Before The Night Is Over (26 page)

“
Yes?”

“
We’ll need a formal statement, but the information you’ve already given us is enough for tonight. You and your sister are free to go. She has to stay in the area though until the official investigation is concluded.”

“
I’m taking them both back to Laurel’s apartment for now and then they’ll be at my place out on Crescent Highway.” He pulled out a business card and handed to the chief. “If you need to reach me.”

“
Much obliged, Kale. Take care of those two. They’ve had a rough night.”

He piled Laurel and Elizabeth into his truck and drove them back to Laurel’s apartment. They packed up a sleepy Kimberly, some clothes for both of them and bid Teresa goodbye, telling her where they could be reached.

“
They need to be away from here tonight,” he told Teresa.

“
You take care of those girls, Kale.” She laid her hand on his cheek and whispered, “She’s lucky to have such a man as you in love with her.”

“
Thanks, Teresa. You’ve been a godsend.”

When the lights of his place came into view fifteen minutes later, he released the breath he hadn’t been aware of holding. Laurel was tucked into his side in the middle of the seat with Elizabeth silently staring out the window on the passenger side and Kimberly behind them.

He took them all into the house, showed Elizabeth the guestroom, and tucked Kimberly onto the couch with her blanket. Once they were settled, he picked Laurel up in his arms and strode up the stairs to his room.

“
Kale, I don’t think—”

“
Don’t think right now, darlin’. I need to hold you. I could have lost you tonight and the thought scares the hell out of me.”

Bringing them both down on top of the covers on his bed, he pulled her to his side and tried to calm the tremors of his body.

“
Do you hurt anywhere?” he asked, once she laid her head on his chest and sighed.

“
Besides my jaw, my face, my arms, my legs and every other part of my body…no.”

“
How about a hot shower?”

“
No, I just want you to hold me.”

The warm drop of her tears soaked through the cotton of his shirt.

“
Don’t cry, honey.”

“
I can’t help it, Kale. I wanted to kill him. If I would have been able to get my gun from Elizabeth, I would have shot him.”

“
I know.”

“
He killed those girls.”

“
Girls?”

“
Yeah. The three murders I’ve been investigating. He told me he killed them.”

“
I’m so sorry.”

One hand snaked under the hem of his T-shirt as she pushed the material up his chest.

“
Laurel, honey, you’re hurt.”

“
I don’t care, Kale. I need you to make love to me. Make the memories go away even for a little while. Please.”

“
I can’t tell you no even if I should,” he replied, sitting up and stripping his shirt off over his head. He quickly stood and dropped his jeans to the floor, grabbed a condom from the nightstand and laid it on the top. By the time he had his clothes off, Laurel already lay naked across the quilt on his bed. “This is gonna be slow and easy.”

He cupped her face between his palms, careful not to put too much pressure on the spots where Jeff had hit her and took her lips. The slow glide of his tongue over her lips made his cock sit up and take notice, not that it hadn’t already noticed every curve and every crevice of the gorgeous woman in his bed. She groaned and flicked her tongue against his. Unable to stop the wave of desire rushing him headlong into claiming her, he pushed his tongue into the warm cavern of her mouth and rolled them over so she lay sprawled on his chest.

He pulled his mouth from hers, opened his eyes and whispered, “This way you control everythin’ so I don’t hurt you.”

“
You would never hurt me, Kale. I know that.”

She kissed her way down his chest, stopping to flick his nipple with her tongue and then nip at the tip with her teeth. He grabbed her upper arms to forestall her movements. There would be no way she could take him in her mouth with her jaw bruised and banged up.

“
What?”

“
Come up here. Put your hands on the headboard and spread those gorgeous thighs.”

He scooted down so she straddled his face, grasped her hips in both hands and then licked from slit to clit.

“
Oh, God.”

“
Good?”

“
Oh yes. Don’t stop, please.”

He stiffened his tongue and wiggled it between her pussy lips. A low moan told him she enjoyed the touch. Several flicks of his tongue on her clit and she shuddered above him. He drove two fingers deep into her pussy and concentrated on the hard little nub until she screamed his name and flooded his mouth with her sweet juice. Her breath came out in short, hard pants as he pulled her down next to him.

“
Better?”

“
A little, but I need you inside me. Fill me up, Kale.” He went to grab the condom from the nightstand, but she stalled his hand. “I’m clean. I haven’t been with anyone besides you since Dennis. I need to feel every inch of you without barriers. Please?”

“
If you’re sure.”

“
I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life as being with you.”

She crawled over his chest, straddled his hips and sank down slowly until he was buried balls deep in her sweet pussy.

“
Ride me, baby.”

“
Oh, yeah. So good.” Her fingers plucked at his nipples and he cradled her hips with his hands to help her move.

