Protecting Lyndley (15 page)

Lyndley

I pressed my face into Ky’s shoulder as he hiked the stairs with me in his arms. He stopped as we entered my room, debating on what I wasn’t sure, but this was exactly what I wanted and I wasn’t about to let my own inner turmoil or his indecisiveness ruin this for me any longer. I could feel his erratic heartbeat through his chest as he held me tightly against him, and a small wave of comfort washed over me knowing his body was reacting the same as mine.

“The bed.” I whi
spered just below his ear.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” I replied.

Ky gently placed me on the bed, but when he tried pulling back from me, I gripped his arm with my free hand and pulled him back on top of me. Every fiber of my being needed him. I wanted to feel h
is strong arms holding me tight. I wanted it all with him. As he slowly started sliding his deft fingers up the back of my shirt in a soothing motion, I found myself yearning for more of him. The way my body was reacting to him was exactly what I had been craving.

My every waking thought was of him, and every dream the same. This man had stolen my heart, and I was more than ready to say that it no longer scared me. For the first time in a long time, I felt completely safe and comforted, and it was all be
cause of this man. This wonderful, amazing, beautiful man above me.

My hand went up to his face, pulling it closer to mine. Just before I let my lips press against hi
s, I heard the sound of a whisper. I didn’t hear what he said though. It was muffled and before I could ask him what it was that he did say, his lips were pressed firmly against mine. Our tongues explored one another’s mouths and my mind finally went blank. I left everything behind and decided to commit myself one hundred percent to just being in this moment with him.

Ky’s hands left no surface
untouched as he lovingly caressed and explored the entire length of my body. I threw my head back in ecstasy from his touch. He slowly started to pull away from me, and my head popped up, confusion clouding my thoughts.

“Where are you going?” I tried to sit myself up, but the pain in my shoulder radiated down my entire body.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this. This was a bad idea.” He was angrily pushing his hands back through his hair like he always did when he was frustrated.

“You have got to be kidding me right now. Why, why is it always a push and pull thing with you? Can’t you just enjoy this?” I was quickly starting to get pissed off.

Seconds later, he was jumping back on top of me with a huge smile splayed across his face. “I’m just messing with you. I wouldn’t pass this up for anything in the world.” His hands were on both sides of my face, pushing back the loose strands of hair.

I took my free
hand and slapped him across his back. “You are one frustrating piece of work, Ky Wakely.” He was irritating and irresistible all in one breath, and I was inexplicably drawn to both sides of him.

“Shut up and kiss me, princess.” And I did just that, without argument.

Ky’s breath left heated trails all along my body as he placed featherlike kisses up and down my torso. His fingers moved over to the thin shirt I had put on before I went outside, and he began to rip it from my body. With every tear my body bucked beneath him, urging him to make his way down to my shorts. My eyes fluttered shut and a small moan escaped between my lips as he pressed his erection hard against me. I moved my hips, pushing myself harder against him when he took the denim in his hands and ripped it from my lower half.

Ky sat back on his heels taking in my naked form beneath him. He
licked his lips and moaned as his hands fell, removing his clothes from his body. I watched as his muscles flexed with every movement he made. His body was one to be admired. With his bulging biceps coming down and wrapping around my waist, I could feel my excitement pooling beneath me.

He positioned himself at my entrance a
nd without so much as a warning he thrust himself into me, causing me to cry out in both pain and pleasure. My insides stretched as he pumped in and out of me. With every movement, I found myself closer to the brink of ecstasy. I dug my fingernails into the tight skin on his back as his movements began to become ravenous with every passing second.

My walls clenched around his length as I came undone around him. Ky wasn’t too far behind me, and when he finally let himself go
, my name was the only word to pass between his lips. What we had just done sent me into a state of euphoria and it was more than I could’ve ever dreamed of. Ky rolled over to my side, being very cautious of my hurt shoulder.

I wiped the small sheen of sweat that had built up on my forehead before I rolled over towards Ky and looked right at him. “Where does this leave us?”

“Let’s not worry about it right now. Just let me hold you.” I nodded and let him wrap his arms around me even though my mind had at least a million unanswered questions running through it.

I wasn’t sure how long we had been upstairs, but the sun had since gone down and the moon was shining brightly above us. I very quietly slid out from underneath Ky’s arm, all the while trying not to hurt myself in the process. When I was free of his grasp, I looked behind me at his sleeping form.
He looked so peaceful, like nothing bad in this world could touch him. It was mesmerizing to watch.

I grabbed a fresh set of clothes and
slipped out of the room undetected. I was halfway down the stairs when I felt a light tap on my shoulder, causing me to jump and my heart to race. When I turned around, I came face to face with Ruger and my heart rate slowly started to even itself out.

“What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?” I shout whispered at him.

