Meadowlarks 3 : Endless (16 page)

“I…don’t know. There wasn’t anyone at the door. Just the cart!” I choke on the words, sickened.

Weston flings the door open and stands in the hallway, looking up and down in his boxers at the emptiness. “Who the…”

“Neil!” I shout, running past him and banging on the door right across the hall. “Neil! Open the door, please!”

Neil opens the door, rubbing his eyes, sleepily trying to focus on me while I push past him and absentmindedly look out the window. Searching for…who knows what.

“Sweetheart? What’s going on?” Neil asks, clearing his throat. “Who is this guy?” He thumbs toward the door.

Weston stands in the doorway, still only in his boxers, glaring at me.

“That’s Weston. Neil, did you hear or see anything just now?” I ask, biting my nails.

“Besides you screaming like a banshee and tearing my door down? Nope, not a thing.” Neil crosses his arms on his bare chest. Covering a big tattoo over his pectoral. “Hey, mean. I’m Neil.”

Weston raises an eyebrow. “Nice to meet you.” His expression doesn’t change, and he barely looks at Neil when he speaks to him. He’s keeping his weary eyes locked dead on me. “Leah…”

I look at him, trembling my lip. I need to tell Neil. I need to tell
somebody
. “Sorry, Neil. I had a bad dream, and I thought I heard something outside of my door. I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“You didn’t. Lucas did. Did he call you?”

“He did. It’s awesome, huh? Anyway…” I try to smile. “Sorry, again.”

Neil yawns and stretches as I follow Weston out of the room and back into mine. Closing the door behind him, we’re faced with my burned shoes once more. The sight terrifies me to my core and I drop to my knees.

***

Weston

“Leah! Oh, shit!” In slow motion, I reach to catch her as she falls—just barely. My hands grab her neck and under her knees, just inches from the floor. “Baby…” I set her down gently, pushing her hair from her face. “Leah!”

She’s breathing, but otherwise unresponsive.

I’m only in my boxers, so I don’t have my phone on me. I turn and scan the room, catching the glimpse of denim on the floor by the bed, I brace and begin to stand with her in my arms. No fucking way I’m leaving for a second to get it. “I got you, baby…I’m here.”

Leah’s head gently falls into my shoulder, her arm drops down and dangles in front of me. Placing her down on the bed, I keep one hand on her and reach with the other, grabbing my jeans off the floor.

“911, what is your emergency?”

“I need an ambulance…” I ramble off, too quickly, sputtering the address for Leah’s hotel and the room number.

The calming voice on the other end does her best to keep me relaxed during the agonizing wait for the paramedics. I don’t even register what she’s saying, I can’t keep my eyes off of Leah. She’s still just…there…not moving…just nothing. Her chest very faintly lifting and falling from her shallow breathing.

The knocking on the door startles me, and I glance back at Leah—not wanting to leave her to open the door. But I do. She needs them. I rush over, open the door and point to the bed.

“What happened here, sir?” One younger guy asks me, walking past me carrying a large duffle bag. He’s followed in by another.

“She…she passed out. I don’t know what happened, but I caught her before she hit the ground.” I rake my hands through my hair, and follow the two of them over to Leah.

“The ground? You moved her?”

“Yes, I moved her. I wasn’t going to leave her on the fucking ground.”

Neither of them say any more to me, they check Leah’s vitals, ramble off random medical terms to each other and once or twice tell me to give them some space.

“We’re going to take her in. Who are you in relation to Miss…”

“Marshall. Her name is Leah. I’m her boyfriend.”

“Okay, well, you can ride along with Leah, or follow us to the hospital.”

I grab my jeans, pulling them on, I follow the stretcher out the door. I didn’t even realize that another two paramedics had come into the room with one. Just as my feet enter the hallway, Neil opens his door, eyes wide and blazing.

“What the fuck!” He shouts, eyeing Leah’s motionless body on the stretcher. In a split second, his hands are on my shoulders, pushing me back into the room. “What did you do? What the fuck did you do to her, you sonofabitch!”

“Neil! Fuck, man! Nothing! Look…” I shove him off of me, he falls back and lands on his ass. “Someone fucking delivered the shoes she was wearing the night she was taken…Look at them, you asshole! They’re fucking burned!”

