LineofDuty (17 page)

Jake’s tortured face hurt her, but there would be time later
to assure him she would live.

“Run,” Becca snapped, taking the lead.

Nicole followed, biting the inside of her cheek as every
step shot agony up her legs.

Becca ran as if she knew where she was going. But she also
had someone in her ear. Nicole wouldn’t rule out the other woman being guided.

Their little group thundered through the metal forest, more
footsteps and yelling behind them now.

“Police, freeze!”

The cry was echoed from above, behind and on all sides.

“Keep going,” Jake urged her on. They reached a metal
staircase and at least ten officers were at the foot of the stairs, their gazes
trained beyond Nicole.

The cavalry had arrived.

She wasn’t dead.

Relief washed over her and the adrenaline in her veins
burned off so fast the dizziness redoubled. She swayed on her feet and the
world faded to black.

* * * * *

Jake stared through the glass window at Nicole. In sleep she
appeared serene, except she hadn’t woken up since she’d passed out on scene.

“Mr. Vant, I’m Dr. Hunsaker.” A woman with a kind smile and
a halo of curls offered Jake her hand. “Let me tell you first, she’s fine.”

“Then why hasn’t she woken up?” Jake asked.

“Because we gave her a sedative.”

“Why?”

“Well, let me break it all down for you. It appears she was
given a tranquilizer—”

“Yeah, she was drugged with wine.”

The doctor nodded. “Well, she’s had a bad allergic reaction
to the tranquilizer. Combined with severe dehydration, exhaustion, she’s been
kept in a pretty harsh environment from what I can tell of her physical
injuries, but with a little sleep and an IV she’ll wake up on her own any time
now.”

“She’s fine?” he asked, rolling the words around in his
head.

“Yes, she can go home when she wakes up. She should make a
full recovery physically in less than a week. Just lots of rest. As far as what
she’s been through, that’s going to be another matter.”

Jake pushed his hand through his hair. How much more could
Nicole take before she broke?

“She had a miscarriage, late second trimester, about a year
ago. It’s been rough.” He scrubbed his hand over his jaw.

“Miscarriage can have some real effects on a woman’s body
and her mental state. The best thing for her is that you’re there with her.”

Jake laughed. He’d been told that when Willow died and he’d
still turned his back on Nicole, too selfish to give her the support she’d
begged him for. This time, she wouldn’t be able to pry herself away from him. Things
weren’t perfect, but he was not giving up.

“Here’s my number. I’m going to have a list of specialists
that handle trauma and post-miscarriage therapy, including some couple’s
counseling recommendations, sent over to you. This has happened to both of you,
not just her, and you need to heal together.”

Jake nodded and accepted the card. “Can I go back in now?”

“Sure.”

Jake slipped into the room, shutting the door behind him and
drawing the blinds to keep it dark. If she needed rest, he’d be there for her.
He settled into the chair, listening to the beep of the machines and watching
her shift in sleep.

What was she dreaming? Were they nightmares? Was she
reliving the horrors of the last few days?

The scent of flowers perfumed the room. They hadn’t even been
at the hospital more than a few hours when the first dozen were delivered by
O’Neil himself, then Tanya and Cole. More had followed but he didn’t pay them
any mind. Only Nicole mattered.

Nicole gasped and sat up straight in bed. She grasped the
railings and twisted, looking one way then the other.

“Nicole?” Jake pushed to his feet and grasped her arm.

She yelped and tried to pull away.

“Nicole, baby, it’s me, Jake.” He gentled his hold as his
voice registered.

She sagged toward him and he gathered her against his chest,
hugging her close, stroking her hair and muttering comforting words. The
invisible hand gripping his chest tightened just a bit. Things almost hadn’t
ended well.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“We’re at the hospital.”

“I want to go home.” Her voice was small.

“I know, we’ll go soon. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.” He
clutched her to his chest and blew out a breath. “If it weren’t for me none of
this would have happened.”

“If it weren’t for you I’d be dead,” she mumbled.

He snorted. “You wouldn’t have been there without me.”