“I’m sorry. Honest to god, I never meant to scare you. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I whispered back. I put my finger up to my lips to silence him and then pointed downstairs. I wasn’t ready for Ky to be awake just yet.

When I entered the living room I noticed Kristy still handcuffed to the small metal table and she looked to be sleeping as comfortably as she could on the couch. Before I could have the conversation with Ruger that I so desperately wanted to, I needed a drink and a stiff one at that. I poured myself a glass of whiskey, pointing the bottle at Ruger wondering if he wanted some. He simply nodded and I gathered our drinks and headed out front.

Ruger quickly took his drink from my arm that was currently in a sling, and then we both took a seat in the matching chairs on the front porch. “This view is incredible.” I half whispered as I took a sip of my drink. “I swear, I could live here the rest of my life and never miss the city. I see now why you live out here.” I turned
in my seat as I drank and propped my feet up on the railing.

“It
’s not all it’s cracked up to be most days.” I watched him as he pressed the glass to his lips.

“Oh n
o?”

“This farm has been in my family for so long, I don’t even remember what the real world feels like anymore. I guess when you’re raised a certain way, its hard to become someone new.” His gaze floated up to mine as he spoke.

Embarrassed, I let my eyes fall to the ground. I knew exactly what he meant, but I also believed that people could change, despite their upbringing. “You don’t think people can change?”

“Sure, if given the right circumstances to do so. But can you honestly say that if given the chance to go back to your hoity-toity life, you would be too changed to fall right back into it?”

Everything he was saying was hitting a little too close to home. As much as I wanted to believe that I had made this drastic change, I really hadn’t. If given the opportunity to go back to leading my privileged life, I would in an instant. “So, does that make me a bad person?”

“Not at all. That just makes you the
same
person you’ve always been. I’ve been doin’ this a long time and nobody truly changes. Even the ones who have no other option when all is said and done, they never
really
change.”

“And how would you know?” My irritation was growing with ever sip I took of my drink.

“I don’t know for sure, I’m just givin’ you my opinion. Do what you want with it.”

“Well…I’ve changed. I wasn’t this spoiled rotten princess that Ky makes me out to be. Sure I had nice things and my family
rarely knew what it felt like to want, but I wasn’t like them. I moved out on my own, I went to college and I started to make something of myself.”

“Yeah, but with whose help?”

I opened my mouth to argue, but found myself speechless. He was right. I could say that I was doing these things on my own, but honestly it was my parents who paid for everything to get me there. I downed the last of the warm amber liquid before pushing myself up and off of the chair to make my way back inside. As I reached for the screen door, Ruger’s arm shot out, gently grasping onto my wrist.

“I’m not sayin’ you’re a bad person, Lyndley.”

“I know.” I whispered back as he dropped my arm and I walked inside. When I went to refill my glass, I noticed that Kristy was now awake. This was my chance to ask her anything I wanted with nobody around.

“Can I ask you a question?” I sat next to her on the couch and handed her a glass of the same whiskey I had.

“Of course.”

“I’m having a really hard time fathoming that you are one of the bad guys.” I paused, staring into my glass as I swirled the liquid around in it.

“That wasn’t really a question.”

“I know. Why did you do it?” I looked up at her, but she refused to meet my gaze.

“They have my sister. They said if I didn’t cooperate, then they would kill her.”

“I’m sorry.
I really am. Did you really have to shoot me though?”

“Honestly, yeah. I know what I’m doing when I shoot, Lyndley.
Trust me, if I wanted you dead you’d be dead. I just had to make it look that way to whoever was watching. I couldn’t chance them seeing me shoot and miss. They know me too well to pull that off. I promise I only want to help.”

As I sat there staring at her worried face and trembling hands, I couldn’t help but want to believe her. I wanted to see the good in everybody, but lately everybody was making that nearly impossible. “So what’s next?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t.” I looked at her with sadness. I was sad for her
and
her situation.

“Well I won’t let them hurt you, as long as you’re honest with me. Deal?”

“Why are you helping me, Sar-“

“It
’s, Lyndley.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“And I’m helping you because we’re both in an impossible situation. Neither one of us wants to be where we’re at.”

“Oh I don’t know about that. I see the way you and Ky look at each other. You’re both so head over heels in love with one another, it’s ridiculous.”

“That’s exactly what it is, ridiculous. How do you build a relationship with someone who has sworn to protect you, and nothing else?”

Kristy was silent and staring in the doorway behind me. That’s when I knew that Ky was standing there listening to the both of us. Well if we weren’t having issues before, we definitely were now. As much as I preached to him to just let me in, I now found
myself questioning his motives.

Ky

I heard voices floating up the stairs and into the bedroom that I was now alone in. I wasn’t sure when Lyndley had slipped out, but I could hear her and Kristy having a conversation downstairs. I threw on some clothes and made way down in the direction of their voices. I spotted Ruger out on the porch out of the corner of my eye, but paid no mind to it.