Neil’s eyes blink rapidly as he takes in my words and the visual of Leah’s heels. “Holy shit…holy shit! What the hell happened? Oh, God…Leah!” He gets up, falling over his own feet and runs down the hallway, just missing the elevator door closing. “Fuck!” He slams his fists on the wall.

“She passed out. They’re taking her to the hospital. Let’s go.”

Neil clenches his jaw, grips his fists at his side and nods slightly. “I swear, man…”

I don’t say anything else. He’s hurting. He loves her, and I know he needs to release his angst somewhere. On the way to the hospital, Neil calls Lucas.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“W—Weston?”

I lifted my head from Leah’s hand, sleepily opened my eyes and saw her smiling down at me.

“Leah,” I whispered. She was awake. I cleared my throat and stood up, running my fingers along her face, making sure she wasn’t an apparition. “You’re back.”

“What happened?” she asked, her voice small and raspy.

“You fainted. You’ve been out for hours.” I kiss her warm cheek.

“The shoes…” she whispers, closing her eyes.

“No, baby. Don’t….don’t worry about them, okay? I’m here. We’ll deal with this together. You’re safe. I’m not leaving you.”

A small pool fills each of her eyes, and she blinks them, trying to push away the tears. As her bottom lip begins to tremble, my heart lurches out of my chest and thrashes. I can’t stand to see her like this. I can’t begin to imagine how she must feel…and it’s all because of me.

After stealing some time to myself, I kiss her again and press the call button attached to a cord beside her bed, signaling a nurse. Giving the medical staff some space, I step back and let them assess Leah. She keeps her eyes on me the entire time.

“My dear, your heart is really goin’ in there…you sure you’re okay?” the older nurse asks, tucking a piece of Leah’s hair behind her ear.

“I’m okay,” Leah says softly, smiling quickly to the nurse and then back to me. “I’m just…feeling a little better now.”

I smile. My heart was racing too. Like an engine in a drag car, revved and circling a track, lap by lap. I just want to hold her. Keep her safe. Drag her away to a cave over my shoulder or in my arms, protecting her from the world. From bad dreams…from everything. If this
is
love. It hurts like a bitch. The feeling is so overwhelming, I could cry. Oh, shit, this is too much.

“Leah?” Neil peeks his head into the door and lights up like a Christmas tree when he sees that she’s awake. “Sweetheart…” he walks in and stands beside me, hands in his pockets.

“Hey,” she says. “You look tired.”

“Thanks! That’s just a nice way of saying I look like shit. But, it’s all your fault. You got me worried. I think I’ve sprouted some gray hairs while sitting in that waiting room.” Neil walks around the other side of her bed and holds Leah’s hand. “You ready to talk yet?”

Her smile fades. She’s not ready. My heart aches again.

“Neil…” I growl quietly. I spoke to him on the way here, about
some
of the details. I told him not to push her. She’ll talk when she’s ready…if she’s ever ready.

He ignored me. “Leah, you gotta do this…”

“Don’t push her.” I clenched my jaw and my fists. I don’t care if he cares about her. I’m feeling all too possessive and crazy right now. I might just scale the old nurse and Leah’s bed just to shut his ass up.

“Weston, it’s okay. He’s right.” Leah smiled and shrugged. “Call Detective Soloman, will you? I’m ready to talk. I can’t keep this in any longer.”

I exhaled through pursed and angry lips. But, I nodded and pulled out the cop’s card that I was given when I was questioned after her abduction.

“This is Soloman…” he answered, his voice gruff.

“This is Weston Casey. I’m at St. Michael’s hospital with Leah Marshall. She would like to speak with you.”

“Marshall? Shit. I’m all the way downtown. Give me a few, I’ll be right there.”

“He’s on the way, baby,” I said, shoving my phone and Detective Soloman’s card back into my pocket.

“Can I get you anything, dear? Some water, maybe?” the nurse asked before leaving the room.

“Yes, please. Thank you.” Leah smiled and leaned her head back to rest it on the pillow.

The nurse nodded and smile before she walked out. Her white shoes squeaking slightly on the tile floor.

“You didn’t call my mom, did you?” Leah asked Neil.

He closed his eyes. “Of course not. I wouldn’t want to flip her out, and piss you off.”

“Good, thank you.” Leah sighed. “Weston, what did you do with them?”

