Burning Heart: Fighting Heart Erotic Bad Boy Romance Series Book 4 (6 page)

Cody spent a lot of time fighting with himself in the wipe clean décor of his First Lodge room.  He cussed himself for a while for letting Ashley go when he should have insisted she stayed with him. Then he cussed himself for being so double minded about his women. Joanna’s text message lodged a speck of hesitation into his mind at the very moment when he had wanted to feel Ashley’s naked warmth beside him, the sweet taste of her kisses, the softness of her skin, and the joy of looking into her eyes as he entered her body. And then there was Joanna, who had never committed to him but she had given her body to Cody and taken his readily. Sexy Joanna, the woman who pleasured him and gave him what he needed, and who he enjoyed watching when she closed her eyes in climax, her face flushed and her brunette hair taking on that ruffled, just-been-screwing look. Joanna was good in bed. And her text had pleaded for him to not do anything hasty.

“I miss you Cody. Don’t end this. Not like this.”

Words which were a stumbling block to his desire for Ashley. Man, Joanna was good, but Ashley was something different altogether. He compared being with Joanna like eating delicious gourmet fast food. It was a gourmet burger with all the trimmings and then some, the finest cheese, the best Aberdeen Angus beef. It was a great experience, but it was still fast food all the same, no matter how much it hit the spot. Ashley was no career woman. She was not a literary agent with the power to make him a star. She was no supermodel, but damn she had more than that. She had style, sparkle, and a real beauty all over her. Genuine beauty in her face and a special beauty which emanated from deep within. He enjoyed Joanna. He liked her, but he couldn’t decide how to reply to her text. Back in her London office he had been so sure they were finished. But the text tripped him up. But how could he go back to her? Joanna was excitement, enjoyment, and sensual indulgence, but Ashley offered depth, exploration, fulfilment, and an unknown and possibly amazing future which excited him every time he thought about it. If only Ashley had stayed with him Joanna’s text wouldn’t have bothered him at all. For a half hour he sat thinking about the ‘arrangement’ with Joanna and the vast, beautiful unknowns ahead of him and Ashley. He
did
know that sex with Ashley was beyond enjoyment. Their mating had sometimes seemed beyond words. It was like a metaphor for something beyond them. It was everything, like nothing else mattered, just as in her favourite John Donne poem. He was being a fool by even thinking there was a choice to be made. Of course there wasn’t. But he didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news just yet, and so he turned his phone onto airplane mode to stop any more texts, and started using his time more productively. He would have to save Ashley’s brother, and then he would be honest with Ashley.

He had two questions.

Where would someone like Brandon choose to hide in a town he didn’t know?

What sort of accommodation could you use to keep a prisoner?

He chewed over these questions while he made a Nescafé from the powdered sachets left in the hotel room. The coffee was essential to combat the booze and keep him productive. After the first cup went down it didn’t take too long to come up with some provisional answers.

Brandon Lynes didn’t know anyone well enough in Ashley’s home town to stay as a friend, and so the idea of using someone’s house to keep a prisoner was absurd. Besides, if Brandon had known someone in town, Ashley would have already known about it. So that was ruled out. Which meant Brandon would have had to organise accommodation, probably at short notice. Booking somewhere at short notice left only the usual public options. Hotels. Hostels. Bed and Breakfasts. Holiday parks, whatever. One by one Cody dismissed each of these as inappropriate for the purpose of holding a hostage. Ridiculous as it sounded, this was the problem they faced. Kidnapped, held hostage, whatever, Regan Pearson was missing because of Brandon. Finally, as he scoured the internet for local accommodation Cody found a website that gave him a new insight. The kind of insight you get when you know you’re on the right track. Holiday Home Rentals was a site enabling holiday makers to find their own holiday chalets, houses, apartments and villas and rent direct from the owners.  He used the site and honed in his holiday search to Essex, and then to the Estuary coast. It turned out that just two places were on offer in the locality.  Cody had scoured everywhere else. Now he was almost certain that Brandon Lynes was occupying one of these two houses. Cody noted down the two addresses, memorised the appearance of the houses, and then finally shut down his laptop.  At midnight, with the trail to Brandon Lynes whereabouts just getting warm, Cody decided to try for some sleep. If he was right about the accommodation, then tomorrow he would have a fight on his hands. A fight he had lost once before, and could never ever risk losing again.

