Trust In Love (A McCord Family Novel Book 2) (3 page)

Sophie felt his presence move closer as she struggled to sit up. Suddenly, without notice, a foot wedged into her stomach, knocking her breath out. He delivered several more blows, Sophie writhing in pain, unable to do anything but lie there taking the abuse.

Her eyes centered on her angel that had fallen to the floor, its wing shattered into pieces, just as her heart had. She tried to block the pain, the blows, and the blood spilling from her body by staring at the figure that followed her through life.

A rough scream escaped when she felt him slam down on top of her, grabbing her by the neck, slowly squeezing with all the strength he had. "You will never disobey me again, Sophie. You will never look at another man again like that. Allow a man to touch you in such a manner. Never again, Sophie, never again."

Sophie struggled to draw in air as his eyes glossed over in madness, the power in his hands deepening. Her mind started to waver, her eyes closing as she could feel a deep blackness coming. Just before it completely swept her away into the heavenly gates, a knock sounded from below.

Kevin snapped out of it, cursing loudly, and abruptly let go of her neck. "Don't you ever disobey me again. I won't tolerate that kind of behavior. You're mine. Only mine."

Sophie stared at his back as she lay bruised and damaged on the floor as another knock echoed throughout the house.

***

Sophie shook her head as her mind entered back into the present. A persistent knock shouted for her to answer it. She glided a shaky hand over the broken figurine and made her way to the front door.

Frowning, she noticed for the first time she had no peephole to see who was on the other side. Another forceful knock rang through her ears as she stood frozen in her spot. Her hand made a move to answer it, the shakes making it difficult to finish the journey. Should she answer it? Who could possibly be banging on her door so late at night?

A frightening thought slithered into her mind.

He found her.

She wasn't good at this cloak-and-dagger stuff. She wouldn't be surprised if he found her right away, considering she didn't try very hard attempting to hide. She did flee to her father's home. Doesn't get much easier than that.

Her meager attempt at living in peace was failing before she could even begin. Before she could even try. Life wasn't fair. A mantra she heard often enough through life from her stepfather. The miserable excuse for a man was right for once.

Life wasn't fair.

She jumped in place, her hands shaking even more when another round of banging popped into her senses. She inhaled a deep bout of strength, unlocked the door, and swung it open.

Tremors ran through her body as she stared at the angry face glaring at her. It overwhelmed her sanity, making her fall into the blackness she had unwittingly been spared from last time.

Chapter 2

Austin caught the woman in his arms before she slammed into the hard floor. He gently scooped her up, ignoring the strange feeling coursing through his body as he held her close. He looked down at his leg to the mangy mutt he saw scratching at her door, tugging lightly on his jeans.

"Down, boy. Down. I don't want to drop her after I just caught her," Austin muttered as he closed the door behind him with a shove of his boot. He walked to his left, noticing the suspect couch lingering in the dark. Tenderly laying her down, he hesitated to walk away from her. Except he needed some light.

He found the light switch with ease and flicked it up. Bright light illuminated the room, making him cringe inside how filthy the place was. He crouched back down by his peculiar neighbor, wondering why a woman of her beauty was in a place like this.

A hand reached to caress her cheek when the dog jumped into his lap, sending sloppy kisses onto his face. "Stop it. Stop! I don't do dog kisses, boy. I don't like those kinds of kisses," Austin said, laughing as he ruffled the dog's hair.

All the anger that simmered to the surface when he saw the dog pawing to get into her home, evaporated when she fainted. He couldn't help but laugh when the adorable beast was so happy in his arms. He did want to know why she locked him outside, though. He couldn't stand people who abused their animals. It was uncalled for. Growing up on a farm wasn't the only reason he had great respect for animals, but it helped. Hell, most of the animals on the farm were considered their pets, which in turn made them family. Courtesy of Ava to Zane's undying irritation. Austin laughed again just thinking about it.

"Do you find breaking and entering into my home funny?"

Austin's head snapped to the woman's terrified face.

"I wouldn't call it breaking and entering. You fainted. I caught you before you fell to the floor. I carried you inside, not sure what else to do. I'm positive you wouldn’t have appreciated being on my living room couch," Austin replied smoothly, trying to add a touch of his charm women normally swooned over.

This is where they would get the little butterflies in their stomach, shyly smile back, do a little hair flip, and bat their lashes at him. One simple smile and some smooth words usually did the trick.

"I'm positive I don't appreciate you in my home either. Please leave."

