Wolf’s Heart (16 page)

“A little...but it feels so good. Don’t you dare stop.” She hissed a bit as he slid deep inside her, stroking her until they were both gasping for breath. 

There was nothing hurried, no frantic need. He didn’t fuck her. There was just tenderness, a possession that, in the end, had her screaming his name as she gasped for every breath.

Ryden had a smirk of satisfaction on his face as he rolled off of her, his calloused hands so gentle they nearly floated as they moved across her body. He acted as if he couldn’t get enough of the feel of her skin.

“Tell ya what, I’ll give you ten minutes to rest while I shower. If you come in there with me now, I
will
be inside you again. We might get breakfast eventually.” Just the words sent shivers through her. “Maybe later, we can talk about this fascination of yours with my anatomy. Rest up, Buttercup. You’re gonna need it.”

One final kiss and he went into the bathroom to shower, leaving her alone. For what seemed like long minutes she just watched the bathroom door. In reality, it wasn’t long at all. She knew this is what it would be like now. She would be alone, but Ryden would forever be in her heart and on her mind. 

Damn, she would miss him. She waited for the sound of the water before she reached for the phone and called a cab. She tip toed through the room, putting on clothes and tying back her hair. She knew she wouldn’t have long and would never make it on foot. Walking over to the desk, grabbing a pen and paper, she quickly wrote a note.

Peaches,

This is not a request: Do not follow me. This is crazy stuff going on. Not you and me but the other stuff. Ryden, no one can find out about you. No one can know that you healed me. I won’t put you in danger.

She looked down at the page as tears dropped, smearing the ink. Holy shit balls, this was harder than she thought it would be. She wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand, then finished the note. She needed him to know, to
believe
, she would be okay without him.

Girl Scouts’ honor, I will be careful. I know what I need to do. Thanks for everything, I will never forget you. Take care of yourself and eat more veggies.

 XOXO

C

She turned as a horn sounded outside their room just as the water shut off. There was no time to grab anything. Whatever she needed would have to be gotten wherever she landed next. She grabbed her purse, quietly opened the door and paused to look back at the bathroom. There was one thing she knew for sure. If she died today, she would be content, knowing how it felt to have belonged and to be loved unconditionally, even if for a little while. Closing the door quietly, she ran to the cab. As she closed the door to the cab, she looked back as the door to the hotel room opened. Ryden stood there in a towel, the look on his face could only be described as hurt and rage. She pounded on the window that separated her and the driver.

“Mister, you seriously need to go, like now. Go!” The driver turned slowly in his seat, asking for the address as her heart caught in her throat. “Dude, unless you want that big guy ripping the doors off this cab, just
drive
!”

The cabbie got the message when he looked towards the hotel and saw Ryden standing there. She was flying back in the seat after the driver dropped the car into gear and hit the gas. Turning back to watch, her eyes locked with Ryden’s, his fists now clenched, and his chest puffed out looking as if he might explode. She watched as he got smaller and smaller while they pulled away, not letting out a breath until they were out the parking lot and down the expressway. Only then did she give the driver the address. The first place she needed to go was back to where it all began. She needed to go home.

Ryden stood under the hot shower and wondered, not for the first time, what was going through her mind. In his mind, nothing else mattered but keeping her safe and happy. He would gladly spend the rest of his life making sure of both. But was that what she wanted? How could he be sure? He wasn’t sure if this was love, but the feeling of belonging was so strong, there was no way he was letting her go again.

Closing the bathroom door, he stepped under the hot spray of water. It felt good and he wished he had insisted she join him. He could just imagine pressing her lithe body against the shower wall, holding her hands above her head and melding their mouths together while he thrust his hips, driving hard into her sweet core. 

“Dammit...” His cock throbbed again. He needed her, he would never get enough. He used his soapy hand to stroke down the length of his shaft, hoping to relieve some of the pressure before he got out of the shower. As much as he would love to spend the day in bed with Carlee, he knew they needed to move again. They still weren’t safe.

