License to Love (52 page)

“Jerry loved his daughter, and I didn’t want to see him
prosecuted. I thought we could work it out. Now I’m fully cooperating with the
police to find Cora.”

“What about your own son? Do you believe he is in any
danger?”

“I think this young woman has him fooled. I hope we can find
them both and bring him home safely.”

Adam roughly hit the power button, rocking the TV set and
turning the screen black. The day had been the longest of her life, but this
was just the beginning of this nightmare.

“We’re on our own.” Adam slammed himself down in a chair.
“And outnumbered.”

“You’re sure there’s no way Alexander knows about this
place?” Cora asked, her arms folded as if she was standing in a cold wind.

“I rented it just two weeks ago,” Nick told her. “I turned
the alarm on, and we’ll keep a close watch tonight.”

“He got into your father’s house...I don’t think an alarm
system will keep him out.”

Nick pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her,
“No one’s hurting you here, I promise. Alexander knows the codes to Keith’s
alarm system, he doesn’t know mine.”

She wasn’t helping them with her doubts. “You’re right.”
Cora spoke quietly but with steel determination. “We can’t give up hope. I’ve
always had the odds against me, but I’ve never given up. Our only chance is to
start with faith and believe we’ll make it.”

In unison, Herald and Adam nodded. Nick kissed the top of
her head and said, “Let’s decide on a plan.”

“First, let’s get something to eat.” Adam ransacked Nick’s
kitchen and found some frozen dinners in the freezer. They ate quietly around
his kitchen table.

“We’ll rest, refuel, and then we’ll be able to think
better,” Nick said. “There’s no point in all of us staying awake all night
long.”

Herald nodded while covering a yawn.

“Get some rest, Herald.”

“Trying to tell me I’m old?” His friend joked, “Because I’m
not arguing.”

“You too, bro,” Adam said, “I’ll take the first watch and
wake you in a few hours.”

“You sure?”

Adam nodded and looked at Cora. It was a quick look but she
still caught it. They were all taking care of her. Nick stood and pulled Cora
to her feet. “Thanks, Adam. Herald.”

He reached his arm around her shoulders and gently led her
off to rest. Luckily Nick had already moved in a few pieces of furniture, so
Herald had a couch to sleep on. Adam took to a chair with a book, while
promising Cora that no one could get past the alarm, through the dead bolts,
and through him.

Nick took her to the master bedroom. It contained a queen
size bed and a small box of clothes.

“I’ll find you something else to sleep in, if you’d like.”

“Thank you...and maybe a toothbrush?” She paused after she
realized what it could imply, especially once she noticed Nick’s quick
up-and-down glance at her. “I’m serious; I can’t sleep without brushing my
teeth.”

He went into the bathroom and opened a drawer. He pulled out
a toothbrush still in the packaging. She was leaning on the doorframe of the
bathroom, and he paused inside the door to caress her face. He traced her jaw
line and ran a finger across her bottom lip. The touch awakened something
inside her and helped bring her back from the shock of the day. Tingles ran
down her neck. She let her eyes flutter shut. His finger slid down her neck,
causing a reaction.

 “Somebody’s ticklish,” he teased, while walking his fingers
behind her ear. It had been a game, but then his hand reached the back of her
head and he suddenly pulled her close and kissed her on the mouth.

It was soft and slow, like a hello and welcome back, but it
was also a smoldering fire. She suddenly wanted him. When she pulled back, she
saw his brown eyes were glazed with desire.

“Alright, out of here, cowboy, and let me change.” She shut
the door and took a deep breath. It wasn’t the cooling breath she hoped for.
This was basic need, combined with some new emotional pull. She thought she
sacrificed her chance with Nick when she ran away to find Jerry, but now they
were together. Now she knew he had been on her side all along. He had gotten
involved to help her.

She brushed her teeth and pulled on the clean clothes he’d
given her. He waited in the hallway, leaning against the wall with his hands in
the pockets of his shorts. He still hadn’t shaved and it made him look even
sexier. His dark eyes glittered with excitement as they caught the light from
the bathroom. She reached up and felt his jaw, reveling in the texture.