He had to be losing his touch. Austin stood up, ignoring that awful thought. "Okay. You're welcome, by the way, for saving your head a headache. I'll just add in I don't appreciate you treating your dog so cruelly. I watched for several minutes while he begged to be let in. Whining, pawing at the door, while all you did was ignore him. You can be mean to me all you want, but you won't be mean to this animal." The anger weaved its way back into his words, his stance tightening as he felt the dog sit by his feet.

She glanced down at the floor where the dog sat nicely at his feet, wagging his tail with happy vigor. She quickly glanced back at him. "That's why you knocked on my door so late at night?"

"Yes. Trust me. I have no desire to bother you. You are not someone I want to tangle with. But I won't hesitate when it comes to the treatment of animals." Austin ruffled the dog's head with care. "Plus, this little guy is sweet. He doesn't deserve to be kicked outside when the temperature is dipping down as it is."

"That's not my dog. I would never treat an animal like that. I assure you," she said, glancing at the dog again. A shabby looking dog. All white with long curly hair. Some spots were ratty, knotted, dirt lingering almost on his entire body.

"That's funny. Why was he begging to be let in your door? I'm telling you, I stood there for a while watching him. I even called to him and he refused to move from his spot. It's your dog," Austin insisted.

"That is not my dog. I've never owned a dog in my life. The treatment would have surely been—" She cut her words short as her frightened expression morphed into surprise. "I've never owned a dog before."

Austin stared at her puzzled. "This isn't your dog? You promise?"

"I wouldn't lie about that. I would never treat an animal with such cruelty. I can tell it's dirty. I can even smell a bad stench from him. Unless, of course, that's coming from you," she blurted, then suddenly backed further into the cushion.

Austin laughed to dispel her unexpected jolt of fear, aware of the way she flinched away from him. "Good one. I'm sure I did smell the first time we met. It's not me this time, darling," he said with a wink for added reassurance that he wasn't offended. "Now I just feel dumb. Well, I apologize for banging on your door and scaring you to pieces to the point of fainting. I never meant to do that. I just hated seeing him in such torture."

"You're apologizing to me?" she asked with the shock clear in her voice.

"Yeah. That's what you do when you're in the wrong. I'm sorry. If he's not your dog, I'll just take him home tonight and try to find his horrible owner tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Okay," Austin repeated, suddenly unsure what to say next.

Such a strange, confusing woman, who he was sure had many facets to her personality. He decided in a split second that he wasn't the man to find out what they were. He would not pursue his neighbor, no matter how much the desire rushed through his body.

"I won't bother you anymore, I swear. I know you don't like me," Austin said. He patted his leg, looking at the dog. "Come on, boy. Let's go home. Clean you up. The lovely lady is right. You stink!"

Austin winked again at her to lighten her mood as he still saw the waves of tension rise from her body and walked out of the living room to the front door. The dog jumped on her lap, licked her face once, and ran after him as he quietly shut her door.

***

Sophie stared at the door, wondering what just happened. She went from terrified of that man to uncomfortable to almost secure. His attire spoke much more highly of him this time. He had combed his brown hair to the side in a graceful manner, not one piece out of place. A clean black T-shirt had clung to his body in a raw sensual manner and blue jeans that hugged his thighs just right for a man. His boots were clean, free of dirt, shining with a power she couldn't describe.

When she had opened her eyes to see him laughing with the dog, something had touched a place in her heart that she thought to have been destroyed. His angry glare a minute later should have frightened her, yet she had only seen that tender smile when her eyes first landed on him.

Strange.

Even more strange had been his lack of reaction to her loose lips, insulting him the way she had. She hadn't been able to stop the words from leaving her mouth. She never spoke to people—men specifically—in such a way. The hurt they would dish out for such insolence was not worth contemplating because she knew what happened when you spoke that way.

Yet, he laughed instead. Smiling. Winking. Not one hurtful hand came her way.

She couldn't blame him for being angry at the appearance of that adorable dog. Filthy, yes. But oh so adorable. She had no clue when it came to dogs—what sort of dog he was. It had been obvious no one was taking care of it as they should.

He clearly didn't mind how dirty the dog was because he planned to take him home. Another thoughtful, caring gesture.

Just who was that man?

When she would see him again? Never would be good.

Then his sweet smiled penetrated her thoughts and she hoped soon. What happened to avoiding men?

She took a solemn breath and urged herself to look at her angel to remind her why men were bad. How well they could fake sweetness, kindness, and the next minute, rip you to shreds.

***

"What the hell is that thing?" Zane demanded as the mangy dog ran around Austin's feet.

"What do you mean? It's a dog. My dog," Austin said with pride.

