Cravings (Fierce Hearts) (10 page)

Just like that, Ben crouched at Asher’s side of the truck. “Michelle, do you want to have the EMTs inside take a look at you?” His voice low, he spoke in almost a whisper.

Michelle shook her head. “I’m fine.”

He exchanged a look with Asher, and Asher nodded his head. “All right.” Ben slanted his head toward the SUVs. “I’ll get a few men, and we’ll approach those vehicles. I know you don’t want our guys arresting anyone yet. We’ll just scare them.”

“Thanks, Ben. We’ll talk more later.”

The SUVs sat across the street, looming. The windows were darkened, but that wouldn’t stop Kennedy from seeing the people inside. “Do you recognize anyone?” Asher asked.

Kennedy suddenly gasped and put a hand to her mouth.

Kennedy’s heart stopped beating. She stared at the person in the SUV across the street, unsure of what to feel.

“Kennedy, what’s going on?” Asher called through the open window.

She turned to Asher and Michelle. “It’s my mother. She’s in the first vehicle.” She pointed a finger. She couldn’t stop the trembling coursing through her body. “She’s right there.” Her breaths came in shallow, rapid drags.

“Kennedy, you’ve got to pull it together. Whether you go back to her or not, this is not the time. You know it’s not the time.” Michelle let him lean far into the passenger seat and reach out his hand to her across the space between the two vehicles.

Pensively, she touched his fingers. He wrapped them around her hand and pursed his lips. His crystal clear eyes seized her gaze. She wanted to sink into them and see the way out of the mess of her life. His heartbeat in his wrist pulsed steadily, and his eyes held hers.

“Kennedy.” Shockwaves knocked against her sanity over and over, like the tide slapping against the beach. It was her mother calling to her.

“That woman called you. Is she your mother?”

Kennedy nodded stiffly.

“Don’t worry. You’re not alone. Nothing is going to happen to you.” His firm tone gave her something to hang on to.

Her mother stood across the street, dressed in her expensive coat over an expensive sweater and an expensive pair of pants with expensive shoes. “I miss you, sweetheart. Come with me, and we’ll talk all about how important you are to me.”

For Kennedy, the sight of her mother kindled obedience. Obedience on Kennedy’s part was crucial. It was for her own good, though it had always meant subverting her natural instincts. The sound of her mother’s voice held a directive. Unspoken, her demand held a threat. Love her or suffer the consequences. Obey her or pay the price. Kennedy’s shoulders drooped, as she lost all her energy to stop them.

Slowly, deliberately, Kennedy turned back to Asher. His hand still wrapped hers in his steady, solid touch.

“Kennedy, come with me, and no one will get hurt. I promise, darling. I love you.” Her mother’s words caught in Kennedy’s stomach, slicing her with lies. She continued to gaze at Asher.

He lowered his eyes and softly spoke. “Even people who truly love you can hurt you, Kennedy. You don’t owe her anything.”

His words filtered through her defenses and asked her to believe him. She turned back to her mother once again and saw Thing One and Thing Two climb out of the other SUV. Each one, her mother and her handlers, took two steps toward the street between them.

Inside, she didn’t have much to go on. Making decisions was not something she was used to doing. And this one, whether to trust Asher or not, stretched her internal structure. All she had was instinct.

Suddenly very sure of her next move, Kennedy twisted her head back to Asher and let go of his hand.

“Kennedy, what are—”

“Asher, please get us out of here. Now.” She smiled wide, then put her hands on the steering wheel just as he did the same. She let him lead out with his truck, then followed close behind. Four cops in uniform and another in a suit, Ben, burst out the door in the direction of the two SUVs. In her rearview mirror, she watched her mother and Patrick and Gordon race back to their vehicles, climb in, and tear off in the opposite direction before the police could stop them.

The look on her mother’s face hung in her mind. Her mother wasn’t used to being ignored. The mixture of rage and surprise on her face as Kennedy drove away drew a range of emotions that echoed through her ponderously, like booming thunder.

She followed Asher’s truck, fully aware of the road and traffic. She grappled with voices in her head warning her she was wrong to defy her mother and others cheering with glee for the same thing. She drew in a cleansing breath and let it out, reaching for calm. Numbness beckoned, and it was what she knew, but to have a new life, one of her own, she had to be alive. Calm offered a better alternative. It offered genuine choice.

