Baller: A Bad Boy Romance (45 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

“Fine.”

Noel released Kane, and he fell back to Angeline’s waiting body. Keeping Theo close in one arm, she dared to wrap her free limb around his back. Her body could not help but buzz at the feel of him under her hold, and when she found his eyes, Angeline slowly shook her head. “You don’t… you don’t have to do this,” she whispered.

“For you? Honey, I’d do anything and more for you.”

Kane was pulled away from her, and she watched with sad eyes as he was hauled from the house. Could she really just let him go? Just like that? The thought of him suffering, again, for her crimes, gave her heart pause, and she started to stumble towards the door.

“Angie?” Her father was up on his elbows. Gripping her ankle, he shook his head weakly. “Let it go,” he said. “Let him go. We’re all better off.”

Her father was right, but she had to see him again. Just one last time.

Finding his cane, Brent was back on his feet, and as a new set of headlights blazed through the broken window, Angeline settled her father in his chair and placed Theo in his arms. If she was going to keep her baby safe, this had to be the end.

But one last kiss…

“Angie!” her Dad yelled after her.

She moved to the porch and saw Kane face-to-face with his true brother. Jeremy was firing off a million questions. “Going with them?” Jeremy asked. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I do, Jem. Now I want you to take her—”

“And leave you behind. How is that—”

“Such a tool,” Noel said, as he pummeled Jeremy and sent him into the dirt.

“No!” Kane cried. “Get your hands off him!”

Falling on his brother, Kane held him tight, and Angeline heard him promise, over and over again, that there would be no trouble if
Jem
could just get them away. At the sound of him selling his soul for her sake, Angeline rushed to hold him again.

When Noel saw Angeline running across the lawn, he barreled towards her and grabbed her arms. “So she came to say fare thee well!” Noel taunted. “I said that she was sweet.”

Abandoning his brother, Kane raced to Noel and tried to bash him away. However, Noel brought his knife to Angeline’s throat and glared over her shoulder. “Might be fun to gut her right here,” he said. “I think I’d like to see that.”

Angeline was ready for the blade, hopeful that her father could just get Theo away. At the moment when Noel was about to slice, he pressed her back to Kane’s chest and smirked. “Say goodbye now,” he said. “Nice of me to give you even that.”

Moving closer to him, her fingers shook as she grazed his cheeks. She started to tell him no, that he didn’t have to give up his future, his life for her. But Kane smiled into her kiss. His tongue twirled around her teeth, and her soul dropped at the thought that he was trying to remember her before she was truly gone.

“Kane…”

“I’ll always love you,” he said. “And I’m doing this for you.”

Overwhelmed by his words, Angeline wrapped her arms around his neck. If she could hold him close, close enough, maybe he would never leave. As her lips melted into his, she hated even thinking of abandoning him to this fate of her doing.

It didn’t matter when they kissed. When they held each other.

Until Noel laughed and said, “She never kissed me like that.”

And she never would.

Angeline saw Brent and Theo emerged from the house and ran to them. “Dad? It’s okay. I have you.”

She brought her father to Jeremy’s side. Her hands searched for Theo’s head. He was so quiet that she feared that he had taken a turn for the absolute worst and stopped breathing. But when his blue eyes, slowly, suddenly turning green, seemed to smile up at her, she found the strength to settle them into Jeremy’s car. She kissed her baby, and Jeremy tried to lower her into the passenger’s seat. However, something inside her would not let her forget her last kiss with Kane.

Kane had made Jeremy promise that she would be safe. Then, he left her alone, as he sat on the back of Noel’s bike, shooting her a sad glance as they sped off into the night. When she lost his eyes, Angeline raced forward. She started to reach into the air for him, but then her mind turned back to Theo. She had to keep him safe. No matter what. Even if it meant that her heart would be broken beyond repair. She watched with watering eyes until he was gone. As she started to fall into the dirt, Jeremy lifted her up.

“Jeremy?” she asked. “Will you help us?”

“Like I have a choice.” With sagging shoulders, he opened the back door to his car. “Don’t let him down,” Jeremy said.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

Angeline sipped a cup of coffee and watched mountain trees sway about the cliffs. Colorado. Just what he had always wanted. Behind her, Theo was already walking, forming words. Brent laughed when the little guy got one right, but when he referred to her father as
Daddy
, Angeline was sent back that night when she had last seen Kane.