He stroked, getting faster and visualizing Carlee’s mouth as she took him deep, sucking him. He groaned out as he came on the shower wall, wishing he was deep inside her instead. With a ragged breath, he rinsed off and grabbed a towel. He didn’t bother drying before he opened the bathroom door.

Ryden saw the empty bed as soon as he came out of the bathroom frantically looked around the small room. Carlee was nowhere to be seen. A car door slammed outside, and he rushed to the door as he wrapped the towel around his waist. There she was, looking at him through the cab window.

“
CARLEE!!
” He growled as he watched her pull away, helpless to go after her. He could feel his wolf, so close to the edge, his chest puffed out as a growling shout rose up. “
CARLEEE!
”

His heart felt as if it had been ripped from his chest, but he managed to get the cab number before it got out of sight. She looked at him through the back glass, her eyes wide, red, brimming with tears. He jerked away from the door, slamming it and began collecting their belongings. If he’d not been jacking off in the shower, he might have been able to stop her before she got into the cab. Now, he was fucked, trying to find her again.

He was dressed and ready to leave in five minutes flat, and was just about to call the cab company when he heard Carlee’s laptop beep.

It was then he saw her note sitting by the computer. She actually thought he wouldn’t come after her. How could she? He saw the tear drops that blurred the ink and brought it to his nose, inhaling her scent.

“
Mine!”
It came out as a growl, and then he looked at the computer.

She had a waiting message. Something she’d been looking for - the founders of MedVision. What he didn’t expect to see were her parents’ names, Carl and Ava O’Shannon. He knew there wasn’t much time. He had to get to Carlee, and fast. Closing the computer he stuffed it in his bag, running out of the hotel without even bothering to close the door. With tires squealing, he was out of the parking lot and dialing the cab company to find out where she had been taken. Giving the dispatch some bullshit story about the FBI, the address was given to him easily. 

“
Dammit
, Carlee! You’re going to your place? What in the hell are you thinking?”

He sped up, swerving through traffic and watching for cops, in a hurry to get to her. “Just be okay, Buttercup. Please, just be okay.”

The cab driver made his way through the busy streets. His eyes met Carlee’s in the rear view mirror as the tears rolled slowly down her cheeks. “Are you okay, Miss? Is there something I can do for you?

She sniffled, wiping her cheeks and nose on the back of her hand. “You wouldn’t understand. Let’s just leave it at man trouble.”

She was looking out the window at her building as she reached into her purse, taking out some cash and handing it through the window to the driver. “Thanks for the ride. Keep the change.” 

The first step out of the cab was the hardest. She stood for a moment and looked at the building, then reached into her purse for her keys and approached the entrance.

With each step she took, she steeled her nerves. When she finally reached her door, there was no need for a key, someone had forced the deadbolt. She fought to stand, to just breathe as her eyes looked around.

The place had been trashed. It wasn’t like this when she had been here a few days ago. Now the couches were upside down, tables broken in pieces, books thrown from their shelves. She felt sick just being here but forced her legs to move, each step feeling as if she was walking in quicksand. As soon as she saw the fireplace and the dishes, the night of the beating came back as a vivid replay in her mind, her hand pressed against her stomach. There was no pain there now, only a tingle that would serve as a constant reminder of the gift Ryden had given when he healed her.

The air was filled with the stench of rotten food. Gagging as she tried to breathe she placed her hand over her mouth and nose in an attempt to stop the smell.

Shit! I need air. I need out of here.

Moving quickly into the bedroom, she found the same scene greeting her. She realized she was crying again as she picked up the pieces of her broken Cal Ripkin, Jr. bobble head.

She screamed and jumped when the phone rang, and tripped over the mess on the floor. She stared at the phone, hesitating, unsure whether to answer or not. No one knew she was here…or did they?  The decision was made for her when the machine picked up. The voice that filled the room was not one that she expected. A voice from the past she rarely heard, her dad. His tone was strictly business.  