He skipped breakfast and walked along the seafront at seven forty five am. He kept walking right on past the town’s pier, past the silent and unlit arcade buildings in the early morning light, and walked on until the seafront attractions thinned out and the beach grew wide and natural with grasses pushing through the sand and shingle. Cody preferred this area to the rest of the town. The expanse of water and beach would have ordinarily given him room to think and breathe and write, but right now, it only gave him a moment’s respite from the tension he felt inside. He was close, very close, to finding Brandon’s hideaway. The houses opposite the beach across the street looked like old fisherman’s cottages, terraces of small houses all painted in different pastille colours, facing out to sea. Some were lacklustre and dirty. Others were painted as if for a postcard. Cody imagined the holiday home Brandon had rented looked something like these ones. But the door numbers revealed he had a way to go yet.

He had just passed the marine activity centre, a low white building huddled on the side of the beach when he saw the house numbers change in his favour. 175 appeared so quickly it felt like the house had jumped out into the street to hail his attention. The house looked like the images on the Holiday Home Rentals website, but it was a little smaller than he imagined, yet there was no doubt this was 175 Seaview Esplanade, renting at just £300 a week this time of year. And unlike the other property, the online booking calendar showed 175 was booked for this week. All of a sudden, Cody felt exposed. The lights were on at 175 Seaview Esplanade to compensate for the wintry morning light, and he detected movement within. He watched the windows then looked left and right for a place to hide while he got a better view. In the end he saw the wooden shelter just the other side of the beach wall sitting on the sand. It was an old Victorian structure painted in thick navy blue gloss. He quickly scaled the wall and dumped himself on the sand and grass of the beach, then scrambled to the other side of the shelter, sat down on the ice cold bench, and turned to stare through rectangular holes which had once been windows. He took a breath and waited, and adjusting his eyes, squinted and forced them to see inside. Cody waited and watched, hoping he was not too obvious, hoping for a glimpse telling him everything he needed to know.

Ten minutes of bracing wind lashing from across the sea at his neck, and Cody was ready to give up or move to the next property. Why waste his time in such discomfort if Ashley’s brother was somewhere else? He urged himself to stay, but boredom and the chill reaching his bones persuaded him otherwise. He started to shift away from the bench then a flutter of the curtains in the upstairs window had him hurrying back down out of sight. He looked at the window, and willed them to open and reveal the faces within. No. The fluttering stopped. Cody sighed and started to move, stepping away from the shelter and onto the sand. He was half way to the concrete wall separating the street from the beach when the curtain was yanked wide open, with an enthusiasm that stopped him in his tracks – Cody was caught in no man’s land staring at the window. He saw a shape he recognised. He willed them to turn away, and just as it seemed they would do so, they turned to the window, froze and they saw one another. Amanda looked down on him, her face caught in half-shock, half-curiosity. She was wearing Brandon’s checked shirt, and it was open low on her chest. It told Cody all he needed to know. Just as another person started to enter the picture, Amanda slammed the curtains shut. Cody was freezing, and yet the tension had him sweating. He’d found them, but now he’d also put Regan at an appalling risk. A part of him felt he should go and smash down the door to prevent a tragedy, and yet something beyond fear told him that would have been foolish in the extreme. Cody had to hope in Amanda, as much as Ashley had before. But unlike Ashley, who seemed to carry the faintest hope for Amanda even now, Cody Barnes carried none. While he stood in the cold wishing he could have disappeared, holding on to that faint hope was all he could do. The curtains didn’t open again. No one appeared to hurl abuse at him. Cody turned to look at the cruel cold sea, and then he trudged away back his hotel. He knew enough. Now it was time to tell Ashley.

