High-Sided: An Armed & Dangerous Novel (28 page)

“Dinner was amazing,” Kassie gushed, finishing off her steak.

All through the meal, I couldn’t help but stare at her. She was so beautiful. Her dark hair was curled and her skin was tanner than what it’d been a couple weeks ago. If we weren’t stuck in Franklin trying to solve a case, I would’ve taken her to Wyoming to meet Hadley and Blake. That would’ve been the best birthday present – to meet her favorite country singer.

Instead of going out, I grilled us some steaks and baked sweet potatoes with steamed broccoli. Taking her empty plate, I set it in the sink. “That’s not all.” I grabbed our dessert out of the refrigerator and placed it in front of her—a piece of chocolate cake from Café REL.

Her eyes lit up. “I think I’m in heaven.” I handed her a fork and we devoured it. “Any word from Gary on Janie’s car?”

“You want to talk about this on your birthday?” I asked.

She nodded. “I have to know.”

Once she grabbed up the last bite of cake, I took the plate. “All they could find was a rusty brake line. They’re calling it an accident.”

“Do you believe it was?”

I shrugged. “There are no signs of tampering with the line. It could’ve seriously been an accident. I just don’t see how it got rusted like that.”

“Neither do I,” she said, thrusting the fork full of cake into her mouth.

There was a piece of chocolate icing on her lips and I smiled, eager to lick it off. When she didn’t bother to wipe her mouth, I leaned forward and sucked her lip, her moan music to my ears. I kissed her slowly at first, then deepened it, loving the way she dug her nails in my back.

“Are you trying to distract me?” she murmured.

I nibbled her lip. “Is it working?”

“Maybe.”

“Good,” I said, taking her hands. “I don’t want you spending your birthday worrying about what’s going on around here. It’s your special day.”

Her grin widened. “Does that mean I get special presents?”

I helped her up and scooped her into my arms. “Maybe. You’ll just have to come to my room to receive them.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck, her lips at my ear. “Take me there. I owe you a little something for getting me my cake.” She licked my earlobe and sucked it between her teeth.

I carried her to my room, my cock straining against my jeans. When I set her down, she nodded toward the bed, biting her lip provocatively. “I’m beginning to think it’s
my
birthday.” I laughed.

Entwining my hands behind my neck, I laid back on my pillows and watched her slowly take off her shirt and skirt, letting them fall to the floor. I wanted to feel every inch of her, inside and out; to see her back arch, pushing her breasts higher as I fucked her with my fingers. I’d never felt another woman’s body as perfect as hers.

Climbing onto the bed, she straddled me, wearing only a pair of pink, lacy thongs that matched her light pink bra. I fingered the pink strap and smiled. “I think I like this. Please tell me you have it in other colors.”

With a smirk, she slowly slid her hand down my stomach and unbuttoned my jeans. I kicked them off and slid out of my T-shirt as well. My cock was so hard, it fucking hurt. She reached into my boxers, wrapping her hand around me; I thought I’d go insane. “You’ll just have to find out,” she uttered breathlessly.

“Gladly.”

Licking her lips, I knew what she was planning to do the moment she slid my boxers down my legs, and oh God, how much I wanted to feel her mouth on me, sucking me as hard as she could. But today was all about her.

She shrieked as I flipped us over and basically ripped off her underwear and unclasped her bra, taking it off as fast as I could. I bent down to suck on her perfectly taut nipples, one after the other, the tips getting larger the more I teased them. Moaning, Kassie spread her legs wide and pushed her hips up against mine. I intentionally kept my cock as far back as possible so I could tease her.

“Please,” she begged, trying to move down in search of the friction she desired. When I pressed my weight into her and bit her bottom lip, she opened her closed eyes and gasped.

“Uh-uh, not yet,” I murmured. I trailed my tongue down her stomach, stopping between her legs. Right there in the middle was the sweetest taste of all, the one thing I craved. So wet and swollen.

I groaned in anticipation because I knew the first taste would be the best. Sealing my lips around her clit, I felt her body tighten. She moved her hips against my face as I moved down a little further and fucked her with my tongue, burrowing as deep as I could.

“Logan, please,” she begged. “I need you. Make love to me.”

Ignoring her request, I pushed a finger inside of her, flicking my tongue on her clit. The wetter she got, the more I wanted. Spreading her legs wider, I sat up and rubbed my cock around the wetness of her opening, and without warning, entered her.

Gasping, she screamed out a pleasured cry and wrapped her legs around my waist. Reaching for me, she pulled me down. Taking her face in my hands, she gazed back at me with hooded eyes and lifted her mouth to kiss me. I opened her lips further with my tongue, tasting her … claiming her. She was mine again.

Moaning in my ear, she dug her nails into my back and her body clenched so tight around my dick, I was close to exploding. The tighter she got, the harder it was to keep going. Her moans grew louder, and as soon as she let go, I pumped into her hard, filling her up deep inside. It was unreal how much I craved Kassie’s touch. I’d spent years without it, and now I couldn’t get enough.

Breathing hard, I gently pulled out of her and slid off the bed.

