The Crown Jewels (54 page)

Crit

“Just let me go up there!” I screamed to the cop in charge.

“Sorry, sir, that’s not going to happen,” he replied. “We’ve got everything under control.”

“The fuck you do!” I hollered. “He could be doing anything to her up there! What the hell are you waiting for?”

“Sir, if you don’t leave the area, I’ll be forced to have you restrained,” he said, standing in front of me, his black, beady, unemotional eyes staring back at me fearlessly.

I turned and walked away.
There has to be something I can do
, I thought. I looked up at the windows of the hotel, searching for a way in that wasn’t being guarded by armed police. They were swarming all over the front of the property by now, having flowed into the parking lot like a swarm of bees after we were forced back downstairs and pushed far away from the hotel entrance.

Barnard, Georgia, Seth, Jesse, Beau, Hank, Finn and Lee had gathered around Hank’s truck, watching from afar and trying to comfort each other. It was impossible for me to just stand there. I paced around the parking lot, my head spinning, trying to figure out how in the hell I was going to save Ruby, because I certainly didn’t trust the police to get her out of there alive.

A huge crowd of guests had gathered outside the hotel after being evacuated, and I walked around the edge of it until I was able to make my way to the very back of the hotel. I searched for the employee entrance and once I found it, I hid behind a corner until the door opened, and two uniformed maids ran out, their eyes full of fear as they ran around the corner. I grabbed the door before it closed and slipped inside.

Ruby

“I’ve been wanting to see what was under these clothes,” I said, as I unbuttoned Lincoln’s shirt slowly. I could feel his growing erection through his slacks and I pressed myself into it. I pushed his shirt off his shoulders, and it hit the floor behind him.

He was fit, his toned torso tan and smooth under my hands. His mouth found mine and he kissed me sloppily, his tongue stabbing into my mouth over and over, his lips wet, too wet. I moaned as he reached up and caressed my breast, pinching my nipple through my dress roughly. He started to push the strap of my dress down and I pulled my mouth from his.

“Let’s go to the couch,” I said softly. “I want to taste you.”

An arrogant smile spread across his face. “I bet you do,” he said, walking over to the couch quickly, abandoning his gun on the bar.

He sat on the couch and I pushed him back gently, straddling him and pressing his cock into my center suggestively. He groaned, pushing against me, his hands on my hips, grinding me against his hardness as he began kissing me again.

I pulled away, trailing kisses down his neck and chest to his taut abs. When I reached his pants, I unbuckled his thin leather belt, and opened his slacks. His black silk boxers greeted me, covering his pulsing cock. I sunk to my knees in front of him, slowly reaching my hand into his waistband and gripping his cock and pulling it out.

I looked up at him slowly, meeting his gaze and smiling sweetly at him before I lowered my head and opened my mouth as his cock slid past my lips and into my waiting warm mouth. He threw his head back onto the couch, his eyes closing in ecstasy.

When my teeth bit down, his body stiffened in shock, his screams echoing through the suite in a screeching violent cry that could have peeled the paint from the walls.

I sprang to my feet, his blood dripping from my chin, and ran to the door, grabbing his gun on my way.

I opened the door, running blindly down the hallway as fast as my feet would take me, away from his screams, away from my worst nightmare, until I ran right into Crit.

When I saw him, my knees buckled beneath me. He caught me before I hit the floor, the gun falling from my hand, and all the strength drained from my body as I sobbed in his arms.

“It’s okay, baby, you’re safe, you’re safe,” he said, his warm arms holding me tightly, lovingly, strongly. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Daddy!” I exclaimed, tears streaming down my face.

“He’s okay, Ruby, he’s going to be okay,” Crit murmured, holding me close.

The sound of a gunshot sounded from Lincoln’s suite, both of us jumping out the sound, and turning to look down the hall. Silence greeted us, with no sign of Lincoln.

I knew it was all over.

The elevator doors opened and a swarm of police filled the hallway, pushing us to the side.

Crit’s strong arms surrounded me, protecting me from the herd of cops rushing past. I sank into him, the sobs of relief pushing up from deep inside of me, my body shaking intensely against him as he led me into the stairwell, the heavy door closing behind us, muffling the chaotic sounds of the aftermath of Lincoln’s madness, leaving us in the eerie peaceful brightness of the stark stairwell.

Crit pulled away, looking at me intently.

