Her Guardian Angel (Fire and Snow) (18 page)

Kelly. Her poor
petit fille
would remain in the hospital until Friday; poor girl had been horrendously beaten. Adele brushed a tear away from her cheek. Kelly's pain was over, and she would never be hurt like that again. Adele would make sure of it.

As Adele unlocked the front door, she heard footsteps coming up behind her. Before she had time to turn around to see who it was, she was lifted in the air with ease. She squealed in surprise until Dominic silenced her with a steamy kiss. It had only been four days since Dominic had made love to her for the first time and rocked her world. Her cheeks heated in memory, but damn, the man was hot.

"Dominic, what on earth do you think you are doing?" She asked, her voice all husky at the heat Dominic brought out in her by simply holding her.

"Why, my love, I'm carrying you over the threshold. You don't move into a new house every day and you have to make sure you do it
just
right," he said it in a serious tone but the glint in his eyes gave him away. Adele couldn't help but laugh. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on his cheek.

"Well then,
mon amour
, we'd best get inside before the others arrive and beat us over the threshold."

Adele beamed as Dominic carried her through the doorway. He was so sweet. He had a huge grin on his face, like carrying her was the best thing he'd ever done. She wasn't sure how she managed to catch this tender, sweet, strong man, but she was sure she never, ever wanted to let him go.

As soon as they were inside the door he bent down and nuzzled her neck. She heard him inhale against her skin. He always breathed deeply against her skin. It tickled, made her giddy and gave her butterflies.

"Welcome home, Adele." He whispered softly in her ear before he proceeded to devour her mouth with his. When the need for air forced them to separate, they pulled apart slightly; both were breathing heavily.

"Hmmm, as much as I'd love to continue, we need to check through the house before the others get here. I want to make sure it's all clean and empty." Adele's voice cracked as she spoke, Dominic had her so aroused.

"I don't want to put you down just yet, beautiful. How about I carry you around on a tour?" His voice was husky, as if he was as turned on as she was. Before she could muster a response, he started for the kitchen. He strode up to the bench and set her down, planting himself between her legs. She kept her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Hmmm, I think we need to christen all the rooms with a kiss at least. Got the front room covered, now for the kitchen." He leaned in to kiss her and she tilted her face to him, silently encouraging him to take what he wanted from her. She was melting into his kiss when she felt him tense. She was about to ask what was wrong when she heard car doors. She raised an eyebrow as he placed her back on the ground. Just what was he up to? He had that lopsided grin he knew melted her. He was definitely up to something.

Adele was grateful Dominic let her walk out the front on her own feet. As much as she loved being wrapped up in Dominic's arms, she'd like to keep those moments private. Dominic had mentioned he'd recruited a couple of the guys from the station to help her move; so that was what she expected to find, just a couple of the guys. She took one step out her front door and froze with her hand still on the knob. Two small moving trucks were backing down her drive while a group of men walked up from a car parked out on the street.

"Dominic, I thought you said a
couple
of guys would be helping us? And there is no way in hell all the things I bought from the second hand shop would need two trucks to move. What on earth have you done?" She turned to look at Dominic as she finished speaking.

He was looking a little sheepish. "Surprise," was all he whispered before he quickly approached and wrapped her in a hug.

"I did only mention it to a couple of the guys, but word spreads fast around here. You know that, and as people found out you were doing all this so you could take Kelly in, they started donating things. You've pretty much got everything you could ever want or need now."

Adele felt her eyes prick with tears and she blinked fast to try to stop them but it was no use, they began to fall. Dominic wiped them away and gave her a quick kiss. "Don't cry, baby. Think of it like a welcome to the family. You're part of Rosebery now." Dominic's words just made her tears flow faster.

