Protective Love (Hidden Secrets) (18 page)

My head shot up and I met his eyes. 

“Really?  I didn’t think that law enforcement did anything about that stuff anymore with budget cuts and what not.  I will get the files together.  I have several I suspect, but cannot fully prove, but if you look at the wounds, it looks to me like fighting marks.”

I couldn’t keep the excitement
out of my voice.  The dog fighting had really gotten out of control the past few years, and I was amazed that there was enough in the police budget for them to have a task force. 

There might be hope for these dogs yet.  There were even a few people I knew that tried to rehabilitate them.  Oh the possibilities here.
 

Suddenly
, I couldn’t wait to go to work.

“Not many know about the task force, which works out in their favor because the people who run these have no clue that
anyone is searching for them.  This allows the task force to catch them off guard.”

I nodded my head and started to doze off.
  I wasn’t sure how long I had dozed off for, but I was groggy and a little disoriented.  The instant I felt the weight, I knew why I woke.  I screamed, but it was cut short by Alex pressing his hand over my mouth.  I struggled, but he was sitting on me.  I couldn’t move.

“I own you, you little bitch!  It’s time for a reminder on how and why I own you.” 

He breathed the words at me before reaching up and yanking my hair back.  He happened to shift his weight just enough that I was able to free an arm and immediately started thrashing it around as Alex tried to catch.  The lamp fell to the floor and shattered.

The next few moments happened so fast they seemed slow and almost unreal.  My door flew open
, but it wasn’t until I heard his voice that I knew it was Jason.

“Freeze
, you son of bitch!  Police!  Don’t move!”

In horror, I watched as Alex pulled
out a gun of his own and shot.  Then, just like that, he was gone.  I was still screaming from the sound of the gun firing.  I curled into a ball and started crying.

“Kayla? Sunshine, are you okay?”
he asked.

I felt a hand touch my arm
, and I jumped, pulling my body into a tighter ball.

“Sunshine, I need to know you’re okay.”

Jason reached out and lifted me into his lap, cradling me.  I tensed up at first, but soon the warmth that only Jason fills me with seeped through the haze of the fear, and I relaxed into his hold.

“Kayla, please talk to me.  You’re worrying me.” 

I cried harder and clung to his shirt.  He pulled me closer and held me tightly. 

“Baby please
,”  His voice broke, and he began to rock me.  It was his voice breaking that made me realize how worried he was about me.

“I’m okay.  Scared, but okay.  You saved me.”  I whispered
, my voice scratchy from crying.

He held me tighter and sighed. 

“Thank God, baby.  You had me so worried.  I’m sorry you were hurt again.  When you fell asleep, I thought moving you to your room would allow you to get some much needed sleep. I should have been in here. I’m…”

I had to cut him off.  He was actually going to blame himself for
what happened.  There was no way in hell it was his fault!  No way!

“You saved me, Jason.  He didn’t get to hurt me because of you
, and I thank you so much for that.”

He sat quiet for a moment and I heard him take a sharp breath.  I shifted in his arms and he winced.

“Are you okay?” I whispered.

“Yes, I’m fine.  I’m more concerned about you.  Did he
-I mean…”

I knew what he was trying to ask and for the first time Alex didn’t get to hurt me or rape me
. The sudden thought made me smile.  Jason gave me one day where Alex couldn’t do whatever he wanted to me.

“No.  All he said is that I was his and he was going to show me how he owned me, but you came in before he could do anything more than choke me and hold his hand over my mouth.”  I leaned back and looked him in the eyes.  “Thanks to you I was not hurt.”  I went to wrap my arms around him and he groaned.  I leaned back further.

“Oh my God!  You’re bleeding!  Nate! Nate!” 

All rational thoughts flew out the window when I saw the blood.

“Sunshine, it’s okay.  Calm down.  It’s just a little gunshot wound.  It doesn’t even hurt that bad.” 

I noticed that he was gritting his teeth.

It was in that moment that I knew how deep my feelings ran for Jason.  I couldn’t tell him, but I could let him closer.  He saved me, and had gotten hurt in the process.  He was nothing like Alex, and didn’t deserve to be treated the same way.

CHAPTER S
IXTEEN

~JASON~

“You were shot?! Nate! Oh where the hell is he?!” She screamed.

“Kayla, baby, calm down.  Let’s go out to the living room and see if I can get in touch with him.  When I heard the lamp break, I had him take Mary to safety.  My phone is on the dining room table,” I said, trying to talk calmly.

Truth be told
, my arm was killing me, but if I had let my pain show, Kayla would have panicked more than she already was.  She had enough on her plate, she didn’t need that too.  The pain didn’t even register until I knew that she was okay. I don’t think that I could have handled it if she had been harmed and I put her in that position.

“Are you sure you should move?  Are you sure you’re okay?  Of course you’re not okay!  You’ve been fucking shot!” 
By that point, she was pacing with worry. I laughed and pulled her close to me.  Before she could object, I kissed her.  It wasn’t slow and tender.  It was passionate and raw.  When I saw him over her, it was that moment that I had to face the facts: I was in love with Kayla.  Whether I felt ready or not, I loved her.  There was no way in hell I was ever going to let anything happen to her.