Choice sounded good to her. Her mind turned to review the encounter between Thing One, Thing Two, and Asher. It didn’t escape her that his taut, well-defined muscles bulged under his clothing. She smiled, remembering how easily his powerful blows took down Gordon. Even under pressure of defending his life, his wit came easily, too.

Asher pulled into the parking garage across the street from the Aegar Investigations office, and she quickly scanned the street for an open space. Luckily, she spotted one a block down the street. Heaving a sigh of relief, she parked the Jeep. She felt safer in open spaces. The confinement of a parking deck sent panic twisting in her gut.

In the lobby, Michelle leaned on Asher as the three of them took the elevator to the third floor office. Kennedy opened the door and followed them into the office, then waited while Asher helped Michelle to her seat.

“Hey, anybody here?” Asher called out, then knocked on the door to the private office of the sisters, Sterling and Lacey. “You two in there?”

The door opened. “Hey, Asher.” It was Sterling. She walked into the outer office, Lacey behind her.

The sisters saw Michelle at the same moment and shrieked in unison. “What’s wrong?” Lacey knitted her brow.

“I’m fine. We had a little run in with men from TNG on the way to work. I took Kennedy to see the new rescue facility, but then those goons showed up. They ran us off the road. I got darted, though I think it was meant for Kennedy. The tranquilizer dart barely grazed my skin, so this feeling of being a puddle on the ground should wear off soon.”

“Just take it easy. You can fill us in on all the details later.” Sterling put a hand to Michelle’s shoulder and smiled. “The work will wait.”

“Thanks, boss.” Michelle smirked, then slumped further into her chair. “I should give Casey a call.”

Kennedy waited in the background, guilt eating at her heart. This mishap occurred because of her.

“Meanwhile, I’m going to call Ben,” Sterling said. "He’s not far away. We don’t need to rely on him officially, but his coply advice could be useful. You don’t mind, do you?” Sterling scanned Michelle, Asher, and finally Kennedy, waiting for a response.

Kennedy slanted her head. “I don’t mind. It’s up to you all.” She walked to the window and surveyed the street activity below. From her spot three floors above, downtown Laurelwood at midmorning bustled with pedestrians and traffic. It wasn’t Chicago-style activity or amount of cityscape—which she also had observed from stories up—but it had a metropolitan feel.

She turned back to the room when Sterling’s husband entered.

“Kennedy, you remember my husband, Ben Kirby. Ben, this is the newest member of Casey’s colony, Kennedy.”

Ben reached his hand to Kennedy, a warm smile spread across his face. “Hi again, Kennedy. We’ve met informally. I’m sorry it’s been under less-than-pleasant circumstances, like this morning at the police station.”

She took in his dark brown hair and warm eyes and accepted his handshake. “Yeah, I remember. It was the night you all rescued me from William Carter’s dreadful experiments.” A chill slivered up and down her spine at the memory of that night. It was the lowest point of her life of dehumanization, caged like an animal.

While Asher explained the morning’s incident more thoroughly to Ben and the others, Kennedy went away in her mind.

Dreams she’d used to have of a life as a young adult with a social life and a career drifted up from deep inside her. Dreams like that became bitter fantasies. But could things be different now?

Kennedy shifted a glance at Asher from the corner of her eye. In conversation with the others, his expression drew serious. His intensity came out in his earnest gestures and animated tone of his voice. These things incited a pleasure that radiated out from her heart to parts of her body in such a way she felt lulled into an idea of bliss. Could she stand that? She wanted to do more than bear it, she wanted to push her limits, get lost in the sensations she’d had with only one other person. Griffin Kreger, her teenage friend.

She swallowed the rock in her throat, knowing she couldn’t risk letting Asher into her heart as she had Griffin. Being involved with her would be dangerous to Asher’s health.

“Is that okay with you, Kennedy?” Asher’s use of her name brought her attention back to the office and the other people staring at her.

“Um …”

A hearty laugh bubbled out of Asher. He shot her a knowing look. He’d caught her spacing out. “Lacey is going to drive Michelle to Casey’s house, and Sterling is going to drive her Jeep there. I can take you to my house. You can stay there until tonight. We’re all meeting at Casey’s house tonight. Sound okay?”