Adele curled into Dominic's chest as he scooped her up and walked back into the house. He carried her straight out the back and sat down on the wooden bench with her on his lap. She felt like a fool, falling apart because people were being nice to her, but she just couldn't get her head around all these people here to help her. She felt Dominic's hands rubbing over her back, arms and legs while his cheek rested on the top of her head. His touch helped soothe her. After ten minutes or so she'd calmed down. He ran his hands through her hair, dragging the bits that had stuck to her tears on her face and tucking them behind her ears. He gave her a soft kiss on her forehead that was so tender it broke through her walls and she began to speak.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to fall apart like that." She took a few deep breaths, inhaling Dominic's masculine scent, allowing it to further soothe her.

"No one has ever been so nice. I'm not used to people doing things for me, helping me. I'm not sure how to deal with it all." Adele looked up at him; she used her eyes to plead with him to understand what she meant. He lowered his head and gave her a chaste kiss on the mouth.

"My dear sweet Adele, everyone you meet loves you. Everyone who has met Kelly loves her. You are about to find out exactly what being a part of the emergency services family is all about, because everyone wants to help you and Kelly settle in here and make a life for yourselves." He helped her to her feet and started to lead her back into the house.

"Now, you better start telling everyone where you want all your new furniture or you'll spend the next couple weeks searching every time you want something."

The rest of the day flew past as Adele instructed everyone on where to put all the furniture and belongings. She'd only been able to pay for the basics for the house and had assumed the place would look rather barren for some time until she could afford everything she wanted. Suddenly she found she had every piece of furniture and appliance she could have ever possibly wanted. She went to check on her bedroom. Dominic hadn't let her in there yet, and her curiosity was rapidly winning out over his instructions to not look. Just before she reached the door, she heard a chorus of beeps from all over the house. She plastered herself against the wall so she wouldn't get trampled as men raced from her house. They must all be on call. Dominic came out of the door and wrapped her up in his arms; she relaxed into his embrace. Her favorite place in the world to be.

"Sorry, beautiful. We just lost all of our helpers."

"That's okay, I wouldn't mind some quiet time. Do you need to go too?"

"Nope, you'll have to continue to put up with me. I'm off rotation today." He nuzzled her cheek in a most feline manner.

"Are you going to let me see my bedroom yet? The suspense is killing me," she pleaded before Dominic's ministrations caused her brain to completely cease to function.

"Hmmm, can't have you dying now can we? So I guess I'll just have to let you in." He was chuckling as he pulled back and gave her a wink.

"Now, I need you to close your eyes for the grand unveiling."

Adele closed her eyes and wondered what the hell he had done to her room. Dominic held her hands, guiding her through the doorway before moving to stand behind her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he rested his chin on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Open your eyes, my love."

Adele opened her eyes and took a sharp breath in. "Oh
mon dieu
!" She was standing just inside the doorway and facing her new bed. Well, 'bed' was an understatement. It was huge...and beautiful. She had always wanted a four-poster bed; they looked so romantic in the movies and magazines. The frame consisted of bold straight solid Tasmanian Oak pieces with six sheer white curtains hanging down and tied off to each post on both sides and the end. The bed had been made up with lots of pillows and a big fluffy quilt with a beautiful white lacy cover on it. But the thing that caught and held her attention most of all was hanging above the bed against the back wall, centered between the posts. The most amazing framed photograph she had ever seen hung there. It was of a snow leopard stalking toward the camera in a field of wild grass. The funny thing was, the picture looked exactly like the snow leopard from her dreams. How bizarre.

Dominic, kissing and nibbling his way up her neck, pulled her back from her thoughts, and she quickly glanced around the room at the rest of the furniture. It was all solid Tasmanian Oak and stunning. She had never owned a single piece of brand new furniture before in her life, and now she had a whole bedroom suite that looked like it was all brand new.

"So, do you like your new room, beautiful?" Dominic asked as he nibbled on the edge of her ear.

"Oh, Dominic, I love it. It's gorgeous." A sob broke out of her throat, and she turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck and cried into his chest.

"Adele? Are you okay? I wanted to make you happy, not sad. If you don't like it, we can return it and you can pick whatever you like."