“Don’t leave me alone tonight.” Her tone was drastically
different from minutes before.

“I can’t refuse that.” He took her hand and walked into the
bedroom. A single candle lit the room with soft, warm light.

“Will you be okay alone for a minute?” he asked, pulling the
blankets down for her.

She smiled and nodded as she sank into the bed. Wow, the
sheets were soft and the pillows fluffy. She lay down and pulled the blankets
up. They smelled like new sheets and not Nick, and that disappointed her.

The vixen in her came out and she thought about stripping
and waiting for him naked. (A tad obvious?)  It didn’t feel right though, not
when her dad was fighting for his life and they were still on the run. Not to
mention, Herald and Adam were also in the house.

She wanted to feel his naked body against hers. It wasn’t
completely sexual; something about the thought felt simple and comforting, but
of course it still raised her body temperature.

Nick walked into the room and shut the door. When he paused
next to the end of the bed, she heard his shorts slide to the floor. His
thoughts couldn’t be completely innocent right now, either. It’d be interesting
to hear his thoughts, and somehow know how he’d react to the images flashing
through her mind.

She lay on her side, facing the inside of the bed. Watching
her, he slid in from the other side to lie facing her. She imprinted her brain
with a vibrant picture of him in blue boxers. Just blue boxers, a nice six pack
and a light dusting of chest hair.

He could be one of those underwear models. Not that she
wanted other women salivating over him the way she was right now.

He smiled, slow and sexy, as he laid his head on his pillow
and slid his arm underneath, the way she was laying on her side. He reached
with his free arm and traced a line down her arm, from her wrist to inner
elbow, and then to her collar bone. The slow, sensual caress changed the mood
sharply. She focused her attention on Nick’s warm brown eyes watching her,
caressing her visually, and on his full mouth so close. So kissable.

She gave in and touched him, running her finger along his
bottom lip, the way he’d teased her before. He accepted the invitation. His
hand slide down from her shoulder to the dip of her waist and over her hips.
Even over her clothes, his hand sent quivers through her and sparked heightened
sensitivity deep inside.

“You’re so beautiful and you don’t seem to know.” He traced
back up her body, following the same path over her curves. Her body responded
and ached for him. He traced every feature on her face, not letting her look
away or hide from his warm eyes.

“Stop telling me sweet things and kiss me.”

He smiled slightly before he slid over to cover her. He had
rolled her body with his so she was laying on her back and looking up at him,
waiting and wanting. He lowered his head to meet her lips, pausing there with
his body lightly against hers. The contact was just enough to make her want to
scream for more and push up into him.

She murmured her protest. Then, finally, his lips caressed
hers softly and she pulled him closer, exhilaration filling her and making it
easy to forget the circumstances that brought them together. He kissed like a
hungry man, hungry for her. 

The room felt hot, a good steamy hot.

“You’re making me lose my mind,” Nick said, his voice rugged
and his breath catching. “And I’m enjoying it.” 

She slid her hands around him and up his back, feeling his
muscles tense.

Nick pulled her shirt up enough to nuzzle his face into her
stomach, kissing her there, mumbling words she couldn’t understand, though the
emotion in his voice spoke loud and clear.

She felt fire burning through her. Grabbing his hair, she
had to bite her lip to keep her cry in. How was it he could drive her this far
over the edge while they still had their clothes on? Dying for more of him, she
wrapped her legs around his body while he kissed her stomach and grazed her
skin with his stubble.

Nick raised his head and looked at her face in the
candlelit. “Is this okay?”

She writhed and tried to answer. He kissed her stomach again
it felt like an electric shock driving through her. “Nick!”

He moved up by her face. “Are you trying to be quiet?” His
lips held a very satisfied little smile.

“I can’t handle any more teasing.”

His expression sobered. “But is this okay? Now?”

“I’ve been thinking about it, about you, all week. I didn’t
want to leave you up there.”

He twirled a strand of her hair. “I know that now and it’s
okay. It’s behind us now.” He locked gazes with her and looked so earnest and
focused on her.

