Blackmailed (22 page)

He looked into her pain-laced blue eyes. “Forget it. Someone just

tried to kill you. I’m not leaving you alone for one minute.” He turned to

the group of police and spoke to Tyler. “We’re going to St. Michael’s.”

Tyler raised a hand before tucking it back under his armpit. “I’m

giving these guys about two more minutes, then they’re going to have to

follow me there.”

“Yeah, right.”

It was dark when they finally got home. Cole had asked Freddy to

drop off some clothes for all of them and his car, so at least he’d been

able to bring her home when it was time. Tyler had stopped by and

stayed for a good hour, but then he’d taken off after seeing Bri was going

to be fine. He was scheduled to meet with Bri’s father tonight to discuss

a few things about their arrangement.

Cole had seen how much it hurt Tyler for him to have to leave her the

way things were. His eyes had been filled with both hatred and anxiety.

The same things Cole was feeling. Now, as the adrenaline wore off, he

began to see things a little clearer. He had no doubt Tyler would find

whoever was behind the attack on Bri. If it was Caroline, she was going

to be sorry she’d ever laid eyes on Cole.

With a sigh, he got out and rounded the hood of the SUV. He opened

the back door to find Bri lying on her good side, her eyes closed. She was

wearing a pair of green scrubs a nurse had rounded up for them at the

hospital. They were about two sizes too big on her slender frame, but at

least he hadn’t hurt her much when he’d helped shove her arms into the

sleeves. He would never have been able to do that with the shirt Freddy

had brought for her. He didn’t even know where the man had found it.

One arm dangled toward the floor, a shoe clutched in her fist. He

smiled at the image she presented.

Somehow he managed to gently tug her into a sitting position and lift

her out of the car.

She hummed against his throat, practically purring. “Mmm. You

smell sooo good.”

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Blackmailed

Cole cradled her slight weight to keep from pulling on her side where

she’d just gotten sixteen stitches to repair the knife wound. It hadn’t

been as severe as the amount of blood had led them to believe, but no

way would he let the size of the cut keep him from wanting to kill the

bastard who did this to her.

He’d paled every time the doctor had placed a stitch, and gotten

warned more than once to sit down before he fainted. He winced every

time she half-consciously groaned, and tried really hard not to punch the

doctor who’d patched her up. In retrospect he’d been hurting more than

she had, with the painkillers they’d given her.

He adjusted her in his grip when she kicked her leg out, nearly

unbalancing them. A bare foot, complete with pink-painted toenails,

attracted his attention.
I wonder if she’s still got the other shoe.
Maybe

that’s what she’d been talking to in the back of his SUV.

Five minutes into the trip, he’d given up trying to make sense out of

her conversation. She, on the other hand, had chatted very happily to

whatever she could see. Very happily. Cole grinned despite the

seriousness of the situation then froze mid-stride, his body hardening to

the point of pain in a nanosecond.

“You taste good too,” she whispered as she licked him with a delicate,

velvet tongue just under his jaw.

The little kitty was lapping him up. Blood roared in his ears and his

cock, thickening his length into what felt like abnormal proportions. He

envisioned laying her out on the steps, belly down, and taking her from

behind, the globes of her ass flushing beneath his hands.

She’s hurt. Hurt, hurt, hurt.
He repeated the mantra, demanding his

cock into obedience. There would be no sex now, or for the rest of the

night. Pain meds or no. The most he could do, and would do, is hold her

and convince himself she was really still alive.

He twisted his head, stretching his neck away from her wandering

tongue. “Sweetheart, Bri, baby. Stop that.” His fingers itched to swat her

behind for egging him into this state of hypersensitivity, but to do so he’d

have to put her down. Wasn’t gonna happen.

He sighed. “Let’s get you inside and into bed, baby.”

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Annmarie McKenna

The skin of his throat tingled beneath the raspberry she blew on it.

“Don’t want to.”

He laughed at her petulant tone but sighed again when she reached

up and patted the air next to what he supposed she thought was his

cheek. He took the steps two at a time, barely jarring Bri as he bounded

up them. The front door opened before they hit the top.

“How is she?” Scottie stood in the doorway, a slightly belligerent force

to be reckoned with.

For a second, Cole wondered if the kid would hold him and Tyler

responsible. The thought riding close on those coattails was, why

wouldn’t he? Cole held himself liable for not sticking by the door of the

dressing room with a bazooka in his hand. The scenario might be a little

farfetched, but at least the bastard would have thought twice about

trying to rape and kill the woman who tomorrow would be their wife.

He shifted Bri again, when her body suddenly went limp. Only the

steady rise and fall of her chest against his kept his mind from

wandering in a forbidden direction. His little nymph had finally gone to

sleep.

“Sixteen stitches, and just a tiny bit loony.”

Scott cocked his head and grinned, and Cole’s lungs deflated on the

breath that whooshed out in his relief. The last thing he wanted was Bri

upset because Scott was angry with him and Tyler.

“A tiny bit?” Scott snorted as he scooted back and allowed Cole to

enter his own home.

Brianna nuzzled further into Cole, heavy sleep dragging her down.

“Brianna can’t even handle extra-strength Tylenol, I can imagine

what she’s been like on a real pain pill,” Scott continued.

“I believe she was talking to her shoe.”

The kid spit out a laugh then covered his mouth with his hand, his

eyes twinkling. “That wasn’t funny was it?”

“The part where your sister got stabbed? No, not funny at all. The

shoe bit? Pretty damned funny.” Cole started up the staircase, not even

feeling the weight of Bri in his arms. He would never get enough of

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holding her close like this. Scott kept up with them. His talent for moving

around in his dark world still amazed Cole.

“What’s going to happen now?”