“The shoes?” I asked. “They’re still at the hotel. Neil and I left right after you were taken away.” The memory of her lain on that stretcher, motionless with eyes closed, will haunt me forever, I think. I’m at her side again, opposite Neil, holding her other hand. Her soft skin feels like velvet in my hands. Running my index finger up her wrist, I feel her pulse quickening. She feels it too, her eyes sparkle and a small smile curls on the corner of her mouth.

“I’m gonna…go and call Lucas. Tell him you’re okay.” Neil gets up. I think he’s got his cue. I’ve got this. Got
her
.

“Thank you, Neil.”

He kisses her quickly on the forehead, and I momentarily lapse into a small internal tantrum.
He’s gay, Weston. He’s gay. He just cares about her. That’s it. Tell your caveman alter-ego to calm the fuck down…

I don’t know if I’m cut out for this love thing. I might just want to beat every fucker who looks at her, let alone touches her in anyway. She’s famous. She’s always going to have people around her, touching her and shit…Oh, damn…I’m in trouble.

***

Against the better judgement of the hospital staff, Neil, and Lucas, I took Leah to Mark’s condo. I couldn’t take her back to her hotel. Not with those shoes there—I’d deal with them later. I also didn’t want to take her to Josh’s. He’d have too many questions, and God knows what I’d be walking her into anyway. He could be having a
Big Joshy
party again…

Neil met me at the entrance to the condo with a bag full of clothes and personal items for Leah. He handed them to me and gave me a man-hug after kissing Leah on the cheek goodbye. “Take care of her, man. Or I’ll fuckin’ hurt you.”

I grinned. I guess I didn’t hate him that much after all. “I will,” I said, wrapping my arm protectively around what was mine and walking her into the building.

Leah was quiet all the way up the elevator. She didn’t even speak when she walked into the condo or say anything when I unzipped Neil’s hoodie that she was wearing. She was still only wearing my t-shirt, her underwear and a pair of hospital pants. Neil gave her his hoodie when we were about to leave the hospital. She didn’t want to wait for him to go back and get her clothes, then bring them to her there. “I just want to get out of here,” she had said.

So, I called Soloman and told him to meet us here at Mark’s, instead of the hospital. He told me on the phone that he was still at least thirty minutes away. This gave me enough time to bathe Leah, take care of her, calm her, soothe her…and ensure her that I wasn’t going anywhere.

The warm water poured out of the tap while she sat on my lap and waited for the large tub to fill. I rested my chin gently on the top of her head and she nuzzled into the crook of my neck and chest.

“The water’s ready, baby…”

She looked up at me. Doe-eyed. Innocent. “Will you come in with me?”

This strong powerhouse singer, with a fearless and exuberant personality is now so small—fragile—hurting. I need to get her back. No matter the cost. Her life is too important to be thrown away on a psycho with a bag and penchant for torching footwear. This bitch isn’t going to take Leah from the world—from me.

Leah undressed herself and climbed into the tub, slipping beneath the water. I took off my shirt and pants and watched her intently. She bit her lip. My breath hitched. A small sign…but a hopeful one.

I sat across from her and smiled. “Water feels good, huh?”

She nodded.

I grinned.

Then, she raised her eyebrow.

“Come here.” I held my hand out and she placed hers into it. “Turn around.”

Leah whirled in the tub and leaned back into my chest. Her pinned up hair fell loosely around her face and neck, wet from the water. I brushed it off her shoulder and bent to kiss her skin. Heat radiated from her flesh, right into my mouth, warming me more than the heat of the water ever could.

“I need you,” she whispered.

“You’ve got me. I’m here.” I assured her.

Suddenly, she pressed her ass back into me, feeling my growing erection. She slowly lifted up and down, rubbing her perfect behind against me.

I bit her shoulder this time. Enough to make her gasp. Turning her head to look at me, I took her lips with my mouth. Slowly lapping and sucking. My hands moved on their own accord, around her body, caressing her breasts, rolling her nipples between my fingers.

Leah’s hand reached back and gripped me. I groaned. She stroked me up and down until I had to warn her that I was going to let go if she didn’t stop. Her eyes flared and she kissed me again.

Lifting her up, I directed her body down, filling her, stretching her, claiming her. We moaned together. Each feeling the same, yet different sensation. She was gripping me so tightly, I couldn’t think straight. Didn’t want to, anyway. My mind checked out of my body a long time ago. Probably the first time I laid eyes on her. Trailing up those boots, those legs, that ass, and then that face…Perfect, and breathtaking.