“Carlee? Carlee, if you’re there, pick up. Your mother and I have been trying to reach you. Kyle is in bad shape. Carlee, you need to…”

She snatched up the receiver before he got any further. “Dad?  Sorry, I lost my phone and have been away a couple days. What’s wrong with Kyle? Where is he?”

She listened on the phone, and his voice sounded tense. “Kyle has been slipping in and out of a coma. He woke up and asked for you. I thought you might want to say your goodbyes.”

She searched to find a piece of paper. She found the notebook she kept near the phone on the floor, found a pen, and wrote down the address. There were so many questions running through her mind. She thought he had been doing better. It had been months since she had gotten a call. Every time she tried to call Kyle all she got was his voice mail. She always left messages, but they were never returned. The questions would have to wait for now.

“Tell him I’m on my way. Tell him he isn’t going anywhere without me, he promised. Have someone ready for a transfusion when I get there.”  Not waiting for a reply, she disconnected the call and let the phone drop to the floor. 

She knelt down and pulled up the corner of the carpet. She found the loose board and jimmied it with her finger until it finally popped so she could lift it up. It was her own version of a safety deposit box. She took out her passport and a couple hundred in cash along with her Glock .40, and stuffed it all into her purse. She hated guns, refused to carry one. Funny how quickly things change. She rushed back through the apartment and slipped out the door without looking back. She had no plans to return—ever. Her investigation of MedVision and its owners, and her worries, would have to wait. Kyle needed her.

As soon as her feet hit the sidewalk, she started to run. Her only thoughts at that moment were of Kyle and getting to him. She had run for several blocks before it finally occurred to her to hail a cab. It had only been a few minutes before one finally stopped. She settled into the back seat after giving the address.

It had been years since she had seen Kyle. Not by her doing and probably not by Kyle's choice, but by their parents' manipulation. She knew that he didn’t want her to watch as he deteriorated. He wanted her to have a normal life. He started to refuse the transfusions of Carlee’s blood. She still donated the blood when her parents would call. She just didn’t get to see Kyle. She and her father had arranged for her blood donations in private. She often wondered if he could tell the difference. Kyle wanted her last memories of him to be the big strong brother who, no matter what the situation, would take care of his little sister. She had always led him to believe that he did. The truth of the matter was, Kyle had always been sick.

He developed Cooley’s anemia right after he left the hospital at birth. After that, he had a life of blood transfusions and then his kidneys went kaput. She now knew that’s why she was brought into the world. She reached up and rubbed her arm absentmindedly just at the thought of all the blood that had been taken over the years. After all that, anyone would think she wouldn’t be bothered by them. But, to this day, needles still give her weak knees. Thinking back about the tissue samples and the bone marrow biopsies almost caused her to hurl. It was only when she was proven to no longer be of any use to Kyle that she was sent away, only permitted to come back on the rare occasions that she was healthy enough to give blood. Her parents never wanted two children. They only wanted one—their son. 

As the cab pulled up in front of what appeared to be a converted warehouse, the driver asked, “You sure this is the right place, lady?”

Checking the paper and the address, she said, “Looks like the family moved up to the big times,
not.”

Tossing the driver some cash through the window, she turned and looked again at the rundown building. Maybe the medical bills for keeping Kyle up and running while they waited for a cure had gotten too much. The place was definitely a downgrade from the large home outside the city.

Hesitantly, she walked to the door. She adjusted her clothes and ran her fingers through her hair. There was no way she could let Kyle see her looking like she had just rolled out of bed. Knocking, she heard a soft voice calling to come in. She reached out and tried the knob. The door was unlocked, which was crazy in this neighborhood. Of course, if the neighbors met Major Dad, they wouldn’t exactly be coming over to borrow a cup of sugar. He was a tough man, putting it mildly. She stepped inside and looked around, not seeing anyone.