We walked out into the dining room and grabbed my phone.

“Nate?  Did you get Mary away safely?”

“Yeah.  Kayla okay?”

“Yes, Kayla’s fine.”

“Did you get the fucker?”

“No.  He got away.” I bit out.

“Is it safe to come back?”

“Yeah, head on back.  We need to go through the room.” I hung up the phone.

I sat back in the chair and watched Kayla fidget with
random things in the kitchen.  I smiled.  She was so beautiful, even stressed out and almost to the point of panic.  She was still the most beautiful woman I have ever met in my life.

“Hey baby?
  Can I get a towel so I don’t make a mess on anything?”

She ran to her linen closet
, grabbed a towel, and ran it back to me.  She continued to pace and I couldn’t help but laugh.  She glared at me, which caused me to laugh harder.

“You’ve lost your fucking mind!”
she snapped.

“Sit down and calm down.  It makes no sense to stress yourself over nothing.”

The door handle jiggling had me on my feet pushing Kayla behind me and drawing my gun.  Kayla clung to the back of my shirt tight enough that it was almost choking me.  When Mary walked through the door, she froze and put her hands in the air.  Lowering my gun, I apologized for scaring her.

“Holy shit! You’re bleeding!” Mary yelled.

There was no point in stopping the laughter.  Their reactions were so much the same it was just too funny.  It wasn’t until Kayla smacked me in my good arm that I stopped.  I was worried as hell when I went into that room, but I saved her and she seemed to almost warm up to me and because of that, I had never felt happier than I did in that moment.  I was in love, and it was an outstanding feeling.  I couldn’t quit smiling. 

Yet t
here was a voice in the back of my head that kept screaming cautions at me.

You’re moving too fast.  Kayla may not be able to love you back.

The smile faded from my face.  What if she couldn’t love me back?  Would I give up on her?  I wasn’t sure I could, even if I tried.  Kayla seemed to complete me, and she wasn’t something I was willing to live without.  Definitely not once I realized how important she really was to me; letting her go would be foolish. 

Just as soon as I know she’s ready to believe it, I will tell her how I feel.  My only prayer is that she will return it.

“Dude, we need to get you to the hospital.  Where were you shot?”

Nate looked at my wound and I grabbed Kayla’s hand.  Pulling her toward me, I brought her down to me and held her in my arm.  Everything was forgotten when I had her in my arms.  She wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me tightly.

“I think the bullet is still in there.  It’s hard to tell with the mess there, but there doesn’t appear to be an exit wound.”

“I’ll drive him to the hospital
,” Kayla offered.

“That’ll work
, actually.  Nate, you need to stay here and try and find anything in her room that might help us find out where he is hiding.  Fine tooth comb, buddy.  Back up should be here soon to help you go through everything.  He jumped back out the window, beyond that I couldn’t tell you how he got in. We have to find him soon.  I think he’s getting cocky.”

Nate nodded his head.  We both knew what a cocky
perp meant.  It meant that Kayla could be in more danger than she ever thought possible.  The thought chilled me to the bone.  The ‘what if’ thoughts crossed my mind a time or two, but I couldn’t let her get hurt.  I would die trying to protect her if it came to that.  No way was I going to let her suffer one more second from this asshole.

“Jason, you’re squeezing me too tight
,” Kayla breathed out.

I loosened my grip immediately. 

“I’m sorry.”  I mumbled.

Kayla pulled me to my feet and helped me down to the car.  She was treating me like at any moment I was going to fall over and not
get up.  I smiled at her as she leaned over me to buckle my seat belt.  When she started pulling back, I grabbed her and kissed her.  She didn’t let me kiss her long before she pulled back and shut the door.  I sighed. 

I could feel Kayla constantly checking on me.  I had my head laid back on the head rest with my eyes shut, trying to process what happened.  If there was something I was missing I needed to figure it out and I needed to figure it out now.  The longer we played his game, the more chance Kayla had of being hurt.
 

If something was to happen to her because I didn’t figure this out…

No. I couldn’t think like that.  Everything was going to be fine.  We were going to be able to catch him before he could attack her again.

Her warm hand reached over and held mine.  I squeezed her hand and smiled.  I heard her exhale and chuckled.  Reaching over to her, I ran my fingers down her cheek.  I loved the feel of her skin.

“I’m okay, sunshine.  Please don’t worry about me.”

“Don’t worry about you? Are you kidding me?! You were shot because of me!”

“Baby really, I’m okay.” 

I smiled at her and took
her hand back in mine, kissing the back of it.  She was so giving, and considering that she had someone taking from her for so long, it amazed me she still had that kind of spirit.  But then I was quickly realizing that Kayla wasn’t most women.  Kayla was all her own type, and that was one of the most attractive things about her.  She filled my life with so much hope and light that the tunnel I have been traveling down didn’t seem so bad anymore and I could actually see the end. 

