Protective Love (Hidden Secrets) (16 page)

Get a hold of yourself
, Williams!  He can’t control you anymore!

With the pep talk, I walked
to my door and opened it.  I was completely stunned when I walked into the room.  So stunned that I kept walking, even though I should have run away. I was in the center of the room when a scream escaped my mouth.  I turned to the door and began to run.  I had my eyes closed when I ran right into something hard that held me.  I started screaming and kicking, trying to break free.

Oh God!  He has me.  What am I going to do?  He found me!

“Sunshine!  Kay!  It’s me, Jason.”

I immediately still
ed and opened my eyes.  When my eyes met his, I burst into tears.  He pulled me close and I wrapped my arms around his neck.  I was shaking and my knees gave out from under me.  Jason held me up in his arms, cooing softly in my ear.

Finally calming, he pulled back to look at me. 

“What happened?”

“He
… he was in my room,” I pushed out.

“Stay right here
, I’m going to go look okay?”

I nodded
, and he walked away.

A few minutes later
, he walked out carrying clothes and knelt down beside me.  He reached out and pulled the towel around me.  I didn’t even notice it had fallen.  Turning my head, I looked at him.

“Baby, there was nothing out of place in there.  It’s just how I left yet yesterday.”

“N-no.  There was a note on my bed and there were things on my bed.”

“Baby, the note was from me and I put the rose petals on there as well.  I was trying to give you back your space.  It didn’t occur to me that you might misconstrue it.  I’m sorry.”

He reached up and touched my face, gently running his knuckles down my cheek.

“S-so, he wasn’t in there?”

He shook his head.  I threw my arms around him and hugged him.  He wrapped me in his arms and sat on the floor, pulling me on his lap.  Whispering “Thank you” over and over again as he stroked my back.

“Sunshine,” Jason finally murmured after a few minutes. “As much as I love holding
you - and I do - um, you’re going to kill me if you don’t get up and get dressed.  It was hard enough to see you in a towel, but to have you on my lap naked is worse.”

I tensed.

“I will close my eyes, okay?  I haven’t looked or taken advantage of the situation, so please don’t worry.”

I nodded my head in his neck.

“Are your eyes closed?”

“Yes, but I really want to look.  Just so you know
,” he added with a smirk.

I climbed off his lap
, grabbed the towel and clothes, and ran to the bathroom.  Hurriedly I got dressed and brushed my hair, pulling it back in a hair tie.  I sighed, and knew I had to face him sooner or later.  Taking a deep breath, I walked out of the bathroom and into the main living area where Jason stood by the door.

“Are you ready?”
  I asked.

“No
.”

H
e moved toward me, took my face in his hands, and kissed me deeply.  Pulling back he smiled. 

“
Okay, that should work for now.”

When we got into the car, I turned to Jason. 

“Can you take me down the street first to
See Yourself
.”

“Okay.  Sure.”

He didn’t ask questions and he didn’t say no.  Jason just drove down the street and parked in front of the store.

“I’ll be right back.”

I walked inside and was immediately greeted by a bubbly woman.  I smiled my polite smile at her and told her what I wanted.  I was taken back right away.  In about twenty minutes, they completed with me and I walked to the desk and paid.

“Thank you very much for everything.”

I walked outside it to find Jason sitting on the hood of his car talking on the phone. When he looked up at me, he froze and stared at me.  I walked closer, nervous that my new do was a mistake.  Unable to look at him any longer, I looked down at the sidewalk and shifted my weight back and forth from one foot to the other.

“No, uh, I gotta go.  Kay…”

“Does it look that-”

He cut me off by pulling my face up to his and kissing me hard and intense
ly.  My hands flew up to his biceps and held on to support myself.  As I returned the kiss it turned more passionate and tender.  His hands moved down to my waist and mine around his neck.  Jason pulled me closer to him.  He groaned as I tightened my arms around his neck and pulled myself even closer to him.  I felt his hands on my butt, but for the first time I didn’t tense. 

He broke the kiss and started running kisses across my jaw and down my neck.  I tilted my head to the side.  It was an amazing feeling
, and I wanted to cherish it for a little longer.  It was like a heating blanket had been laid around me and turned on high.  I could feel sweat trickling across my skin. 

What the hell
is happening to me?

“God, Kayla.  I didn’t think you could get any more beautiful.  You look damn sexy right now with your
haircut.  You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” he breathed against my neck.

He kissed his way back up my neck and kissed me again
, my breath taken from my lungs.  We had only kissed a handful of times, but this was by far the best kiss and the most intense kiss we’d shared.  He pushed himself into me, and I tensed.

“Stop.  You have to stop
, please,” I said, panicked as I broke the kiss.