She recalled Jeremy’s words,
Don’t let him down.

The last two years had been all about that. Angeline focused on Theo and watched him grow. She grinned when he found his feet, but her joy was swiftly replaced by an old, familiar thoughts,
Run if you can. You might have to.

Setting her cup aside, she told her father that she need some air, and he promised to look after Theo. Moving into the breaking day, she thought of Kane. She wondered where he was and how he was. It hurt to think of him in another woman’s arms. However, she wanted him to find peace. The peace she nearly, barely had.

“Angeline?”

Stray fingers seized her arm, and Angeline’s first thought was to kick and run. She was still fearful that Noel would try to sell her into a life of slavery.

But it wasn’t Noel.

“Jeremy?”

He nodded at the sound of his name, and she fell into him. It was as if she had a part of Kane, maybe the best part, back. She started to sink into his arms when fear made its way back to her heart. “What’s happened?” she asked. “Is he alright?”

“That’s up to you.”

Taking her hand, Jeremy pulled her farther from the house. When he had her under the shelter of the trees, leaves falling all around them, Jeremy released her.

And Angeline did not run.

“He’s okay?” she asked.

“He’s alive. Moving though a haze, but he’s still here.”

It was enough for her—just knowing he still breathed buoyed her spirit. It meant a chance of finding him again. Was Jeremy here to bring her back?

She would follow.

“And he’s talking about family and holding a kid close.”

Theo was waiting. She would bring him his son and let him know his real daddy. Jeremy only had to—

“And it’s no good.”

Angeline startled under his hold, and Jeremy gripped her arms.

“Jeremy, why are you doing—”

“I saved your baby once,” he interrupted her, reminding her.

“You did. And I’m grateful—”

“So just return the favor.”

Jeremy mopped his damp brow with his bare hand, and when their eyes met again, he spoke his truth.

“Ellen’s expecting” he said. “It’s… it’s…”

Touching his arm, she smiled into his eyes. “It’s what you always wanted,” Angeline said.

Jeremy nodded, and Angeline imagined the two of them laying put the plans for their own nursery. Ellen would want to, she would have to know. Pink or blue. No yellows for them.

And Angeline had to ask.

“Are you having a---?”

“Little girl,” Jeremy said. “We’re calling her Mary.”

Mary.
Old-fashioned and perfect. Angeline liked the sound of it, and she moved to hug Jeremy close when he suddenly held her back and came to a fitful rest in her eyes.

“But it’s no good,” Jeremy said.

Shaking her head, Angeline thought of Theo and could not begin to comprehend how happy news could bring such tension to Jeremy’s shoulders.

“Jeremy, why?”

“Because my brother wants you!” Jeremy put his hands to his face and sputtered through his fingers, his eyes never meeting hers. “It’s bringing it all back for him,” Jeremy said. “He wants his son. That’s what he says. And… and he wants you.”

Time had failed to erase her need, and Angeline was about to tell Jeremy that his brother could come and find her when Jeremy pressed his fingers into her arms.

“And if he finds you, if he runs off with you, then it’s my kid who’s in danger. Angeline?”

He brought her into his arms, and his body went limp as she held him.

“Please,” he begged. “Please.”

Angeline owed him that much and more. Patting his cheek with a stiff hand, she swore to send Kane off if he happened upon her. It would leave him a shell, but she vowed to honor the promise to keep the unborn Mary safe.

“I’ll do it,” she said. “No worries.”

Jeremy took off with a final kiss to her hair, and as Angeline unfolded her hands before her face, she thought of nothing but Theo and turned back to the house.

CHAPTER THIRTY

After Theo’s bath and once her dad was snoring, Angeline sat before the small window. By now, Jeremy had to be back at Ellen’s side, and she pictured him smiling as he ran his hand across his wife’s belly.

But even as the thought made her happy, Angeline started to weep at the idea of being without an embrace. She missed him. She was no stranger to being without him, and now it felt like there was no chance of him ever working his way back. Jeremy claimed that he was alive. Barely.

The thought of him like that made her shudder, and she went into the woods. Theo was sleeping behind her, and Angeline thought of taking him farther away when he finally woke. Kane was not coming back; so, there was no point in staying where he would never find them.