The hot wet sheath of her pussy caressed his dick like velvet with each rock of her hips. He could feel each ripple of her vagina and each shudder of her body. It felt like heaven without the barrier between them. Skin to skin, heart to heart.

Within moments, she sped up her movements against him and he could feel her pussy quiver and clamp down as her climax approached.

“
Come for me, darlin’,” he whispered, rolling her nipples between his fingers and lifting his pelvis so he could give her the maximum depth.

“
Kale,” she screamed, throwing back her head and arching her back when her climax hit.

“
Perfect. So perfect,” he said, slamming into her several more times until semen shot out of the end of his dick and he groaned in satisfaction.

“
God, we’re good together,” she murmured, lying on his chest several minutes later.

“
Yes, we are.”

“
You know, tonight taught me something.”

“
Yeah?”

“
Yes. To take what I want without worrying about what the future might bring. To take a chance again.” She pushed off his chest and stared down into his face with those gorgeous eyes. “I love you, Kale. I know I said I didn’t want a relationship and that I could never love anyone besides Dennis, but I was wrong. I need you in my life, in my bed and in my heart.”

“
Thank the Lord.”

“
Why?”

“
Because I realized tonight I love you and I don’t want to you live without you. I need you—you and Kimmy. You mean everything to me.”

With a happy sigh, she laid back down on his chest.

He threaded their fingers together and kissed the tips. “Marry me?”

She glanced up and tears sparkled on her lashes. “You want to marry me?”

“
Of course, I do. I want to live the rest of my life with you. Raise babies with you. Teach you how to ride a horse and be a rancher’s wife.”

“
But you’re an architect,” she replied with a giggle.

“
Rancher or architect, it doesn’t matter. I need you with me—always.”

Her head went back down on his chest and he held his breath as he waited for her answer.

“
I would love to marry you and do all those things you mentioned, although I’m not sure about the horse thing.”

“
You bumper sticker on your car says save a horse, ride a cowboy. How about now?”

“
Only if you swear to teach Kimmy how to ride a horse, not a cowboy, before she’s eighteen.”

“
I’ll have the shotgun ready, darlin.”

Epilogue

“
Enough with all the mushy stuff, Kale. Let’s get on with the weddin’, young man. This old woman has an appointment this afternoon,” Mrs. Oliver said, from her spot in the front of the church pews.

The rest of the guest laughed, but he only has eyes for his wife. “Hold your bloomers on, Mrs. O. I’ve got a wife to kiss.”

Kimberly bounced on the pew from her spot next to Natalie and Cade.

“
You better do a hell of a lot more than kiss her, but save it for the honeymoon. I expect me some adopted great grandbabies soon since Natalie and Cade seemed to have forgotten how it’s done.”

The snort from Cade and the giggle coming from Natalie had Kale rolling his eyes.

He couldn’t help but laugh. God, he loved Natalie’s grandmother. The woman kept them all on their toes every minute they were around her.

It had taken eight months of planning to get this far and he wasn’t about to rush through it.

“
I love you, Red,” he said, cupping her face between his palms.

“
I love you, too.”

“
Kiss, kiss, kiss,” Kimmy said as she jumped up and down on the floor. Cade kept one hand on the back of her dress to keep her from running amok.

It hadn’t been a huge wedding—just the right size. His family, Natalie and Cade, and her sister along with the few friends she’d made in town during the last eight months of living with him. Laurel didn’t want a big wedding anyway, she’d said, and he wanted to give her everything.

“
Shall we do as our daughter wants?” he asked, watching her eyes light up with love.

“
Oh, I don’t know, Mr. Dunn,” she replied, coyly dropping her gaze to his chest and then glancing up through her lashes.

“
No?”

“
I’m going to do what I want.” She dropped her voice to a mere whisper. “Lick you. Suck you and drive you insane since you’ve done nothing but tease me for the last week telling me we can’t have sex until after the wedding.”

He released a low growl and yanked her up against his chest. He cupped her ass cheek with one hand, while the other tangled in her loose strands of hair down her back. He brushed his lips over hers and then drove his tongue between her lips.

“
Yeah, baby! Whoot! Whoot! Whoot!” Mrs. Oliver shouted from her spot in the pews.

He couldn’t hold back his roar of laughter no matter how tempting his red-headed wife looked in her finery and how much he wanted to bend her over the pulpit. Laurel laughed right along with him. After a much too quick kiss, he released her and tucked her hand through the crook of his arm.

“
May I present, Mr. and Mrs. Kale Dunn,” the preacher said.

He glanced at Laurel and then looked out over the group of friends and family in front of them. “You’re gonna get your wish earlier than you probably anticipated, Mrs. Oliver.”