“Kay
?  Kay look at me.  I’m sorry, Sunshine.  I let it go too far.  I’m sorry.”

Taking a few deep breaths, I looked at Jason
, and I could see the worry in his eyes.

“It’s okay.  I enjoyed the kiss
… and your hands on me, but I just… I’m just… I’m sorry.”

“No, Sunshine.  You listen to me.  You never apologize to me for anything.  But I need you to tell me when I go too far
, because I get so caught up in you that I forget.  Don’t let me run you off, okay?”

The thing was
, I did want those things with him, I just couldn’t get past the images of my attacks to enjoy what was before me.  I needed to sort through all that stuff in my head before anything like that could even begin to happen.

“Let me get used to you.  To us
.  And maybe then we might be able to go further, when I know I won’t be hurt.”

“I can handle that, Sunshine.  What do you say we take your sexy ass to the hospital?” 

I nodded and he kissed me one last time while running his hands through my below my shoulder length hair.  He helped me into the car, then ran around to his side.

Off we went to the hospital.  All the way there, I stared out the
window, trying to make sense of everything that had happened in the matter of a week.  There were so many firsts for me -I had my first kiss, I let someone hold me for the first time (and I mean really hold me), slept in someone’s arms for the first time, and to top it all off, I had my first boyfriend.  Honestly, I didn’t know what it meant to have a boyfriend, but from the sound of it, neither did Jason - well, a girlfriend that is.  I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake trusting him, because I really did trust him.  Not completely, but if things kept the way they were going, it was a possibility. A lot had happened that week that I never would have let happen before, so anything was possible.

We were just outside Carson’s door when Jason pulled on my hand to stop me from going in.  I looked at him confused.  He had a worried expression on his face.

“He’s the kick boxer, right?”

“Yes, why?”

“He’s going to kill me, isn’t he?” 

I
laughed, but when I looked at him I could tell he was completely serious.  It was my turn to cup his face and press a gentle kiss to his lips.

“Don’t worry
, you’ll be fine.  Besides, he’s in a hospital bed, he can’t hurt you right now,” I grinned and pushed him playfully.

We walked into Carson’s room.  I was relieved that no one else was there. 
It was going to be bad enough to talk about what was going on when it was just Jason and me with Carson.  I don’t even want to think about how it would have been with my whole family there.

“Hey Curry!”
I said, using the nickname I knew would definitely cheer him up.

When he smiled, I knew it
had worked.

“Kay Key!” 

He opened his arms for me to give him a hug.  I gave him a small, quick hug and smiled at him.

“How are you doing?”

“Getting tired of being in this damn bed and having everyone asking me that,”  Carson growled.

I laughed.

“Testy. Testy.  You just need to focus on getting better so you can get out of this bed.”

“Kay, I swear the next person to look at me wrong is going to get his ass beat.” 

I laughed.

“Oh
, in that case, I’d like you to meet Jason.  We’re dating, and he’s the lead on my case.”  I said with a grin, and Jason paled.

“Wait.  What?”  Carson said
, confused and looking back and forth between us.

“My name is Jason Gold.” 

He extended his hand and my brother shook it.  When I saw the veins in Carson’s arm pop out, I knew he was squeezing Jason’s hand hard.

“Knock it off, asshole!” 

I smacked him.  He didn’t even look at me.

“Why are you after my sister?”

“Carson!” 

He ignored me.

“I am not ‘after’ your sister.  I care about her.  I have from the moment I met her.”

“Right
… so you’re just some sick sadistic bastard that gets turned on by rape victims.  Is that what it is?  You see she’s damaged and you rush in because she’s weak?”

“Fuck you asshole!” I screamed and stormed out.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

~JASON~

“What the hell is your fucking problem?” I screamed.

“You!  You’re my fucking problem!  Why are you preying on my sister? You get off on seeing her hurt?”

“I’m not pre
ying on her!  I care a lot about her.  For your information, I met her before I knew her story!  Never in my life have I ever been accused of taking advantage of a victim, and I definitely won’t be starting now!  Kayla is amazing, and beautiful, and so damn talented.  When I look at her, or even when I’m just around her, my world is better brighter.  There is no hidden agenda.  I fucking care about her, and you just fucking hurt her.  Don’t you dare even try to talk to me about hurting her after what you’ve just done.  You hurt her again, and I will fuck your world up.  I couldn’t care less if you are a kick boxer or not.  Have a good day!  I’d say it was nice to meet, but I don’t think it was.”

I turned and left the room in search of Kayla.  I
didn’t like that she ran off on her own.  Normally, I would have run after her immediately, but Carson needed to be put in his place before I left. 

He’s supposed to be her brother, but then he pulls this kind of shit. 