Reaching the edge of the forest, Angeline looked down the edge of the cliff. The ripples below seemed so peaceful, and she was tempted to fall into the stream and let the river swallow her whole.

No. She still had to be there for Theo, and they would leave for parts unknown at first light.

Angeline saw the tiny house poking through the trees, and as she quickened her step, Angeline felt her body wrestled into grass.

“Let me go! Let me…” Her speech was stilled, as her back came to rest against the soft waves of grass. Angeline struggled as her mind filled with the memory of Noel taking her. Was he back? Had Jeremy only come by in an attempt to save her from him?

“Angel?”

Catching her breath, Angeline forced her eyes to focus. At first she saw nothing but the moonlight peering through the leaves. It had to be dream. She had slept fitfully and longed for nothing but him for so long, and she always got through it alone. This would be no different. Just another dream that would never…

“Angel.”

The sound of his voice brought her eyes to attention. She had to blink hard to be sure, but when she was certain that the only man that she could ever love was on her, over her, she gasped. Shooting up, she touched his neck, and when she was sure that he was real, she melted into him and kissed his face.

“Kane,” she muttered around his lips. When he felt real enough to claim, Angeline seized the hope. His tongue was moist, and at the feel of his lips swirling around hers, she deepened their kiss and rested her hands to his back. Holding him again made her happy, and when their eyes met, she thought of nothing but his hands working their way up her skirt, touching her soft mound…

But she had to stop.

“Can you…. can you let me up?”

Kane obeyed, and when she stood before him, her eyes ran over his body. He looked sadder than she had remembered, but she was still tempted to fall back into him. It had been so long, and she had missed him so much. Every day without him was a kind of torment, and now that he was back, she wanted… she wanted…

Pushing him to the ground, her hands moved to his belt, and she pulled his zipper down. As soon as his cock hit the air, she moved to mount it. But as the tip started to grind into her body, as she smiled at the memory—now real—of how he felt, she sadly pushed away from him.

“No. No don’t go.”

Kane reached for her departing form. She was nearly away from him, moving back to her boy and her new life when Kane’s arms surrounded her and pulled her back to him.

“Angel? Just… just stay. Please stay.”

The feel of him so close was too much to fight. Sinking towards him again, she started to tug at his shirt. Under the pale moonlight, his taut chest came in to view, and she collapsed against him, her hair spilling across his skin. Moaning at the feel of his heaving flesh, she found herself hypnotized by the beating of his heart pulsing against her cheek. Parting her lips, she kissed him softly. Angeline drank him in. Two years, five years, it didn’t matter. Each time he returned to her, it was as if he never left, and she’d have to be insane to let him go again.

“Angel,” he said in a ragged whisper. “Look at me. Now.”

Obeying his quiet order, she reluctantly raised her head. For several seconds, Kane did nothing but look into her eyes. Her hands lingered on his chest, and when he returned his touch to her face, she twisted into his firm palm, her eyes starting to flutter.

“Look at me,” he said.

Her eyes snapped open, and her breathing intensified when he began stroking her face in earnest as his free hand played about her quivering thigh. Moving towards her trembling pussy, he probed her waiting mound. She was wet, nearly soaking as he caressed her cunt. Gripping her thighs, he drove his cock into her aching body. 

When he slipped inside her, Angeline’s hands surrounded his hips, and she pressed deeper. As his cock expanded, she twisted around his firm flesh. Savoring the feel of him claiming her, she rested around him. If he ordered it, she could stay like this forever, live on his hardness as it consumed her.

But there was her son and her promise to Jeremy.

“No,” she murmured. “I can’t, I…”

Turning her to her back, Kane eased her body into the soft grass, and he moaned as he reached under her blouse. Finding her breasts, he cradled her there and lowered his head to her shoulder.

“I won’t force you,” he whispered into her hair. “That’s not me.”

Nodding into him, she wondered what it must have been like for him. Two years as Noel’s slave, probably having to listen to his
friend
as he happily recalled the time when he had robbed her of her choices. How had he fought the urge to kill him?

“I know that,” she said. “I know you.”

“Then let me have you,” Kane said. “Tell me you want this. Tell me you need it.”

Angeline couldn’t speak, but as she blinked her eyes and relaxed into the earth, he took her at her unspoken word.

