Ruthless: Contemporary Military Romance (26 page)

“I’m afraid your father will only meet me.”

Holly continued to stare, uncomprehendingly.

Erik sighed. “The minute I slapped you, I saw myself. I mean, I
really
saw myself. And I didn’t recognize me. This isn’t me. My parents did not raise me this way, to hit women and kidnap kids who are looking to do something with their lives.”

Holly’s heart leapt to her throat. She did not dare to hope, and yet… “Are you saying…?” She licked her lips nervously. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I’m sorry, Holly.” Erik turned to look at her, then. His sharp eyes were dulled by pain and remorse. “I’m so,
so
sorry. I was lost there for a while, I guess I still am. But no more. I’m not doing this anymore.”

“So you’re…?”

“I’m taking you to the nearest airport,” Erik said again. “You’re going to hop on the first flight to Austin. Then you’re going to take the first bus out and you’re going to Cartridge. You’re going to find Matt, and you’re not going to ever leave him. Got it?”

Holly felt her blood rush to her head in excitement and incredulity. “You’re not fucking with me, are you?” she said.

Erik laughed. “No,” he said. “I’m not ‘fucking’ with you.”

Holly hesitated. “What are you going to do with my father?”

“You let me handle him. I’ll buy you some time. But I’m afraid there’ll be others after me.”

Holly nodded. “I figured as much. I’ll manage.”
Somehow.

Truth was, she had absolutely no idea how to convince her father to just let her be. But that was an issue she could deal with later. Right now, all that mattered was that she was on her way to see Matt. And she would never,
ever
leave him.

CHAPTER FORTY TWO

Holly drove like a maniac. She heard more than a few honks on her way, and it was probably a wonder no police car stopped her and forced her to pull over, but she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t wait to get to Matt and put the events of the past forty-eight hours behind her.

She still couldn’t believe her luck. She had no idea what had possessed Erik to change his mind and set her free. She didn’t even know what had possessed him to do what he had had done in the first place. She knew he was desperate, but to betray Matt’s trust like that…

Oh God, Matt. She would have to be the one to tell him that one of the people he trusted most in the world had kidnapped his girlfriend and almost shipped her back to her parents to be married off to someone else. She would have to be the one to tell him that the man he considered a brother had almost destroyed his happiness. Willingly.

Holly shuddered at the thought. She thought about Matt’s sister. She wondered how she was doing. She hoped it wasn’t as bad as it had sounded. She didn’t think she would be able to hold Matt together if Becky died.

Thoughts ran around in circles in Holly’s head. She didn’t know what to do. She knew Erik was right; her father would hire someone else to find her sooner or later, perhaps he had already done it. That someone
would
find her, just like Erik had. Her father only hired the best professionals around; she knew that. What would Holly do then? How could she escape?

She took a deep, calming breath. She couldn’t think along those lines, not now.

Before he had left, Matt had given her his sister’s address in Cartridge, “just in case”. Holly was grateful beyond words for that little big blessing. She found the place without difficulty, a modest but cozy, pretty house with a white picket fence outside, not far from the downtown area of the small Texas town.

She pulled in and stopped the car, and she took a few steadying breaths before she climbed out of the vehicle and covered the distance that separated her from the front door. She rang the doorbell and waited. She didn’t like the idea of dropping by unannounced, particularly at a time like this, but she had no choice.

She was beginning to think she should maybe have gone to the hospital and no one was home, when the door finally opened. Matt stood in the doorway and stared at her in disbelief.

“Holly?”

Holly was so overwhelmed with emotion that she didn’t say anything. Instead, she threw herself into his arms and held on for dear life. Matt stiffened in surprise for a moment, but then she felt him hug her back.

Eventually, he gently pushed her away and scanned her face worriedly.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “Has something happened?”

Holly let out a laugh that bordered on the hysterical. Now that she was finally safe, she found that all of the adrenaline was rushing out of her body. “You don’t know the half of it.”

His eyes caught the bruise around her mouth. He reached out to gently run his thumb across the cut on her bottom lip. “What happened here?”

Holly had not intended to start crying, but it was exactly what she did. Out of the blue, she found herself sobbing. Alarmed, Matt ushered her inside.

“I’m so sorry,” Holly gasped out between sobs. “I didn’t mean to be such a mess…”

“Shhh.” Matt wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her to the living room, where he gently had her sit down on the couch. He took a seat next to her and held her until the tears passed.

Eventually, Holly was finally calm enough to pull away from him. She wiped at her face hastily and gladly accepted the tissue box he was offering. She blew her nose noisily, uncaring of how unattractive that probably was. In fact, she felt too emotional to care much about anything at all, let alone appearances.

Shakily, she told him about everything that had happened. She told him about what she had overheard in the kitchen, when Erik was talking to her father on the phone. She told him about her running away and Erik tracking her down. She told him about Erik’s betrayal and his later change of heart.

“I’m sorry I came here,” she said when the tale was finally finished. “I just didn’t know where else to go.”