Anger boiled inside me, but it was quickly being replaced by fear when, after searching all the areas I thought she’d go, I couldn’t find her.  The last place to check was the parking lot.  If she wasn’t there, I wasn’t sure what I would do.  My heart was racing as I got closer to where I parked the car.

“Kay?”  I
called out softly as I got closer to the car.

“I’m here.”

Her voice was small.

I moved around the car and saw her sitting against
it.  Sitting down next to her, I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to me.  My heart slowed after a few minutes.

“Please don’t take off like that again.  You scared me
,” I whispered, and kissed the top of her head.

“I’m sorry.  He’s right though, isn’t he?”
she whispered.

“Not
even close.  You’re the strongest person I know.  I want to be with you because for the life of me, I can’t remember what it was like to be without you.  You’re the most amazing woman I have ever met, and when I’m with you, I feel my life has a purpose.  That is why I want to be with you.”

She shocked me when she laughed. 

“Can we just go?”

“You don’t want to talk to your brother?”

“Nope.  I am going to let my brothers make him sweat.  Eli called while I was out here.  He will tell the others,” she smiled.

“You’re mean
,” I snickered. 

I stood
up, then pulled her to her feet.  She reached up and touched my face. 

“Thank you, Jason.  I can’t imagine what it must be like for you to deal with what you have to with me, but thank you for doing it.”

“Kay, I deal with nothing.  You are all I see.  Wherever we go, whatever we do, you are leading.”

She smiled at me
, and I badly wanted to claim her lips right then, but if we did that, I would not only embarrass her, but myself, too.  So instead I leaned down and kissed her cheek.  Unlocking the car I opened her door and she climbed in.  I hurried around and got in.  I started the car and looked at her.

“Where to?”

“My parents’, please.  I want to check on Cara.”

“Of course.”

Going to her parents’ house was about as scary as it was going to face her brother - actually, it was worse.  I wasn’t sure how her parents were going to take our dating, or if she even told them we were dating.  After what happened with her brother, I figured there was a chance that she might not tell them.  Glancing over at her, she had her eyes closed and a small frown on her face.  It caused me to reach over and take her hand and hold it in mine.  Whatever had her frowning didn’t need to be there at all.  She was squeezing my hand tightly, but she wasn’t opening her eyes.

Turning down the next alley, I shut the car off
, turned to her, and took her lips with mine.  She gasped, and I pushed my tongue into her mouth.  I wasn’t just kissing her because having my mouth on hers was all I ever thought about during the day.  It was also because whatever was on her mind needed to disappear.  When I felt her hands come up and around my shoulders, I knew that she was completely back with me.  I moaned into her mouth.

God, she tastes amazing!

Pulling back, I pressed one more kiss on her lips. 

“You back with me?”

She smiled and nodded her head.  I smiled back, and gave her one more quick kiss before shifting back over into my seat.

As I was pulling back out onto the main road, I could see her staring at me out of the corner of my eye.  I turned my head and smiled at her.  Her cheeks were slightly red in color and her hair was a little messed up.  She look
ed beautiful.  I wasn’t sure there would ever be a moment when I tired of looking at her.

“Why did you kiss me?”

“You mean I have to have a reason to kiss my girlfriend?”

Wow!  Saying it just sounded so weird, but it felt so damn right.

“Uh, I guess not.”

“Sounds weird right?”

She nodded and I laughed.

“I’m sorry.  Just so damn proud to say it.”

We pulled up in front of her parents’ house and I hurried around to open her door.  Holding out my hand, I helped her out of the car.  I had thought that I would never that way with anyone, ever again, but with Kayla, somehow it seemed right and natural, and damn it, I wanted to scream it from the rooftops!

What the hell has gotten into me?

“Why are you so proud to say it?” she asked warily.

“Proud to say what?”

“That I’m your girlfriend,” she whispered.

I reached down and lifted her head until our eyes met. 

“Because you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met.  You’re amazing, smart, and funny,” I lowered my voice, “and one amazing kisser.”

Licking my lips, I stared at hers.  She stared up at me and I was just about to lean in when we heard the door open behind us.

“Kayla, honey, what brings you here?” Jane said.

Kayla smiled at me
before she walked up and greeted her mom.  Jane smiled at me and I smiled back.

“Mrs. Williams, how are you doing today ma’am?”

“Oh, Jason, call me Jane.  I’m doing better seeing my daughter.  She’s in good hands, I see.”

“How’s Cara doing?”
Kayla asked

“She’s about the same as yesterday.  She’s laying down in the den if you want to go see her.”

The look Kayla gave me then caused me to step closer and pull her into my arms. 

“She is going to be just fine.  You’ll see
,” I whispered.