“Angel…”

Falling into her, his cock moved with desperate thrusts. Staying in his eyes, not wanting to lose any part of him, her teeth touched her tongue as he accelerated his pursuit. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she arched her body closer to him. Her furious kisses bathed his chest, and his broad arms encircled her waist. He was not letting her go, and Angeline did not want to escape.

“Now,” she moaned. “Let it be now. I’ve missed you so much. I…”

Keeping his cock close, she met his pulsing piece and stretched her body to take every inch of him. His cock swirled inside her, and when he released his desire, she tossed her head back and moaned into the night. Slapping her hand to her mouth, she shuddered. At that instant, Kane moved back to her breasts and buried his head in her soft folds.

“Don’t be afraid,” Kane said. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”

Her thirst for him slaked, Angeline fell sleepily to him. He spooned her quivering body, as they lay on the grass. Removing his coat, he brought it to rest around her, and he pulled her face closer to his.

“I couldn’t stay away,” he said.

“I know. I… keep dreaming about you. Nothing makes you go away.”

Kissing her tenderly, he folded her into his arms and brushed a fallen curl from her shining eyes. “And I don’t want to, Angel,” Kane said. “I want this. More of this.”

Their mouths met again, and she wondered if Jeremy had it wrong. Maybe the danger had passed, and he was back for good. In the dreams that would not stop, she pictured him lifting her into his arms and telling her that he was free. That they never had to think about his club ever again.

“And I was careful. Noel doesn’t know where I am,” he whispered. His words told her that her rapist was still a threat, and her mind wandered to the other dreams, the darker dreams. Kane gritting his teeth as he tried not to scream; she imagined him beaten on a daily, an hourly basis when his gaze even suggested defiance. On those nights, she would shoot awake screaming out for him, and it the worst moments, he was already dead, lost to her forever.

But not now.

Finding her way back from his conquest, she fondled his face softly, questions forcing their way from her throat.

“Has he hurt you?” she asked.

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

“But what happened?”

“We’re not talking about that,” he insisted.

The look in his eyes told her that he had endured something unspeakable at the hands of his Blood Brother. If she ever got the chance, she would kill Noel—and not just to avenge her violation. He had harmed every man that she ever loved, and Theo’s face suddenly blazed through her mind.

“Oh no!”

Pulling away from him, Angeline lost her belief in his claim of stealth. Buttoning her blouse, she started to run back to the house.

“Angel! Angel, wait!”

Even as the feel of Kane’s body still buzzed around her cunt, her thoughts turned to her son. What if Noel was already there, ready to do something unspeakable to her child? If Kane couldn’t beat him, Noel would make good on his horrible promise from so long ago.
She couldn’t help but think that he would sell Theo and her. She knew she had to get back.

“Hold up!” Clasping her arm, Kane turned her back to his side, and he took her face in his hands. “You don’t have to run!” he screamed. “I have it all—”

“But he won’t let you go!” Angeline argued. “He’s probably after you now. You shouldn’t have come back. You—”

“Don’t be afraid of this.”

Crushing his lips to hers, she started to melt into his kiss, but thoughts of Theo forced her away from his lips, and she furiously shook her head. “But Theo,” she said. “If he’s hurt—”

“Not happening,” Kane said. “I’m here for you. And for my boy.”

Kane’s face fell, and Angeline’s heart nearly stopped when she saw him stricken. She had only been without him and that was torture enough. However, Kane was denied both of them, and she remembered Jeremy’s words
, He wants his son.

Could she really deny him that? He had sacrificed so much, suffered things that he wasn’t strong enough to share. Maybe it had taken him two years to plan this escape, and maybe it was a solid plan.

She had to give him the chance. She owed him that much. If not more.

“Kane?”

Taking his hand, she swallowed hard and led him back to the house. As they stood at the foot of the steps leading up to the porch, she took hold of his arm and smiled up at him.

“He is alright,” she started. “I’ve taken good care of him.”

“I never thought anything else.” His words tugged at her heart. As she led him towards the door, her hand came to rest on the knob, and she took a deep breath.

“Time you got a chance to see him again. It’s… it’s been too long.”

They stepped into the dark house, hope leading the way, even as danger rustled through the trees at their backs.