“I don’t care. I just want to go home. Please?” He kissed
her brow and forced himself to let her go.

He’d take her to Cole’s house. Tanya had offered. They could
stay there for a few days and decide what to do next. She’d probably never want
to go to their old house ever again.

Nicole stared at the front of Tanya’s house, the setting sun
bathing it in warm tones.

“What are we doing here?” she asked.

“I thought it might be best if we stayed with them tonight—”

“No.” She shook her head. “I want to go home, have a bath in
my own tub and go to sleep.” All was pretend this was another normal day, not a
roller coaster of her worst nightmares.

“Okay.” He turned toward her, face lined with worry. “Which
house?”

“Our old one. It’s the only one that’s ever really felt like
home.” She hugged herself and stared out the window.

He didn’t speak for a moment. “Think about this, babe. You
were taken from our old house. Are you sure you’re ready to go back there?”

“I want to go home, Jake. Either you take me there yourself
or I’ll walk home.”

He reversed out of the drive and they made the short trip in
silence.

She knew it didn’t make sense. That her house had been
violated and she shouldn’t feel the least bit safe. But the entire time she’d
been trapped, all she’d wanted was to go back to her little house with all its
little quirks, because that was home.

Jake pulled into their driveway and she breathed a sigh of
relief.

“I’ll come around—”

She opened the door and stepped out.

“Guess not.”

Her feet stung as she hobbled up to the door. Jake easily
caught up to her and opened the door for her.

“You’re being stubborn,” he mumbled.

“Yes, yes I am.” She stepped over the threshold and sighed.
It was still as empty as when she’d last been here, but it wasn’t things that
she was after. There was something about this house, the way being in it made
her feel that was just home.

Jake hugged her from behind. She gripped his arm, soaking up
the good in the day.

She was alive.

He was alive.

They were home.

“Come here.” Jake picked her up, the frown still firmly in
place. If he’d had his way, she wouldn’t have stepped foot on the ground.

Nicole smiled and laid her cheek against his shoulder, happy
to let him carry the burden for now. He carried her into the bathroom and set
her on the vanity while he sank to the floor. Gently, as if she were made of
china, he unwrapped the bandages on her feet and inspected them with a frown.

“You can’t soak your feet,” he said.

“I know, I’m going to wash them off then prop them up out of
the tub while the rest of me soaks. I promise we won’t have to chop my feet
off.”

Jake held his tongue but he didn’t seem to care for her
solution. Instead he turned to the tub and turned on the water, testing it
after each small twist of the knobs until he deemed it the right temperature.
There was something normal about this act, as if the last year was gone and
they were back in happier times. Except they weren’t, and pretending wouldn’t
make that happen.

He returned to her and removed her clothing, one piece at a
time. If she moved to do it herself he pushed her hands away. When he’d
stripped her bare, he picked her up and put her in the tub, fussing about her
feet. After she’d given them a gentle wash, he produced a towel to pad the edge
of the tub for her.

Nicole held her breath as she settled back in the water,
waiting to see what he would do next.

Jake got up and exited the bathroom without a backward
glance. She stared at his back in the mirror until she couldn’t see him at all.
As if he’d never once heard her say this last week how she needed him there
with her.

She sucked in a shuddering breath and gathered her hair over
her shoulder, twisting it up so it wouldn’t get into the tub. Her eyes stung
with unshed tears. What about everything he’d said?

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Jake stood in the doorway to the
bathroom, her hair clip in hand.

“Nothing.” She swiped at her eyes.

“Hey. I’m here.” He sat next to the tub and reached for her.

She took his hand and held it against her cheek.

Jake turned his hand in her hold and cupped her face with
both hands, pulling her toward him. He brushed his lips across hers with
tenderness.

“I’m here,” he murmured.

“I thought you were leaving.” She hiccupped and hated it.

“I’m not going anywhere. Here.”

He handed her the clip and she secured her hair out of the
water, but took his hand as soon as it was free.

“I know I failed you this year, but things are going to be
different. Dr. Hunsaker is giving me a list of people, therapists and
counselors and stuff, and we can pick who we want to go to. Together, or if you
want to go on your own, that’s okay.”