I stopped just as I hit the archway that separated the living room and the entryway when I heard Lyndley telling Kristy she didn’t know how we could work. I hated to admit it, especially after what we
had just done, but in some ways she was right. How were we supposed to make something work that was so obviously doomed to fail?

I stood there, staring into her captivating eyes when I heard Ruger yell my name. My instinct to protect Lyndley immediately went into action as I reached for the shot
gun that Ruger had left right inside the door. I grabbed it as I went running out onto the front porch.

“Twelve o’clock, in the bushes. Do you see him?”

“I do.” I raised the gun, aiming it directly at the person moving around in the bushes.

“Wait, man. We don’t know for sure that it is the guy that followed her here.”

“I’m not willing to take any chances when it comes to her. Sorry.” As the apology left my mouth, I let out the breath I was holding and squeezed the trigger. The gunshot echoed through the night and seconds later the man’s body collapsed to the side. I cocked the gun, ready to shoot again if necessary, but the man’s body lay unmoving.

“I’ll go check.” Ruger stepped off the porch and just then more
gunfire rang out through the vast open space.

Ruger and I took immediate cover on the porch, searching for the direction in which the shots came from. Just then, I spotted a m
an off to the side of the house making his way toward us. I raised the gun and pulled the trigger again without hesitating. The man went down, and Ruger and I made our way out towards his body. When no other shots were fired, I lowered my weapon and ran off to the other guy I had shot first.

When I ran up on the lifeless body before me,
I recognized him almost immediately. I knew instantly he was dead. There was a decent sized hole where his heart should be, and there was definitely no coming back from that. I glanced over in Ruger’s direction, waiting for a signal from him. A few minutes passed as I waited, but he eventually put his thumb up. Both were dead, now we just needed to make certain that nobody else had made it into the house to get Lyndley, but first I needed Ruger to see who I had shot.

“Ruger, come here.”

Ruger came running over as fast as he could. “What’s goin’ on?”

“Look who it is.” I pointed down at my feet.

“Holy shit. Is that?”

“Yep, that there is John Nelson.”

“Fuck! Shit just got real.”

“We have to check on Lyndley, Ruger. Like now.”

I took off running as fast as my feet could carry me until I reached the front door. I searched the living room for any signs of an intrusion, but only found Lyndley holding Kristy in her arms, shielding her from the gunfire. I slowly made my way over to the both of them, pulling Lyndley up and into my arms.

“We got em’. There’s nothing to worry about anymore.”

“For now.” She whispered as she held me tight.

“Kristy are you okay?” My eyes met with hers over Lyndley’s shoulder and she just shrugged. “All right, let’s get everyone into a safe room and try to get some sort of sleep. Obviously we are going to have to move on in the morning. Can you make it up to your room okay?” I was holding Lyndley’s face in my hands, afraid to let her go. She nodded yes, so I kissed her forehead and let her go.

I made my way over to Kristy, un-cuffing her from the table and motioning for her to walk ahead of me. “You can take my room for tonight.” We were half way up the stairs when Ruger caught my attention. “Just go up to the room on the right. I’ll be up shortly.” She nodded in agreement and then I made my way back down towards Ruger.

“Hey, I moved them both into the barn. As far as I can tell, it was just those two but we can’t be too sure. I’ll take first watch. I’ll come get ya in a few hours. Sound good?”

“Yeah, that works. You wanna call it in or should I?”

“I’ll do it. Go take care of your girl.
”

“Thanks, man.” With that, I tur
ned and made my way upstairs to go straight into Lyndley’s room, but had something to do first. I leaned into my room and found Kristy curling up on the bed. “Hey Kristy?”

She rolled over towards me. “Yeah?”

“What happens if John gets taken out?”

She sat up with a terrified look on her face. “Why…why would you ask that?”

“I just need an answer.”

“In the event that John dies, Ray would get out and take over. And he would make sure that any loose ends were tied up.”

“Okay, thanks. Try and get some rest. We are just down the hall in the other room if you need anything.” I started to walk down the hall when I heard faint cries coming from the room. I turned and leaned back inside the door. “Kristy, we’ll make sure you’re safe. I promise.” She nodded and I left.

Ruger and I ran into one another in the hallway, and he gave me a curious glare. “What did Tom say?”

“Nothing, man. Don’t worry about it right now. Get some sleep. I’ll come get ya in a bit.”

I nodded and walked into Lyndley’s room. She had only turned on a small bedside lamp, and the small glow lit up her sorrowful face. I could see how tired she was and I wished that she would just lay down and try to get some rest, but I knew that she was going to be stubborn as hell about doing so. So I stood there and waited, and waited and waited, until I couldn’t take the distance between us any longer.