“You’re going to stay with me? I thought you had a game this afternoon.” Uncertainty nipped at her gut.

“I’m going to get another writer to step in for me. I’m not going to leave you alone.” He held her gaze, a solemn sincerity filling his eyes.

He had no way of knowing how much she wanted to be alone with him, if only to soak in his spirited vibes. Her heart warred between what she wanted and what might happen to Asher if she let him close. But the way he looked at her and a certain quality in his voice when he spoke her name, as though it had presence and significance, felt so damn good. “Yes, thank you. That would be fine.”

• • •

“So you’re tidy.” Kennedy strolled around the kitchen and living room of Asher’s townhouse, seemingly noting the oversized L-shaped, dark green couch and upholstered green chairs, a tiny smile lifting her lips.

“Of course I’m neat.” He chuckled, watching her. He reached for her coat. She shrugged out of her dark grey leather jacket as he pulled it off her arms, and hung it in a coat closet in the small entryway.

Another smile. “I like the black and white tile.”

“Thank you.” He twisted his lips.
Are we really going to discuss my décor, or rather lack of décor?
He slumped into the couch, reaching for casual. Restraint was called for. No nudging. No making passes. No hints of innuendo. Strictly friendly casual.

Kennedy surveyed the room and its adjoining kitchen, and he watched, giving her space to get comfortable. She deserved that. He licked his lips, longing for meaningful interaction. Easy chatter. Simple, shared laughter. Closeness with no fear of hurting her, of losing control over his ability to make her do whatever he wanted.

She stood in front of him, gesturing to the spot beside him on the couch. “Mind if I sit?” She tilted her head in the most beguiling way that made his heart leap.

He chuckled. “Sit,” he said, and patted the couch. “Make yourself at home.”

She sat and leaned her head against the back of the couch, her eyes closed. Silently, Asher watched her breathe in and out, her chest rising and falling with each breath. The scent of her—not cologne, just pure Kennedy with subtle hints of nature—drifted around her.

Asher rubbed his chin, distracting his craving for her acceptance, her touch, her presence all-in with his.

“This is so nice, sitting here with you. Not thinking, just being.” Kennedy looked up at him through her thick dark lashes. “Is that you? Are you making me feel relaxed?”

“No.” Her eyes, warm and chocolaty, pulled at his senses mercilessly. He rubbed his thumb gently over her soft cheek, tentatively. “You’re relaxing on your own.”

“I think you have something to do with it, too, Asher.” She leaned closer. “I can’t explain it, but you make me feel accepted. You see me as a person, a were-lynx, but an individual, not an object.”

Her breath feathered over him, sweet and deeply moving. “I wish I could make everything right for you. You deserve peace and a life of your choice.” He allowed a low growl to rumble up. “I hate what has happened to you. But …” He had to say the right words, words that wouldn’t send her scurrying away. “I’m happy that your path, as terrible as it has been, has brought you into my life.” He barely could whisper the words. He knew he carried his feelings for Kennedy in a special place, protected from the possibility he may hurt her. But God, the gut instinct of reaching to be close to what she brought to him was mesmerizing and hypnotic in that it soothed his fears.

“Kiss me?” She lifted her chin slightly. Her full lips, the luscious color of pomegranate seeds, pulled him close.
Just one kiss.

He cupped her face in his hands and placed a delicate kiss to her mouth. She pressed her body against his, and he thought how silly he was to think he could tear away with one kiss.

He pulled her closer, never breaking from the kiss. His lips pressed hard against hers, longing to reach her soul. Her heart thudded soothingly against his chest, pushing his pulse higher.

He opened his eyes and met hers, finding himself staring into unabashed longing. “I’ve only been with one man before, Asher. I’m nervous. But I want this very much.”

He placed a gentle kiss to her lips, and his thoughts and fears and objections whispered away. He pulled back, reluctant, dropping his head against hers.

“More?” she asked.

His arms swiftly wrapped around her body and lifted her. He carried her to his bedroom upstairs, unspoken passion firing inside him as she rested her head against his chest. Every bit of him screamed, yes, more!

He placed her on his bed, and she immediately kneeled, reaching for his shirt, raising it over his head. He tossed it aside and ripped her shirt over her head, then kissed the swells of her breasts above her lacy bra.