There was a tiny, scared twinge in Scott’s voice, which pulled at Cole.

“We’re getting married.”

“Good.”

“Good?” Cole hadn’t expected Scott’s instant acceptance to his

announcement. Actually, he’d thought Bri’s brother might throw a punch

or two, or at the very least put up a protest.

“Well yeah, for you and her. I don’t think Andrew Wyatt will like it too

much. You’re screwing up his plans.”

“I don’t give a shit what your fath…Andrew Wyatt thinks. She’s

mine.” He turned to open the door with the hand he had wrapped around

Bri’s back. Scott got to it first, unerringly finding the knob and opening

the door. Cole felt his jaw drop. “Are you sure you can’t see.”

Scott smiled and ducked his head, a dull red creeping into his

cheeks. “Absolutely.”

“I’m not even gonna ask how you do some of the things you do,” Cole

said, laying Bri gently on his side of the bed. On the other side, he peeled

the sheets back. Then he collected her again, wincing when she moaned

through her deep sleep and the medication. So help her God, if Caroline

had anything to do with this, he’d wring her neck.

“I’m all good with you guys getting married. I’d like to see my sister

truly happy for once.” His face turned toward the window as if he were

gazing out at the valley lying below and he muttered, “You guys make her

that way, but
she
may not be too excited about it. Did you ask her, or tell

her?”

Cole shook his head. “No, I didn’t ask, and why wouldn’t she want

to?”

Scott stuck a finger in the air. “A, she’s a woman. Don’t they get all

pissy if you tell instead of ask? Two, she may balk at only knowing you

for four days, again, a woman thing, and tres, the first thing out of her

mouth is going to be, ‘I won’t do that to Scottie. My father would have

him put away.’”

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Cole propped his hands on his hips, disbelief ringing through him.

“How do you know all this? When I was sixteen the only things I thought

about were girls and, well, girls.”

Scott smiled again. “You don’t live in the same world I live in.”

“Obviously not.” Cole snorted and swiped a hand over his face. The

kid was right. Those would be the first words out of Bri’s mouth. He

slapped his palm on his thigh and hoped to hell Tyler was having good

luck with her father. Then there would be absolutely nothing preventing

her from marrying them. Okay, the four days he couldn’t do anything

about, but it was enough for him to know he wanted to spend the rest of

his life with her.

“Scott…” Cole thumped him on the back of his shoulder as he guided

them out of the bedroom, “…how would you like living here

permanently?”

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Chapter Nine

Brianna moaned and buried her head deeper into her pillow. How

long had she slept? An hour, all night? She peeked with one eye and

blinked at the bright rays of light spilling through the bedroom window.

Must be morning. She closed her eye. A few more minutes, then she’d get

up. She tried to roll onto her side but was stopped by a hand on her

shoulder. She smiled.

“Stay,” Tyler whispered, his hand trailing across her chest to settle on

her breast. He kneaded the fleshy mound, palming the softened peak

until Brianna felt it harden into a tight point. “Keep your eyes closed,

little one.” His breath was warm on her ear, his tongue wet as it lapped

out to taste the lobe, sending shivers over her naked skin.

She arched her back as another pair of hands spread her thighs,

drawing her knees up just slightly. Her breath caught in anticipation of

Cole touching her. She clenched her pussy together, silently begging for

him to.

“Let us love you, baby.” Cole’s lips tickled her entrance as he spoke.

“Aah.” She arched again, then froze at the semi-painful tug at her

side reminding her of the events of yesterday. Brianna was paralyzed, her

entire body stiffened until her back hurt and her stitches ached. She

panted and squeezed her eyes tight trying to stave off the images of the

man who’d attacked her.

“Relax, little one. He can’t hurt you anymore. You’re safe, we’re here.”

They were right. Nothing would happen here in their bedroom.

Nothing she didn’t want to happen anyway. The soft mattress conformed

to her body as she sank back into it. It just as quickly released her as

she shot upward with the swipe of Cole’s tongue along her slit. She

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hissed at another slight pull along her side and thanked the lucky stars

her pain meds hadn’t worn off completely.

Tyler’s mouth opened on her nipple, sucking it tightly into its warmth

and tugging in sync with Cole’s mouth on her clit. The twin sensations

had Brianna at her peak within seconds, but not over. They were

relentless with their tongues. Ty’s moved between her nipples, licking

and sucking, then biting down until she screamed out with the

pleasure/pain.

“Please.” She writhed in the sheets.
Just a little more, a little harder.

Damn it!

“Please, what, baby? What do you need?” Cole’s tongue dove into her

pussy, drawing her moisture out where he spread it with his fingertips.

“God.” Her head could not tilt back any farther without breaking her

neck. She dug her heels in, ignoring the twinge of pain again, too caught

up with the tiny sparks of heat thrumming through her body to care, and

tried to force herself closer to both their mouths. “More, just more,

please,” she gritted out.

Cole’s finger slid through her cream and glided from her exposed clit,

through her drenched folds, across the sensitive skin of her perineum,

and ended up circling the opening of her ass. His tongue speared into her

again, plunging in and out, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. She

groaned and tossed her head back and forth on the pillow.

“Maybe if you thought about something else,” Ty murmured. He left

her nipples, leaving them aching with need.

“No, don’t leave.” She cried and bit her lip, then replaced his fingers

with her own. She pulled and pinched each of the beaded tips.

“Oh, I’m not leaving. That’s it, touch yourself.” The bed dipped beside

her head and she opened her eyes to the sight of Ty’s groin, his rigid cock

stiff and begging for attention. “Suck it, Bri.” His growled words alerted

her to his near loss of control, and her mouth watered.

Brianna took his length into her mouth just as Cole breached her

back entrance with two slick fingers. She lifted her head, lodging the