I hoped like hell I was right.  She
’d had enough loss in her life, she didn’t need the one constant thing she’d ever had taken from her too.  If anything happened to her, I wasn’t sure Kayla would survive.  Cara was more than a pet to her, she was family, and in the state that Kayla was in, I was certain it would break her if Cara didn’t make it.

Kayla nodded her head
, and I took her hand and led her inside.  She walked toward the den and stopped outside the door.  I squeezed her hand to let her know I was right here with her.  She looked up at me and tried to smile, but didn’t quite pull it off.

She walked in slowly.  The den had a couple of couches and chairs around a fireplace
, and bookshelves lining the walls along one side.  In the corner, near double doors that went out to the backyard, Cara lay on a dog bed.  Glancing at Kayla, I could already see she was crying.  Her feet finally started moving, carrying her over to Cara’s bed before she knelt down beside her, talking to her softly.

Now, I was no vet, but Cara barely responded and even I knew that couldn’t be good.  I knelt down next to Kayla and wrapped my arm around her.

“I know you are worried and scared right now, but you need to bring the vet in you forward.  What do we need to do to help her?”  I softly asked.

“Um, I need
… I need…” she stuttered.

“Just do it Kay.  Don’t talk about it, just do it.”

She did.  She looked over Cara, checked her vitals, stuck her with a needle to draw blood, and then performed a ton of other diagnostic tests that I couldn’t even begin to understand.  She was finishing up, while her mom talked to me about how Kayla was doing.  My eyes never left Kayla.  If she was going to break down, I wanted to make sure I was there for her. 

Once Kayla was finished, she told her
mom, she couldn’t stay that she had to get the stuff to the clinic right away to find out what was going on.  In the amount of time it took to take a deep breath, we were back on the road and headed to the clinic.

She had me go to her office.  I looked around her office
while she worked.  I looked out the sliding glass doors and watched all the dogs out there playing, and thought about how things had reached that point.  As much as I was afraid of history repeating itself, Kayla was different, and I knew it.  When I was around her, pasts didn’t matter – it was the way we were together.  I had never been one to enjoy kissing.  It wasn’t that I didn’t like it, but it was personal and meant for a personal connection, whereas to me, it was a natural need being fulfilled.  Call me crazy, but that was how I viewed it.  With Kayla, I could kiss her all the time and never get tired or have less of a reaction to her. 

Don’t get me wrong, I
was a man and would have loved nothing more than to make love to her, but I knew she wasn’t ready for that, and I was okay with it.  Kissing her was just that amazing and satisfying.

I was beginning to worry that I was falling in too deep and was going to end up being broken in the end.  Even knowing that was a possibility
, I couldn’t stop myself from going there.  It was to the point that I knew that my feelings were stronger than what I was willing to admit.  I wasn’t ready to admit it yet, either.  It was there, but I wouldn’t let myself say it or acknowledge it, because then I would be choosing my path with no turning back.  There were just a few wild cards that needed to be played before I laid my hand down.

Something told me that no matter what, Kayla was sent to me for a reason.  It didn’t matter at
that point.  All that mattered was how I felt with her and getting that psycho pervert off her back so she could smile and enjoy life again. 

Seeing her laughing and having a good time on game night was an enjoyable experience.  Then Alex blew in and sent her into a panic attack.  My body tensed and my heart ached with thoughts of her nightmare
the previous night.  I didn’t think I would ever forget that moment.  Sleeping sitting up with my head laid on the back of the couch was not the most comfortable position, and my neck still hurt, but holding her just felt right.  I loved the feel of her in my arms.  When she started crying again in the morning, it scared me to the core. 

How will she ever break free of those nightmares?

“You seem pretty lost in thought.  Everything okay?” 

Kayla’s voice broke into my thoughts.

“Everything’s perfect now,” I said, smiling at her. “How’s Cara’s tests going?”

“I won’t know anything for a little while.  If you want to go, you can.  You don’t have to stay here.”

“Actually, since you are going to be here a while, I need to go to your apartment.  The new bed is being delivered today.” I looked at my watch. “In fact, it’ll be there within the next hour.  You sure you don’t want to come?  We could have lunch.”

She seem
ed to think about it for a moment and then smiled. 

“Sure, but can we eat at
my place.  I just don’t like being out in public places.  I promise I can come up with something just as good as any restaurant could serve.” 

“I agree only on one condition.  I am going to cook
your lunch.  After all, you cooked supper.” 

She agreed and we headed to her place.  We were about halfway home when I realized that
she used the phrase ‘my place.’  She hadn’t used that phrase before.  I smiled, hoping that it was because she felt like she was getting a little more control back in her life.

“What are you wanting to eat?  Should I stop at the store?”

“No, believe me, I have plenty there.  You can surely cook up something.” 

She grinned at me.

I loved the new side of her.  I loved seeing her happy.  It somehow made me feel better about everything.