He had given him a bath last night. A huge water mess had splattered everywhere on the bathroom floor mingling with the dirt that had flown off the many times the dog felt the urge to shake his hair. Austin decided the dog did need a haircut, but he would wait until after he found his owners. He had no intention of giving him back with the state of despair he found the sweet, lovable dog in. Dirty, smelly, knotted hair in many places, and even a few spots of dried blood where he had itched to the point of madness. But he planned to give them an earful on their treatment of animals and report them to the authorities. He would also get Ava in his corner, knowing he would get the dog into his hands with ease. One look and he had fallen in love. He wasn’t giving him up without a fight now.

"When did you get a dog? You left last night dog free and now you have a dog," Zane said dryly.

"Is it that big of a deal? He's cute. A little messy last night, but we've become fast friends."

"I don't get it."

"I saw him sitting on my neighbor's porch last night and he was dying to get in. I banged on her door, ready to yell at her for treating him like that. Turns out, it's not her dog. He was dirty as can be and I cleaned him up, deciding he was my dog now. I'll try to find his owner, but he's mine now," Austin said with certainty.

"The same neighbor that you had issues with yesterday afternoon?" Zane asked with a grin.

"Yes," Austin groaned hesitantly.

"Yes? That's all you're going to say. You're not planning on elaborating how that conversation went?"

"No. It went. That's it," Austin muttered, walking towards the hog barn. "We have work to do. Come on, Axel."

"Who in the hell is Axel?" Zane asked, confused, glancing around until his eyes landed on the goofy looking dog.

"The dog!" Austin exclaimed, turning around to glare at Zane.

"You named him Axel? Axel's a name for a big booming German Shepherd or a Rottweiler, not...whatever the hell that thing is!"

"He's a West Highland Terrier. I know it's hard to tell with his hair as long as it is, but he's definitely an Axel. That's the first name that came to my mind and I'm sticking with it."

"What did your neighbor have to say about his name? What's her name by the way?" Zane asked, grinning.

"What is it with you and Ava and this obsession with my new neighbor? I didn't tell her what I named him and I'm not talking about her anymore. I have no idea what her name is and no desire to know either. Let's get to work already," Austin said, swinging the barn door open, stomping his way inside.

***

Zane smiled at his back, itching to tell Ava the new development with Austin's neighbor. She was right. Maybe this woman would be good for him. He wasn’t usually surly when it came to talking about women. He enjoyed all kinds of women.

Very interesting indeed.

He saw Ava coming from the red barn and his smile grew wider.

"Just the beautiful woman I had been hoping to see," Zane said, pulling her into his arms for a demanding kiss. He came up for air, a twinkle in his eyes as he pulled her tighter against him.

"What was that for?" Ava asked as her eyes betrayed that she wanted more.

"I missed you," Zane said simply.

"You saw me like ten minutes ago," she said dryly. "Spill it, mister."

"Austin got a dog. Named him Axel and he doesn't look like an Axel. Trust me. He talked to his neighbor again last night and I don't think it went well. He had a grumpy attitude when I tried to pry the conversation out of him. I got nowhere. He's keeping the dog, too," Zane said, watching as Ava's eyes lit up with amusement.

"I have to meet this woman. She's getting under his skin I see. You were just dying to tell me, weren’t you?" Ava grinned deviously.

"Of course I was. Nobody better to whip some sense into him than you. He needs to stop dating the women he is and settle down. I know he doesn’t want to, but he's going to spiral out sooner or later. I just know it. Any woman who can bother him like that is worth taking a chance on. We should meet her," Zane said. If he didn't like the woman, he would back off.

"Leave it to me. I want to see this doggy now," Ava said happily.

"He's in the barn. He's no doggy. He doesn't even look like a dog. He looks like a sloppy mop."

Ava lightly tapped Zane on the butt. "Be nice."

Zane grabbed her hand, pulling her closer to his body as they walked to the barn. "Watch where you put your hands, sweetheart, I'm liable to toss you over my shoulder and have my wicked way with you back in the bedroom."

She smiled as she pulled her hand from his, running it down his back in a slow caress, landing on his bottom again, pinching in delight. "I like the sound of that."

Zane grabbed her into his arms, cradling her to his body as he pushed her against the barn wall. "I love you. I can never say that enough." He brought his mouth down, crushing any words that may have escaped from her sweet lips. He treasured the heat that flowed around them, the magic that swirled in their mouths.

He pulled back slightly, resting his forehead against hers. "We need to get to work. Quit distracting me."

"You distracted me first," Ava pointed out as she grabbed another kiss. "Let's go find Austin. I can't wait to meet Axel."

Zane groaned at the ridiculous name, following Ava into the barn.