Beautifully Forgotten (41 page)

Trace stood across the room from Ember after having screamed until he’d practically lost his voice. The man had a fucking gun. The fear sliced through him and fed his anger. In the time it took to blink, she could have been lying in a pool of her own blood like Heidi. The very idea of it had him itching to chain her to him.

“I’m sorry. It was reckless.”

He didn’t know if he would kiss her or kill her if he reached for her. She was his whole fucking world.

She continued to talk, but he wasn’t really hearing her words because all he could see in his head was Ember in place of Heidi in front of that diner.

“I know I’m pregnant and I need to think before I do something so careless. I promise, Trace, I won’t put the baby at risk again.”

“The baby?” He did move to her then, walking straight at her so that she had to back right up against the wall, where he caged her in with his hands on either side of her head.

“You, Ember. It’s you I don’t want put in danger. I can’t live without you. You burrowed yourself so deeply into my soul that I can’t exist without you. Don’t you get that? It’s fucking
you
I need.”

Tears sprang to her eyes and she rested her hand over his heart. “I love you too.”

He pressed his body into hers, from chest to thigh, where he held her as his mouth captured and conquered. His lips lingered a breath away when he said, “I want forever with you.”

She smiled and touched her lips to his. “Forever is a good place to start.”

Darcy watched as Trace and Lucien took the man away, but where they were going, they wouldn’t share.

“Where do you suppose they’re taking him?” Ember gave voice to Darcy’s thoughts.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, but there’s one way to find out.”

“No, I’m taking you home. I happen to agree with Lucien and Trace on this. We are way out of our depth.”

“We don’t have to get out of the cab,” Darcy said as she started down the hall to the door.

“True, we could just follow them and then go home. What could go wrong?” Ember said sarcastically, which earned her a look from both Darcy and Kyle.

“You know you’re just as curious as we are,” Darcy said to Kyle, even though she had no idea if that was true. Kyle pulled a hand through his hair. “We don’t get out of the cab. Ember, if you have to pee, you pee in the cab.”

“Okay.”

They walked outside to see Trace and Lucien flanking Nick, who looked smug, as if he didn’t truly appreciate the trouble he was in. Trace seemed to be chatting, as if they were all friends, and then his head turned in Ember’s direction and the look he gave her rattled Darcy. A few minutes later, Lucien’s car pulled up and the three climbed in.

“Come on, before we lose them.” Darcy opened the door to one of the cabs lined up outside the club.

“Definitely can’t get out of the cab,” Ember muttered before she climbed in behind Darcy. Kyle was just closing the door when Darcy said to the cabbie, “Follow the Charger, but be discreet.”

The cabbie looked back at them like it was a joke, but met three very determined stares.

“Discreet is extra.”

“Whatever, just go,” Ember said, then sat back against the seat. “I have to pee.”

Twenty minutes later, Lucien double-parked in front of a popular restaurant.

“So they’re meeting someone, I would guess, but who?” Darcy said.

“Whoever it is, he’s probably eating something yummy.”

Kyle turned to Ember, who was rubbing her belly. “Focus, Ember.”

“I’m trying, but it’s hard when your stomach is eating itself and your bladder feels like a water balloon.”

“We’re not getting out of the cab, remember?” Kyle said firmly.

Darcy looked back at the others. “They would never know we were there.”

Kyle pointed at Ember. “Not know you are there? She is like kryptonite to Trace. You saw him outside the club. He knows when she’s near.”

“He might have a point. It is uncanny how he knows when I’m around.”

“Then Ember stays in the cab.”

“I’m not leaving her here alone and I’m not letting you go in there alone.”

“I’ll be fine,” Darcy said, and smiled.

“Right, that’s what we said last time and ended up having a gun pulled on us.”

“And we handled it.”

“Together, we handled it.” Kyle turned to Ember, “Tell her . . . Ember, what’s wrong?”

Darcy looked past Kyle to Ember who looked really pale, with sweat beading on her forehead.

“I don’t feel so good all of a sudden.”

Kyle gave Ember’s address to the cabbie before he reached for her hand and held it in his own. It was cold and clammy. “I’m taking you home.”

Ember met his worried gaze. “I think that’s a good idea.”

Ember heard Kyle and Darcy in the other room, both refusing to leave her until Trace got home. She was going to need to call Dr. Cole tomorrow.