“I should have gone last year, but the last thing I wanted
to do was talk about Willow to someone who never knew her,” Nicole said. She
had some blame in all of this as well. She’d known she was out of control, but
didn’t know how to get off the crazy train.

“There’s a lot we should have done differently. I just want
to be with you, to do it better now.” He rubbed his thumb over her hand, a
pained, vulnerable expression on his face.

“I want to be with you. I was going to tell you the other
night, but then you got all weird and, well…” She’d gotten herself kidnapped.

“I’m sorry. If it weren’t for me it wouldn’t have happened.”

“It did. Was I scared? Yes. Did I think I might die? It
occurred to me. But I didn’t. We lived this last year stuck and I refuse to
lose another one. Diego is dead. He can’t hurt us.”

“Over my dead body.”

“Not funny.”

“Too soon?”

“Yes.”

Yet she cracked a smile and he grinned back at her.

“I love you,” he said.

“I know.” She gazed into his eyes and knew, this really was
a forever kind of love. “I love you too.”

Jake broke the moment to turn the faucet off.

“How’s Cole?” She had vague memories of him being injured.

“A dozen stitches and some antibiotics. He’ll be fine.”

“Tanya is not going to appreciate me earning him another
scar.”

“I think she’ll understand. You two have gotten close.”

“We have. I used to think she was annoying but I was just
being a bitch.”

“You? Never.”

“Shut up.” She splashed him and Jake chuckled, brushing
stray droplets off his face.

They lapsed into silence for a few moments.

“You really want to stay with me?” Jake asked, slanting his
gaze toward her.

“I do. ’Til death do us part and all that.”

“Good.”

“I don’t want to go back to the brick house. I want to move
back here. And I want to find a new job. I want this next year to be happy.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“And I still want you to go to the Championships.”

“I don’t think Cole would let me back out now, no matter
what.”

“Good. I need to get out of here before I go all pruney.
Help me out?”

Jake pulled the stopper out of the tub and grabbed the towel
she hadn’t yet been able to wash before helping her get out of the tub without
submerging her feet again. With a little bit of laughter and his muscle, she
made it upright. Jake produced another towel, which he dried her with. Since
she didn’t have any other clean clothes, he wrapped her up once she wasn’t
dripping and carried her into the bedroom.

“Lie with me?” She patted the bed and he stretched out next
to her, face-to-face.

Deep lines creased his forehead and around his mouth. She
traced them with her fingers, wishing she could wipe them away and that they
could both forget.

“Are you sure you want to come back here after what
happened?” Jake asked.

“I’m even more certain I want to be here, but we don’t have
to decide now.”

His expression eased, turning into a smile, and he kissed
her brow. “Okay. I really do love you. You mean the world to me.”

Nicole blew out a breath. The words were water to her
parched soul. “I need to hear that.”

“I promise to not let a day go by without telling you. Or.
Better yet…” He rolled her to her back and this time his face creased in a
smile. “I can show you. Would you let me?”

“Careful what you promise. I might hold you to it.” Her
heart still fluttered when he gazed at her with heat.

Jake’s smile spread into a grin and he pushed the towel
open. He kissed his way down her body, laving her nipples with his tongue
before continuing his trek.

He parted her folds and licked her clit with the flat of his
tongue. Anticipation had her more sensitive and she gasped, grasping the sheets
and arching her back. He slid his fingers into her pussy.

“I can’t wait until I have the toy box back.” Jake brushed
his thumb over her anus. “Remember how you came when I put that one back here?”

Heat and arousal flooded her body.

“I think you do remember.”

“Mmm, dresser drawer.” She reached toward it, biting her lip
as he curled his fingers in her channel.

Jake kissed her hip and slithered across the bed. He yanked
the drawer open and pulled out the large, rabbit-style vibrator. It was her
go-to for self-pleasure. There were better ones for Jake to use on her, but she
hadn’t exactly packed for a couple’s trip when she left.

He grinned and pressed the button. The purple cyberskin
started to shake slightly and her channel spasmed.