She could tell by the tone of his voice she had scared and worried him with her reaction. "The room is perfect,
mon amour
. It's just, I've never owned anything new before. No one, aside from my mother, has ever given me anything. And I've always dreamed of having a four-poster bed to sleep in. It's just all so much to take in. It's been one hell of a day on my emotions."

Adele let herself go in Dominic's tight embrace. She nuzzled her nose in his neck as she regained her composure. He swept his arm behind her knees, swiftly picking her up. He sat on the bed with her on his lap.

"Why a snow leopard? How did you know I liked them?" she asked softly as she twirled her fingers in the short hair on his neck. She felt him shift a little as if the question unnerved him.

"I don't know. I just saw it there and it made me think of you, so I took a gamble and bought it for you. When Kit saw the picture, she said you'd love it. His voice was a little strained as if his words weren't the whole truth. She frowned briefly before she decided she had other things she'd prefer to spend her energy on.

"Well, I do love it. It looks so at home here in my bedroom...much like you do." She gave him a sly seductive smile.

"I do believe this room needs to be christened. Maybe with a little more than a kiss?"

Dominic chuckled "Why my sweet Adele, I do believe you're right. We best correct that." He pressed his lips against hers as he lowered her to the bed.

Chapter Twelve

Cole's mood was rapidly getting darker. He'd spent five days searching Zeehan finding not even a trace of her anywhere. He raised his hand to tentatively prod his swollen jaw. To top off the brilliant time he was having, yesterday his 'friends' had found him and decided to spell out the benefits of him leaving town. Bastards. Damn, he needed to vent. Maybe he'd have to look for another stray dog or something tonight. Where the hell was his slave?

He chucked his bag in the tray and shut the lid then hopped in and took off toward Rosebery. He hoped he found her soon. Animals just weren't the same, and he was starting to really loose it.

It didn't take long to get to Rosebery, and Cole couldn't believe his eyes as he drove down the main drag. After weeks of looking, there she was. Relief poured through him as he watched her walking across the street in front of him. Thankfully there were two cars between him and her. She was with a woman, holding her hand and staying very close to her side. Damn it. He couldn't just take her if she was being watched over. He was going to have to plan this out. He forced himself to turn up the next street and headed out of town. He needed to sit and think about how he was going to work this.

He found a deserted car park facing over the river, swung his ute in and killed the engine. He sunk back into his seat with a smile on his face. She was alive. And soon, very soon he would have her back where she belonged. He just needed a plan on how to get her. The way she was cuddled into that woman wasn't good; he doubted he would be able to catch her alone. He would have to take both of them. Maybe if he used his old Ruger pistol, the one he'd bought off that rough-as-guts captain a couple of years back... Yeah, he would grab the slave, hold the pistol to her and make the woman come too. Hell yeah, that'll so work.

As he was about to start his car to head back into town, he noticed movement off the side of the car park. A bitch and her pups were sniffing around the edge of the gravel. He smiled darkly as an idea came to mind. Just perfect. He'd get his work out tonight. Then he'd leave them for his slave to find in the morning. Make her suffer a little of what he'd been suffering since she left him and give her a hint at what she could expect to happen to her when he got her back.

~ * ~

Kelly braved leaving the house on her own for the first time. She walked out the front door, across the road, through a vacant block of scrub and had ended up here, sitting on a large flat stone that jutted out over the river. The sun had heated the surface a little and felt warm on her bottom. She guessed by late afternoon it would be too hot to sit on. She looked out over the river, watching it flow and the odd fish that swam close to the surface. She loved watching water. It was so peaceful and calming. The sound it made had always helped soothe her nerves, not that her nerves needed soothing so much any more. That thought took her back, reminding her this last week of peace was an anomaly in her world. Pain and suffering were much more familiar to her. She lightly fingered a fading bruise on her knee as her mind revisited her dark place and the man who had made it hell.