Cowboy & the Captive (18 page)
“Damn you, Mellie.” Maria’s knees went into her ribs, sending pain exploding through her body as she went to her back. “You can die first.”
The gun turned on Melina; her sister’s eyes were cold, hard, as her finger tightened on the trigger. Then Maria jerked, shuddered, the gun dropping from her hand as red began to bloom across her chest. Melina watched the horrible stain in shock as silence seemed to fill the room.
“Joey?” Maria whispered bleakly. “Joey, you hurt me. You hurt me…”
She toppled across the fallen figure of her lover, a last gasp heaving from her chest as she stilled.
“Melina.” Luc lowered himself beside her, his hands going over her ribs as she cried out weakly.
The pain was terrible, just breathing was agony.
“Fuck, they broke her rib, possibly two. Jack…”
“Calling the sheriff and ambulance now,” Jack called back, though the words barely penetrated the shock in Melina’s mind.
Maria was dead. Melina stared up past Luc, seeing her brother’s tear-ravaged face as he gazed down at Maria. In his hand he carried a gun. The gun he had used to kill his sister.
“She wouldn’t have stopped,” he said wearily, his voice tear-choked as he knelt beside his dead sister. “She would have never stopped.”
“Easy.” Luc eased her against him as she fought to sit up, pain streaking through her. “Lay still, Cat. The ambulance will be here…”
“No. I’m not Maria.” He called her Cat. Surely he didn’t think she was Maria now.
“No, baby, you’re not.” He kissed her forehead gently. “You’re my little Cat, though. That won’t change.”
“You hate cats.” She stared up at him miserably. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. But you hate cats.”
“I’ve learned to tolerate one in particular.” He smiled then, a weary curve of his lips as he smoothed her hair back. “The other, I can’t live without. I love you, Cat. Now rest easy. Everything’s going to be okay. It’s all going to be okay.”
But would it? She gazed over at her brother, his lowered head, the stoop to his shoulders, then stared back up at Luc. His faced was creased with concern, his eyes black, his shirt torn.
“I love you,” she whispered again.
Gently he smoothed the tears that fell from her eyes, from her cheek. His touch was gentle, tender, but his gaze was fierce.
“No more than I love you, little Cat. Never more than I love you.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Maria’s funeral was a small, quiet affair. Melina had been forced to miss it. Two broken ribs and a bruised kidney canceled any flight plans she might have wanted to make. She knew Joe had gone, despite her parents’ formal request that he not attend. The media circus had nearly destroyed the family.
Her father’s brief visit to the hospital had resolved nothing. His grief and the clear indication that they blamed her for their favored daughter’s death had been abundantly easy to see.
All she needed was your love, Melina. You never understood, Maria just needed more love and never received it. She only had her family to understand and lean on…
It made no sense, but then, it never had.
Joe, as always, was enduring most of the anger, though. He had been formally disowned rather than verbally. Had he not suspected Maria had learned where Melina was, then Maria wouldn’t have been killed. She wouldn’t have been lost to them forever. It hadn’t seemed to sink into them yet that Maria would have gladly killed Melina. They refused to accept it.
Luc brought her home after a small stay in the hospital. Their home. And there he had kept her, pampering her, caring for her until her ribs had healed completely. She still had nightmares sometimes, visions of her sister taunting and laughing as she pointed the gun in her direction. But Luc was always there. His arms surrounded her, holding her close, whispering his love to her. And throughout the night he would pleasure her, driving all thoughts of nightmares, death or sadness from her mind.
Three months later, after just such a night, he surprised her by going to his dresser, pulling a small velvet box from a drawer and nearing the bed. There, he dropped to one knee, took her hand and pushed an outrageously expensive diamond on her finger. The engagement ring glistened with shards of color and heat as she stared down at it for long minutes.
Then she looked up at Luc in surprise as he rose to his feet. “No proposal?” she asked him archly.
He stared down at her arrogantly, though the effect was spoiled somewhat by the glint of amusement in his eyes.
“Captives are not given a choice. Remember, Cat? I decide, you follow.”