Jake brought the toy to her entrance and slowly eased it in.
She was so wet it slid in with not even a gasp from her. He pushed her knees
open wider with his and leaned over her. With one hand he pumped in and out,
agonizingly slow. He bent his head and sucked her breast, swirling his tongue
around the areola, nipping the peak just a little.

Nicole lifted her hips, urging him faster, but the damn man
wasn’t pushing her toward release.

“Jake,” she moaned.

He froze, turning the vibrator off.

“Don’t use your feet,” he said.

“Then fuck me.” She let her legs flop to the bed and glared
at him.

He turned the vibe back on, his gaze daring her to move. In
and out, in and out he stroked her, even applying pressure to the
clit-stimulating rabbit.

“Oh, fuck me already.”

“Shit.”

Jake pulled the vibe out and stood. He stripped out of his
clothing in a flurry, tossing his shirt one way and his jeans another. She
would have laughed if she weren’t so turned-on. There wasn’t an inch of him
that wasn’t rock hard from use or necessity. He was her hero made flesh.

He climbed between her legs and hooked her knees over his
arms, spreading her wide and conveniently making her feet useless.

The ass. Good thing she loved him.

“Put me in you,” he said.

Well, don’t mind if I do.

Nicole grasped his cock and pumped it, taking joy in the way
his face grew tense and he clenched his jaw. Two could tease.

“Nicole,” he growled.

“You want this?” She slid her fingers along either side of
her clit.

“Nicole.”

She grinned and positioned his cock at her entrance. His
hips flexed, joining their bodies as he slid deep within her, completing the
circle that had been broken. They froze, gasping for breath, gazes locked. This
was more than sex or fucking. Even making love. She didn’t have words for what
he did to her, but it healed the fractured bits of her heart and soul.

Nicole pulled him down, not that he resisted. She kissed
him, holding his face in both hands, relishing the rough feel of his stubble
across her palm, the way he teased her with his tongue.

He withdrew and she tilted her head back, savoring the
sensation of their most intimate joining. He kissed her neck and gently bit the
juncture at her shoulder. She chuckled and relaxed, knowing he would care for
all her needs.

Nicole flattened her hands on the bed, fingers slightly
under her bottom, and when he thrust, she did too. One side of Jake’s mouth
hitched up. She’d missed that boyish grin. The one that said she was about to
get it. He withdrew and thrust harder, her breath hitching as sparks sizzled
through her body.

“Oh yeah,” she muttered.

He thrust again, harder. Her hands slipped over the bed but
she met him thrust for thrust. Each time little quakes shook her insides.

Jake pushed her knees open wider and brought them up, his
hands planted on the bed close enough to hers their fingers could curl around
each other. This close she could see the ring of color around his eyes, the
depths of richer color and the tints of almost gold in them.

He pistoned in and out of her body, hard and fast. She did
what she could to meet him each time, but her movements were hindered. He held
her prisoner, not that she minded one bit.

The sounds of their mingled breathing, moans and the slap of
flesh on flesh filled the room. She grabbed one of his hands and clenched his
shoulder with the other.

“Say you love me,” Jake said, his voice low and rough.

Nicole gasped as he hit the perfect spot. Her vision went
fuzzy and her body arched. “Oh I love you. I fucking do.”

Not just him, but everything about him. He was her hero. Her
country boy. The man who didn’t try to understand her, just accepted all her
quirks. He was the man she would grow old with. Because she loved him, and a
life without that love wasn’t the life she wanted.

He dropped his head, sweat beading his brow.

“Oh Jake.” Her voice hitched on the last syllable, turning
it into a moan as her release spiraled up through her body. Her toes curled and
she hugged his body with her calves, dug her nails into his shoulder and
clenched his fingers.

His motions became jerky, uneven. His head tossed back and
all she could see was the pupils of his eyes. She watched as his body
shuddered, rippled with his climax.

Little tremors snaked their way through her as his motions
gentled and stilled. He dropped his head to her shoulder and she squeezed what
parts of him she could reach.