’d touched her with a branding iron. Chills ran down her arms and her whole body trembled.

“
Do what you will, Kale. I want this. I want you.” After what she hoped appeared to be a teasing look, she took his hand in hers and led them down the hall to her room. When the door closed behind them, she reached for him and wrapped her hand behind his head to coax his mouth to hers.

His tongue swept inside, stroking hers, rubbing over the ridges on the roof of her mouth, along the sides of her cheeks, and tangling again with her tongue in the age old erotic dance of lovers. His hands cupped her ass and yanked her up against his chest. When his lips left her mouth to slide over her cheek, she moaned deep in her throat and arched her neck, giving herself over to him in every way a woman can.

“
So good,” she whispered, loving the feel of this man in her arms.

The softness of his lips along the column of her throat and the scrape of his whiskered cheek over her skin felt like heaven and hell at the same time—heaven from the wicked nips of his teeth and hell from the torturous slow lick of his tongue. She wanted it, all of it.

Planting her hands on his shoulders, she pushed back, forcing him to abandon her neck. The question in his eyes had her reassuring him. “Nothing’s wrong. I just want to feel your skin against mine. Take the shirt off,” she said, tugging at the hem.

“
You first.”

They raced to see who could get naked the fastest and Kale won by a long shot as he gave her a heart-stopping grin and flipped his boot across the room. The primitive growl he released sent heat spiraling through her belly and cream dampening her panties. “Let me help you with those,” he said, hooking the edges of her underwear with his thumbs and peeling them down her legs. “Oh my. What have we here?”

The rough pad of his tongue danced over her abdomen. A soft moan escaped her mouth and she threaded her fingers through his dark hair. Her belly clenched and her skin quivered when he nipped at the skin and then soothed the bite with soft licks.