She arched a brow as she allowed her hand to trail slowly up her silk-covered stomach before circling her swollen breasts. She sighed deeply.
“Is that how it works now?” she asked him huskily as her thighs shifted to allow him a glimpse of the plump, bare curves of her pussy. His cock responded immediately.
“Some captives get stubborn, you know? They do all sorts of things to get back at their captors. Things like finding another bedroom to sleep in.”
And she wasn’t joking. She’d be damned if she would wait that long for a proper proposal just to have him try to slide out of it.
He stared down at her for long seconds before sighing roughly. He went to one knee once again, took her hand and stared back at her.
“Marry me,” he whispered. It sounded more like an order than a proposal, but if there was one thing she had learned about her cowboy, it was his fierce arrogance, his determination and his love for her. His love for her still amazed her.
“Of course I will.” She shrugged. She wasn’t finished with him yet. “Who’s going to explain to our son, though, when he asks why we’re sleeping in separate bedrooms?”
“Separate bedrooms? Dammit, Cat, I love you past hell, but if you think they’ll be separate…” he stopped. His eyes widened. “Son?”
Her hand smoothed over her still flat abdomen. “It seems some of the scarring healed,” she said softly. “We’re pregnant, Luc.”
He trembled. She hadn’t seen him tremble since the day Maria had nearly shot her.
“Pregnant?” He licked his lips almost nervously, his hand moving to flatten on her stomach. “You’re sure?”
“Positive,” she said softly. “The doctor ran the tests twice just to be certain.”
He swallowed tightly, staring back at her, his eyes darkening like a summer storm as he watched her with such emotion it clenched her heart.
“You steal my breath,” he said simply. “You’re my heart, Melina Catarina Angeles. My heart and soul. Please say you’ll marry me.”
Melina blinked back her tears then.
“You’re my world,” she said tearfully. “My life. Of course I’ll marry you.”
He moved quickly, coming over her, his lips covering hers as he moved between her thighs, opening her, his cock sinking slowly, gently, inside the sensitive depths of her pussy.
Melina’s breath caught at the pleasure. It always did. He was hers. Her heart and soul and she breathed for his touch, his kiss.
There were few preliminaries. Emotions seemed to strip Luc’s control as nothing else could. The depth of her love for him still seemed to amaze him, just as his amazed her.
Her legs clasped his hips as her lips moved hungrily beneath his. His thrusts were gentle, tender, but no less fierce than they ever had been. Within minutes her orgasm swept over her, shuddering through her body as she tore her lips from his, crying out his name as she felt him erupt inside her at the same moment.
“I love you, Cat.” She heard his gentle whisper as sleep began to overtake her.
“I love you, Luc. Forever…”
About the author:
Lora Leigh is a 36-year-old wife and mother living in Kentucky. She dreams in bright, vivid images of the characters intent on taking over her writing life, and fights a constant battle to put them on the hard drive of her computer before they can disappear as fast as they appeared.
Lora’s family, and her writing life co-exist, if not in harmony, in relative peace with each other. An understanding husband is the key to late nights with difficult scenes, and stubborn characters. His insights into human nature, and the workings of the male psyche provide her hours of laughter, and innumerable romantic ideas that she works tirelessly to put into effect.
Lora welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora’s Cave Publishing at P.O. Box 787, Hudson, Ohio 44236-0787.
Also by Lora Leigh:
Bound Hearts 1: Surrender
Bound Hearts 2: Submission
Dragon Prime
Elemental Desires
Elizabeth’s Wolf
Feline Breeds 1: Tempting The Beast
Feline Breeds 2: The Man Within
Law And Disorder 1: Moving Violations
Legacies 1: Shattered Legacy
Legacies 2: Shadowed Legacy
Men Of August 1: Marly’s Choice
Men Of August 2: Sarah’s Seduction
Men Of August 3: Heather’s Gift
Men Of August 4: August Heat (12 Quickies of Christmas)
Ménage a Magick
Seduction
Wolf Breeds 1: Wolfe’s Hope
Wolf Breeds 2: Jacob’s Faith
Wolf Breeds 3: Aiden’s Charity
Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.