She’d seen that yesterday, that it was okay and he wasn’t
angry about it even though he had every right to be after she ran off. “Okay,”
she said, leaving it at that.

“So,” he said, memorizing her face. “You thought about me
all week?”

With his body so close, his heat warming her, his breath on
her, she couldn’t help wiggling against him. “You didn’t?”

At that, he gave her a wide smile. “Oh, I probably shouldn’t
tell you the things I’ve been thinking about. Although…I could show you.”

He bent to kiss her neck, teasing his way to her ear while
his hands wrapped around her waist. She liked teasing. She wanted to see what
he had been dreaming up but right now she needed fulfillment.

“Let’s get fancy later,” she breathed. “I need you.”

He rose up, grabbed the bottom of her T-shirt, and pulled it
up. She lifted enough to allow him to slip it off. Her next thought was her
shorts, and getting them off. As if he was reading her mind, he dropped down
and began trailing his mouth down her body. She couldn’t hold in the cry this
time. Instead, she had to cover her mouth with her hand and hope no one heard.

He wasn’t being quiet, either.

“Nick!” she said his name again, pulling two fists of his hair.
His fingers slipped into her shorts, sliding over the sensitive skin of her
lower abdomen and thighs as he pulled them down, sending her desire to a
frantic level, her back arching off the bed.

His boxers came off in lightning speed and he lay over her,
looking into her eyes. He looked delirious with desire too, his face almost
pained in concentration. His mouth came down on hers as she wrapped her legs
around him, begging him.

It turned out he didn’t need convincing. He came down onto
her, into her. She lost it, giving herself up in mind blowing, wet release,
gasping at the wave of endorphins surging through her body.

“Cora?” He paused, his entire body shaking – vibrating –
from the effort.

“More, Nick!”

Nick awoke to Adam softly tapping on his door to wake him
for his watch. At first Nick didn’t hear it, and when he did he was surprised
that he had been able to pull himself out of that dead-to-the-world state of
bliss.

He slid back from Cora and out of bed, resisting the urge to
kiss her cheek. She needed a good night’s rest.

“I’ll be right out,” he said to the door while finding his
shorts and shirt.

In the hallway, Adam told him, “Herald and I talked for a
while. He’s got an extra mini 9mm.”

“What are you saying?” Nick wasn’t sure if Cora would want a
gun.

“Just ask her, and show her how to use it. You never know,
bro. What if she needs a way to protect herself and has nothing?”

He wouldn’t be able to live with that. “I’ll talk to her in
the morning.”

Adam nodded, and only then did he give Nick a knowing
glance. “Now that you’ve enjoyed some beauty sleep…I’m going to catch some
zzz’s.”

From Adam’s smile, Nick guessed he was happy for him. He
went to the front room and began silently looking around, ensuring the doors
and windows were locked, the alarm was on, and there wasn’t anyone lurking
around. The house was silent and dark. Several motion activated lights
surrounded the house near the doors and windows. They were hidden so they
weren’t visible until someone walked by and turned them on.

He’d brought his own gun into the house, but he prayed they
wouldn’t need it. Using a gun was his last resort. Alexander had pushed him
that far by trying to kill Jerry. Hopefully the police would come through for
them and finish this.

He left his family behind, thinking he could never change
them. He now had a responsibility to stop them from hurting anyone else.

Thinking about Jerry, and if he would make it, put a huge
weight on his shoulders. No matter what Jerry’s involvement and level of knowledge
was, he didn’t deserve this. Cora deserved so much more.

Cora. He’d been trying not to think about the passion they’d
shared. He tried to keep his mind clear and focused, but it wandered now, right
back to the bedroom where she slept and to the bed where she’d lost all control
over him. He’d gotten lost in her eyes, in her touch, and in the way she
responded to him. This wasn’t the time or place for letting go like that, but
he hadn’t been able to control himself, and she hadn’t either.

One way or another, he’d make sure the Holloways and
Alexander never bothered or scared her again.

Nick returned to bed an hour before the sun rose so he could
be with Cora when she woke up. He pulled off his shirt and slipped into bed,
curling around her. Lucky for him, she hadn’t woke up and pulled her shirt back
on yet.