Ashley met Cody in the canteen at the foot of the hotel two hours later. On a cold morning heading rapidly towards the end of the calendar, the First Lodge canteen provided the perfect venue to make dangerous plans. Only two other people ate there that morning, and one of them wore big white earphones and tittered to himself over his muesli. The other guy read a newspaper and he sat far enough away that Cody and Ashley could talk quite freely. Cody felt good about Ashley’s presence, and he could see their connection was back. There was a little spark in her tired eyes, and there was a willingness to look at each other as they talked. He told her what he knew, and then after a small English breakfast of bacon, sausage, fried egg and tomatoes, they began to run though their options.  The breakfast was warming, but no sooner was it inside his stomach than Cody started to feel sleepy. There was no time for tiredness today. He poured another coffee and pressed on. By now they were discussing their third possible plan.

“If you haven’t heard from Brandon or Amanda by now we have to assume she’s either on our side, or is currently struggling as to what to do with what she saw,” said Cody.

“That sounds about right. She’ll blow with any wind which looks strongest, but she’ll want it to blow our way deep down.”

“Are you sure, Ash? She slept with Brandon again last night. She was wearing his shirt this morning when I saw her. The girl is infatuated with him. We have to get this over with before she caves in.”

Ashley’s tired eyes glazed and she looked pained.

“You’re right. This is getting worse with every moment. I could call him now. I could call Brandon and tell him that it’s over - for Regan’s sake – I could go back to him. I’d leave again at the earliest opportunity of course, and I’ll come back…” she almost added ‘to you’ and Cody knew it. The words she didn’t say warmed him but the idea that she would sacrifice herself again enraged him.

“No. I won’t ever let you do that again. He’ll destroy you, Ashley.” He heard his own rage. He was shocked by it. Ashley’s eyes widened, and her glossy lips tried to make a word but she stayed speechless. Her eyes were about to fill with tears, but she snapped out of it just in time. Tears were always a no-no. Instead, Ashley gave him eyes full of gratitude… and something else. He reached out and touched her cheek.
Do it
, he told himself.
Kiss her.
And yet he didn’t want to take advantage of the girl he cared about. This had to be done the right way. Ashley broke the silence. “Thank you. Thank you, Cody. This morning you found them. And now you’re helping me work out what to do about it.”

“And later I’ll help you get your brother safe. Would I be anywhere else, Ash?”

“That’s what I mean, Cody. You’re fantastic.”

“No. I’m really not.”

Cody’s jacket pocket vibrated with a text. He ignored it. Ashley didn’t notice the quiet buzz and he was glad of it. Right now he didn’t have the time or inclination to let Joanna ruin this all over again. Besides they had work to do.

“You’re right, though Ashley.”

“I’m right? About which part. You being fantastic?”

“No,” he said, attempting a smile. “Well maybe.”  His face turned grim He had to accept the unacceptable. “I mean about going back to Brandon. I think he needs to think you’re coming back to him. I know it’s risky, but it’s the only way that door will open for us.”

“But what I just said.” she sipped her coffee.

“No. Not at all. He’ll think you’re going back to him, but the only reason you’re there is to open the door for me. And when the door is open I’ll get in, find Regan and we’ll get him out.”

“But what about Brandon?”  Cody saw the look in her eyes. She didn’t want to upset Cody, but she had seen Brandon overpower him in York. Cody couldn’t help but feel stung.

“I’ll come prepared this time, Ashley. This time we know he’s a psycho. Kidnapping people equals psycho to me. Which means I’d be insane not to carry a weapon this time around.”

“What kind of weapon, Cody?”

“A bat, a metal bar, I don’t know, something I can swing if he comes near me.”

She gave him serious eyes, but soon relented. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

“If you say so. As a last resort.”

“You’re brother. He’s the wayward type, right? Can he fight? The wayward types usually do.”

“He can fight. He was always fighting. But you’d have to find him and free him first. And he’d have to be well enough…”

“A swinging bat and a loud shout can be very persuasive.”