Kayla may not know it, but she saved me.  She made me realize what life could be
like and that just because one thing happened didn’t mean it always would or that everyone was the same.  She gave me my life back and I will forever be grateful to her for that.  Because of Kayla, my heart was beating again and for once I cared.

We
arrived at the emergency room and Kayla was shaking she was so nervous.  I almost stopped us outside the doors to calm her down, but she wasn’t having any more stalling.  I walked up to the desk.

“My name is Detective Jason Gold.  I was shot while undercover.  I need to be seen.”

After all the legality, paperwork, and talking to the Captain on the phone, I was taken back to a room and scans were done.  We waited.  I watched Kayla; she was completely lost in thought and chewing on her bottom lip.  I wanted to bite it as I pushed inside of her before taking her lips and…

Shaking my head
, I groaned.  That was the dumbest thing to do when I was sitting with nothing more than a hospital gown.  I shifted in the bed and winced.

“Are you okay? 
Here, let me help.”

She started fluffing my pillows, but her breasts were right in my face
, and it wasn’t helping my problem any.  I groaned again.

“I’m sorry.  I was only trying to help.”

I took her hand and held it. 

“You being here is enough for me.  I’m sorry I wasn’t in there.  I should have left you asleep on the couch so I could watch you.  I just wanted to make you comfortable.  You haven’t been sleeping well
, and I thought you could use the sleep.  If I hadn’t moved you in there…”

I couldn’t even complete the sentence
before she had her mouth on mine.  It was the first kiss she had ever initiated with me, and it made me forget everything, just like I always did when I kissed her.  Wrapping my arm around her I pulled her down on the bed with me and deepened the kiss further.  I needed her so damn bad.  Every time we kissed - every time I looked at her - it grew more intense.

“
God, I need you so bad, Kayla,” I whispered against her lips.

Carefully, I shifted my bad arm over and moved her hand that was on my stomach down to my erection
, which was extremely hard and in major need of Kayla.  She gasped when her hand touched it.

“Jason…”
she whispered.

“I can’t help
it.  I’ve wanted you so bad, Kayla.  I need you like nothing I’ve ever needed before.  Sunshine, I will be patient, I will wait, I promise.  I just…”

“You need some relief and want my help?”
she finished.

I nodded because it was true.  I needed a moment to forget and so did she.
 

“Let’s forget today together.  You help me and I’ll help you.”

Watching her carefully, she debated on whether or not to do it when sudden guilt took over me.  It was not fair of me to ask this of her, and I felt like such as ass for saying anything.

“Jason, I don’t know…”

Guilt ate at me more as she struggled to finish a sentence. 

I shouldn’t have done this.  Never should have even brought it up.

I could feel myself softening as I watched her struggle with herself.

“Kay, you don’t
-”

I started to
speak, but all thoughts ceased when I felt her hand move under the blanket and wrap around me.

“
Ahhh… damn,” I moaned. 

In just one touch I was back to being so hard I thought I would break.  Her hand on me felt so damn good.
 

“Shift to your knees and undo your jeans.”

“What? Why?”

“I’m going to help you.  Just my hand, I promise.  I told you we’d give each other
a moment to forget,” I panted.

“I’ve never
- I mean I don’t…” she stammered.

“You’ve never had an
orgasm? Or is there something else?” I asked quietly.

She dropped her head and hand and shook her head.  She was embarrassed
, I could tell.

“Hey, I am honored to be the first to give you one if you will let me.  I promise to take care of you always, sunshine
, but I won’t let you do this for me if I can’t do it for you.”

She looked at the tented sheet and whispered, “You’d stop because of me even when you have that?”
she nodded her head to the sheet.

“Yes.  Kay, I will only do this if you are first.  You are first for everything
, especially in this.  Do you want to do this?”

She bit her lip and stared at me for a minute before nodding her head
.  She shifted to her knees as I asked.  Placing her hand back on me and slowly running her hand from the base to the tip before going back down again.  She may have had no clue what she was doing, but she was doing it right.  A moan fell from my lips when she gripped me harder.

“Can
I see your breasts?”  I breathed.

She hesitated, but let go of me and lifted her shirt
, pulling down her bra and releasing her breasts.  My breath caught in my throat.  Even in the dim light of the hospital room, it was a breathtaking sight.  I pulled her down to me and tasted first one and then the other in my mouth.  She sighed.  When she moved her hand back to my cock, I moved my hand inside her jeans and panties and ran my finger back and forth between her folds to her swollen nub.  She was wet.  I rotated my time between her breasts and her mouth.  When she started shaking, I knew she must be close.  I wasn’t sure how much time had gone by or how much we had left for that matter.  I concentrated on her clit with my thumb and pushed a finger inside of her.  When she tensed I pulled out and just concentrated on her clit.  I wanted to give this to her.  She needed it, and I wanted to be the one to give it to her.  Her hand was tighter around me and she stroked me faster and faster.  I was so close, but I wanted her to go first.

“Shit, baby, that feels so damn good
,” I breathed.

Kayla was making the sexiest sounds I have ever heard
, and it was turning me on more and more.  I loved her, and she was mine.