She glanced at the clock—almost two in the morning—and then she heard Trace’s deep voice. A minute later he was standing in the doorway of their room and even in the dark she could feel his worry.

“I’m okay.”

He moved silently across the room and settled on the edge of the bed.

“What happened?”

“I just didn’t feel right. One minute I was okay and the next I felt wrong. There really isn’t a better way to describe it.”

“And now?”

“Heartburn, but I’ve had that for a while.”

“You’re going in to see the doctor tomorrow.” He wasn’t asking.

“Yes.”

He pressed a kiss on her head before he walked from the room. Ember knew he was upset, so she climbed out of bed and followed him into the kitchen.

He had the refrigerator door opened, but he wasn’t reaching for anything. He was scared and she couldn’t blame him because she was scared too.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I want this child, but not at the cost of losing you.”

“I promise you that I will take it easy from now on.”

He turned to her then and she saw that lost look in his eyes; the sight of it twisted her heart painfully in her chest. “No running off to chase the bad guy. No gunplay, no walking blindly into the fucking middle of danger.”

“You have my word.”

“Remember that, because you promised me forever and I intend to hold you to that.”

By the time Darcy got home it was close to three in the morning, but she was so wired that she knew sleep wasn’t going to come. Her heart was still not beating right after the gun incident and, though it had been terrifying, it had been exciting too. They were getting close; she just knew it.

She slipped on her nightgown and then stepped into her bathroom to get ready for bed. She washed her face, and as she reached for her towel, a scream climbed halfway up her throat at the sight of Lucien in the mirror just behind her. She had given him a key, but hadn’t heard him enter. She was about to say as much, but the wild look in his eyes stopped her. And then he spoke.

“You scared the shit out of me tonight.”

“I know.”

“The thought of something happening to you . . .” He stepped closer and ran his hands down her arms. “You feel it too, don’t you? The need for release.”

Darcy’s mouth went dry. “I do.”

He held her gaze in the mirror as he slowly pulled her nightgown up over her head. He pressed a kiss on her neck and gripped the silk of her panties and moved them down her legs. His hands trailed back up her body, igniting little fires under her skin, and settled on her breasts. Watching him in the mirror, Darcy was mesmerized. His hands were beautiful, and seeing them caress her so tenderly and feeling what that caress was doing was seriously hot. He pressed his hips against her and she could feel him hard and ready. She wanted him naked and as if he could read her thoughts, he took a step back. She started to turn to help him undress, but his soft command stopped her.

“I want you to watch.”

He stepped to the side so he was fully visible to her in the mirror and started to unbutton his shirt, one button at a time, until he pulled the cotton down his arms. His tee hugged his chiseled chest and his muscled arms bunched when he reached for the back of it and yanked it forward over his head. Darcy’s heart was pounding in time with the throbbing between her legs. His fingers moved to his trousers and she bit her lip watching him slowly move the zipper down over the hard ridge that was tenting his pants in the front. His briefs came off with his trousers and Darcy moaned because the man was gorgeous. He moved his hand down his body to wrap it around his very impressive erection, and then he slid his palm up the length. The head disappeared in his big hand only to reappear a moment later when he slid his hand back down that hard shaft. Darcy squeezed her thighs together because watching him was making her ache so badly it hurt.

She watched as he pleasured himself, but his eyes were on her, moving from her breasts to between her legs. His hand moved faster and his hips jerked in response. She wanted to watch him bring himself to orgasm and then she wanted to pull him into her mouth so she could taste the evidence of his desire. He stopped suddenly and stepped closer, capturing her breasts in his hands again.

“Bend forward and spread your legs.”

He moved his feet to the inside of hers, spreading her open even farther before he positioned himself exactly where she wanted him to be. Their eyes were locked in the mirror when he slowly pushed into her. Darcy braced herself on the counter and tilted her ass back to take all of him and felt his heavy sac pressed up against her when he was fully inside her.

He held himself completely still for a moment and then his hips shifted, drawing another moan from her. She watched as one of his hands moved down her body, getting lost in the curls between her legs so that he could stroke and thrust in time. She wanted to close her eyes and savor being so thoroughly ravished, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him as he brought her to climax. She had never watched herself have sex, but she seriously loved the show.

His mouth moved to her neck, sucking hard, and she called out his name as she came. His face froze a second later and pleasure rippled over his expression. The orgasm was still tingling her nerves when he lifted her into his arms and started toward the bed.