“Sorry?” Matt said, incredulous. “Don’t be sorry. Fuck,
I
’m sorry. I should’ve listened to you the morning I left, when you were trying to tell me. And I shouldn’t have turned my phone off. I just…fuck.” He ran a hand through his tousled black hair. “I needed time on my own to deal with Becky. If only I had known…”

“You couldn’t have known,” Holly said gently. “How could you have known?”

Matt sighed. “I’m so sorry, Holly,” he said again. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” He pulled her to her and held her tight.

Holly melted into his embrace. “How’s your sister?” she asked after a few minutes of blissful silence and physical contact.

“Oh.” Matt pushed her away just enough to stare into her eyes. He had the biggest smile on his face. “She’s doing great. She’s in remission.”

Holly blinked. “What? I mean, I’m
so
happy to hear she’s okay, but…what?”

Matt laughed. “I know.”

He told her his own tale about Joe’s little deceit.

“Well, that was a very dumb thing of him to do,” Holly said honestly.

Matt smiled. “It was. But what matters is that she’s fine. And that
you’
re all right. I…” He trailed off. A lost expression bloomed on his handsome features. “Fuck, Holly. I can’t believe Erik would ever do such a thing.”

Holly cringed. She couldn’t imagine what Matt was feeling, finding out that a man he thought of as a brother would ever hurt him like that.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” she said, because it really didn’t. “What matters is that he’s come to his senses.”

Matt nodded numbly. “I guess you’re right. It’s just…I thought I could trust him.”

“I’m sorry,” Holly said, reaching out to stroke his thigh in support.

Matt looked up at her. He pulled her close again and kissed her passionately, with the passion of one who had come very close to losing the person he loved most. When he pulled away, his green eyes had darkened of that dangerous, delicious light that always made her shiver.

“Let me make love to you, Holly,” he said.

Holly blinked. “Here?” she said, despite the fact that all of her instincts screamed at her to lay Matt flat on the nearest horizontal surface. “In your sister’s house?” She looked around as if though she expected Becky and her husband to pop out from behind the couch.

“They’re out,” Matt said, reading her thoughts. “They won’t be home for a couple of hours.”

“Oh.” Holly relaxed instantly. “Well, in that case…” She grinned and fisted the front of his T-shirt, pulling him in for yet another hungry kiss.

They kissed for a long time, barely breaking away to breathe. They kissed while they all but tore the clothes off of each other, and they kissed while they lay naked on the couch. Matt’s kisses were the most powerful aphrodisiac Holly knew of.

They kissed and touched each other like there was no tomorrow, both of them painfully aware and conscious of the fact that their tomorrow had come very close to being extinguished. Holly’s fingertips traveled along the well-defined lines of Matt’s muscles, committing every inch of gloriously naked skin to memory.

She stroked his powerful erection, teasing him. He groaned in response.

“Shall I…?” she smirked against his hear, biting at his lobe.

Matt moaned. “God, yes…” he gasped. “Yes, please.”

Holly didn’t need to be told twice. Blowing Matt was one of her most secret, most guilty, most delicious pleasures. She felt him shiver in anticipation, and she gently pushed him to lie down on the couch. As always when she did this, she felt a surge of empowerment at knowing she was in full charge of the situation and he was at her complete mercy.

She leaned down and began to trace a scalding pattern down his naked chest. She felt her heart beat fast and furious with anticipation of her own. She could already taste Matt in her mouth, could already hear his moans. She could already fell him tense up underneath her scorching touch. She could already see his fists curl around the fabric of the couch’s cushions until his knuckles turned white. She could already—

“Uh…what exactly is going on here?”

Oh God!

Holly jumped off Matt so fast that she almost fell off the couch, and only his prompt grasping of her arm to stop her momentum prevented that from happening. Two figures that she could only identify as Matt’s sister and Matt’s brother in law stood just inside the room, watching them in disbelief.

Holly scrambled for her clothes and covered herself up as best as she could, given the circumstances. She burrowed into the cushions, fervently wishing that the couch would just open up and swallow her forever.

She had never seen Matt blush once in the seven months that she had known him, but his cheeks were scarlet as he stood and picked up his clothes and dressed himself up quickly. Holly, on her part, was too petrified to move. She sat on the couch, her T-shirt spread out over her to cover herself up, her legs tucked firmly underneath her buttocks. She was only glad that she had yet to take her panties off. It was a small mercy, but it still provided her with some extra cover-up.

“Matt, I can’t fucking believe you!” the woman who was presumably Becky exploded.

Matt had the good grace to look mortified. “I’m sorry, Becks,” he stammered. “I just—”

“You are such an asshole!” his sister shrieked. “What about Holly?”

Holly blinked in surprise. And here she thought the woman was furious because she had caught her brother have sex with a perfect stranger on her couch. Instead, she was indignant on her behalf. If she weren’t half naked, Holly would have gotten up and hugged her.

“Becks, this
is
Holly,” Matt said.

“What?” his sister barked.

Her beautiful, flaming amber eyes shifted over to the couch where Holly still sat. Her husband was also staring at the strange woman in his living room.

Holly swallowed hard and lifted a hand, waving timidly. “Hi.”

To her utter amazement, the two burst out laughing.