“Where are you going?”

I walked over to my dresser and grabbed the small box I had hidden in my top drawer. “I wanted to give you one of your birthday presents.”

She giggled. “One of them?”

Sitting on the bed, I handed her the present. “It’s something I wanted to give you many years ago. I just never got the chance to do it after my accident.”

She opened the box and pulled out a small, silver heart locket. A tear slid down her cheek when she noticed a date engraved on the back. The day we met, the day I knew she would be mine. “Logan, it’s beautiful,” she whispered. “You bought this before the accident?” Nodding, I took it and clasped it around her neck. “I can’t believe you kept it all these years.”

“I guess you can say there was a part of me that hoped I’d be able to give it to you. I know it’s not much, but I have a lot more planned for you. I promise.”

Her fingers caressed my face and I wiped away her tears. “I don’t need anything else. As long as I have you, I’m happy.”

“You’ve got me, Kassie.”

She brushed her lips against mine. “And you’ve got me.”

I
wanted to scope out the diner to see who was meeting Micah, but I didn’t want anyone to see me. Instead, I hurried to my cabin and fired up my laptop, so I could connect to Micah’s wire. The background noises were loud. Whoever it was picked one of the busiest places in the county to meet. It made no sense.

“Can I take your order?” one of the waitresses asked Micah.

“Fried steak with mashed potatoes, please,” Micah answered. His order made me hungry; it sounded delicious. A few minutes passed and he got his food.

“All right, where are you?” I grumbled. By the time Micah finished his meal and paid, an hour and a half had passed. The fucking bastard didn’t show. I wished Micah could hear me, but it was a one-way connection. His truck started up, tires squealing as he raced down the road.

“What a pile of shit,” Micah hissed. His phone rang and he huffed. “Yeah?”

“Sorry I stood you up,” a man replied. His voice was muffled, but I could still hear him when I focused on it.

Micah scoffed. “What do you want?”

“I want what you want . . . among other things.”

“Who are you?” Micah asked.

“That’s not important. All I need to know is how far you’ll go.”

“Depends. What are you offering?”

Micah was doing good, his attitude, perfect. The man sounded like he was talking through a sweatshirt, but that could’ve been my connection through the microphone.

“How about money?” he replied.

“I’d say right around a million. Can you do that?”

The man laughed. “Of course I can. Once I get the ransom money, anything’s possible. I just need someone like you to get the job done. From what I can tell, you’re not afraid of anything.” Ransom money? If I was dead, the only person he could ask for ransom would be Richard.

“You’re damn right I’m not,” Micah gloated. “I fucking despise that Chandler piece of shit. He’s done nothing but try to make my life a living hell. I’d have zero problems ending the motherfucker.”

Good one, Micah.

“I can give you that chance,” the man promised. “Do this one thing for me and I’ll give you enough money to skip town and start a new life.”

“What’s in it for you?” Micah demanded. “Why don’t you kill him yourself?”

“Let’s just say, I have my reasons.”

“So you’re scared. You’ve never killed a man before.” Everything went quiet.

“Sure, we’ll go with that. Now, are you going to do this or not?”

Micah huffed. “Fine, what do I have to do?”

“I want you to kill Logan. Once he’s out of the way, you can get to Kassidy Bennett.” The second he said her name, anger boiled in my veins. No one was going to fucking touch her.

“Kassidy’s the brown-haired bitch he’s with all the time, right?”

“Yes,” the man said cautiously. “I don’t want her harmed. All you need to do is take her to a designated spot, and when the time comes, kill her father. I’ll handle everything from there.”

Micah snorted. “And how do you want this done?”

“There’s a package I left in the woods, close to your place. Everything you need will be inside it. Look for a red
X
on a tree, the package will be two trees over to the right, buried in a small patch of dirt.”

“I guess you’ve thought of everything.”

He chuckled. “What can I say? I’ve been waiting for this moment a long time. When you get to the package, call me. There’ll be a phone for you to use.” The man hung up and I sat there, stunned. The fucker wanted me dead.

“Dude, if you couldn’t hear that conversation, I have a shit ton to tell you. This is fucked up. I don’t know what you did to piss this person off, but he wants you dead. We need to figure out how we’re going to do this.”

The sooner, the better. I was ready to get to the bottom of it.

“Logan, as soon as I find this package and call the fucker back, I’ll call you. I don’t think riding over there will be a good idea.” I agreed with him.

A few minutes later, I heard him get out of his truck. “I’m back at my house and walking into the woods. I see the tree with the red X.” I waited a little while longer. “Found it. There’s a phone and a fucking gun.” That was easy enough. “Wait, there’s something else.” Heart pumping, I shook impatiently. “A piece of paper with directions, and some kind of pills. Probably a sedative.”

No doubt to give to Kassie. I wasn’t about to give those to her. “That’s not gonna happen,” I hissed.

“Write this down.” He gave me the directions from the piece of paper. There wasn’t a specific address, just that there was an abandoned cabin, deep in the woods. Getting the police involved wasn’t going to be easy. “I’m calling the bastard back,” Micah said.