“I bet,” said Ashley. She remembered Terry and his offer of help. Now they were so close maybe they could call in help. If Terry was able to help, maybe this crazy little plan could work. It was simple, but she liked it. Unlike the others they discussed this idea worked on Brandon’s only weak spot. Brandon had to let her in to the house if he wanted her back and as soon as the house was open, they would have two opportunities – the moment the door was opened, or Ashley could open it later letting them in when she had got a free moment. Yes, going back to Brandon was the only way. But only for the shortest possible time

Ashley smiled and bunched up her shoulders into a little shrug.

“What?” said Cody, feeling warmth which wasn’t from his coffee.

“You know what. This is so crazy it scares the shit out of me. But this whole stupid thing brought us together again. I know you’re with Joanna, Cody, I get that, but we’re on this mission together. I can’t help feeling it’s like those times just before we hooked up and…

“You can say it, Ash.”

She shook her head and her blonde locks swished tantalisingly around her lips.

“It’s not right. I’m sorry.”

“Say it.”

“It just feels like the times just before we got together. It was like I knew it was going to happen, and I just got high on the feeling of it.
There. I said it
. I know I shouldn’t have, but I said it.”

“And I’m glad you did…” They smiled and enjoyed looking into each other’s eyes. Other guests were starting to drift into the canteen, spoiling the atmosphere between them.

“We haven’t finished talking over this plan” she said.

“I know. We still need a running order and a time...”

Ashley nodded. “Can we talk upstairs?”

Cody’s throat tightened as he looked at his watch.

“Yeah. Check out isn’t for another hour yet.”

“Then let’s go.”

“Sure,” he said, rising without looking at her, for fear of revealing the hope and heat inside.

Whereas were alone with her in the lift, Cody spoke only to distract himself from thinking about Ashley’s sweet touch.

“I suggest you call Brandon this morning, as soon as you feel brave enough. That might stall Amanda from caving in and revealing all she knows. If she thinks you’re coming over soon she might hedge her bets.”

“Good idea. That’s one call I’m really not looking forward to.”

“I know, Ash. But you can do it.”

“And I need to arrange a time with you which gives me enough time to bag a weapon.”

“Maybe you should organise some help too.”

He nodded, though as yet he couldn’t see where any such help was going to come from.

“You’re pretty brave you know,” said Ashley.

“No, Ash. I’m a coward. But when it comes to you, I have no choice.”

“That’s not true, Cody. There’s always a choice.”

They walked towards his room, and already he felt the cloying warmth between them, the heat rising as they approached his door. He wasn’t sure whether it was just his own desire or whether there was some new chemistry in the air, but he saw hints of desire about her when he opened the door. The coy way she slid her hair behind her ear. He caught a glimpse of her eyes, and she smiled as he looked into the dilating pools of her pupils.   He bit his lip as he closed the door, and dismissed Joanna out of his mind.

“Ashley,” he found himself saying, after he closed the door.

She turned and looked at him, waiting, smiling. The bed was in view behind her.

“You know what would really make things easier for me?”

“What?”

“We’ve got a whole hour left in here. How about, for old time’s sake, one minute for kissing, and fifty nine minutes for planning how to destroy Brandon Lynes.”

Ashley stood in no man’s land between Cody and the bed, but there was a potent mix of emotion and coyness in her eyes. Cody sensed her answer could have gone either way.

“One minute?”

“Yes?”

“For you,” she said, as she walked towards him. “I’ll make it two.”

Ashley gently moved her face to his, so that their eyes were absorbed fully into each other... They breathed one another’s breath, and finally their lips touched tenderly. Tenderness gave way to tasting and passion, she pressed her bosom to his chest, and his crotch pressed to Ashley’s stomach. Lust and desire washed through their bodies and they gave way willingly to the need to touch one another, to feel and see each other’s bodies. After enjoying the touch of his firm chest beneath his shirt she tugged at Cody’s jacket. He let it go free as she playfully stepped away. His jacket twisted as she pulled it off, and his mobile phone spilled to the floor. She kept her eyes on his, seducing him with her gaze as she knelt down to pick them up. Maybe she wouldn’t see it. As she laid his phone down on the TV table, he watched as her eyes fell. The screen lay face up, with two messages from Joanna Laws. He saw the opening lines of each message.