“Are you hurt?” he asked. I shook my head, speechless through my tears. He took off his t-shirt, and began wiping Lincoln’s blood from my face. The taste of his metallic blood mixed with my tears, but I didn’t care.

I was safe. I was with Crit. And nothing was ever going to keep me away from him again.

“I think the whole town showed up,” Crit whispered in Ruby’s ear, coming up behind her, the feel of his body so close to hers setting her on fire, just as it always did. Just as it had from the beginning.

“Sure does,” she replied, grabbing his hands and pulling his enormous arms around her waist. She leaned back into him, watching the crowd of family and friends that had volunteered to help them paint their new home.

“Look at them,” Crit murmured.

Beau and Georgia were painting the stairs, stealing knowing glances at each other and giggling to some private joke every few minutes. Around the corner, Finn and Seth were up on ladders, painting the eaves, the white paint dripping into their hair. Jesse had invited his new girlfriend, Hannah, to help, and they were painting a trellis together. Jesse had never looked so happy.

Lee walked to the back of the house, a bucket and a paintbrush in his hand, looking over his shoulder. Ruby watched as Eva followed closely behind him, and smiled.

She had never said anything to anyone about seeing Eva at the hotel that day. Whatever Lee and Eva had going, she didn’t care, in fact, it had saved her. If they hadn’t been there that day, there’s no telling what Lincoln might have done to her.

Ruby’s dad sat relaxing in a chair under a huge pecan tree, a tall glass of cold sweet tea in his hand, and one of the old western novels he had taken up reading in his hand. He looked up from his book, waving at his smiling daughter before going back to it. Lincoln’s bullet had just missed a main artery, and despite his frail condition he was able to come back from it. In fact, his time in the hospital had forced him to get clean, and he had decided he liked being sober after all. Ruby felt like she finally had a father, one that she didn’t have to watch over every second of every day.

In times of trouble, people always say that things will work out, that everything is going to be okay, but one never really believes it - until it does. That’s how it was for Crit and Ruby. They were on the verge of abandoning all hope, believing that letting go and giving up was the only thing they had left to do in their darkest moments.

But there’s always that spark, living in all of us, even when we can’t feel it anymore. It’s always there. It’s what makes us human, that perseverance that is so deeply ingrained in each of us, that keeps us going when we think we can’t go on any longer.

But time and faith always proves us wrong.

After Lincoln killed himself in the hotel, there were no more heirs to the LaCroix estate. Since he had been so generous in telling Ruby about the money he had stored off shore, the IRS was able to retrieve it. It was enough to pay off all of his debts, leaving Olly LaCroix’s land and farmhouse in the clear. With Lincoln dead, Barnard Johnson was left as the estate manager and he was free to do as he wished with Olly’s land and affairs.

He sold the land to Crit for the total sum of one dollar, and forgave the loan on the Hope farm completely. Crit and Ruby decided to renovate the place and move in, expanding Hope Against Hope farms to include LaCroix’s land.

They’d been holding renovation parties like this every weekend, the townsfolk more than happy to help breathe life back into the historic property. It was working - the place was gorgeous.

“I can’t wait to move in,” Ruby whispered.

“Me, too,” Crit said. He pulled his arms away, and walked around in front of Ruby, his baby blue eyes taking her breath away as he lovingly gazed at her. “I love you, Ruby.”

He lowered his head, his lips gently brushing against hers, fanning the flames inside her with the caress of his hand on her cheek. He pulled away, sinking to his knees in front of her as he pulled a tiny black velvet box from the pocket of his Wranglers and opened it, revealing a sparkling diamond ring.

He held it out to her, his smoldering blue eyes taking her breath away.

“I should have done this years ago,” he stated loudly and confidently. “Will you make me the happiest man alive and be my wife, Ruby Rae?”

Ruby squealed, her bright red curls dancing wildly about her face, her heart soaring with happiness, as everyone began gathering around them.

“You bet your sweet ass I will, Crit Hope!” she yelled. The sounds of clappin’ and hootin’ and hollerin’ echoed through the tall pine trees that towered over them.

Crit stood up, slid the ring on her long, slender finger, and then swooped her up in his arms and spun her around joyfully, her red curls flying in the air, her laughter ribboning up to the heavens.

He kissed her passionately, their hearts filled with love, their future filled with the sweet promise of bliss and the magic of unending hope.

THE END

THANK YOU FOR READING! HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL, THE THIRD BOOK IN THE HOPE BROTHER SERIES, WILL BE RELEASED MID-JANUARY, 2016!