She reached for the phone on the wall and as she lifted it to her face to dial, another shadow moved closer to the window, and she nearly cried out. There was someone or something outside of her house! She did not like to be alone after what had happened. Although she had told everyone she was fine, she wasn’t. Nearly every night she had the same dream—that Lucas wasn’t dead, and she was living that nightmare all over again, except no one came to the rescue. He would rape her and leave her there, all night, and come back the next day to do it all over again.
She shivered at the thought of going to sleep alone, again. She slid down the wall and crawled into the laundry room. As she tucked herself into the corner between the washing machine and sink, she heard a door handle rattle. Skylar sobbed quietly, not knowing who to call that was close.
Chantal was too far away and wouldn’t get there in time if something happened. Alex was at a friend’s house, playing poker, and Jack was on a date. She didn’t want to interrupt any of them, but she was shit scared. That only left Nate. She had not heard any noise coming from his house all night, making her believe that he wasn’t home, but he was her only hope.
Tapping the button on her phone so it lit up, she found Nate’s number, and dialed.
One ring...two rings...three rings...four rings!
“Please pick up, Nate,” she cried.
She was ready to hang up on the sixth ring when Nate picked up.
“Hello,” he answered in a groggy voice.
“Nate?” she whispered, not knowing if whoever was out there could hear her.
“Skylar. What’s wrong? Where are you?” he said, and sounded more alert.
“Someone is outside of my house. I’m scared!” she sobbed.
She heard him moving around in his house through the phone. God, she wished she could get over feeling like this.
“Everything is going to be fine, baby. Tell me what you can see or what you heard?”
Moving closer to the door, she looked around the corner, and noticed a silhouette standing at her door. She watched as the handle started to move. That was enough for her
.
Quickly moving back to where she was, she pulled the cupboard door in front of her, hiding where she was.
“Skylar?” Nate said, agitated.
“Someone is trying to get into my house, Nate,” she whispered.
“Where, baby. You need to tell me,” he said softly.
“Backdoor.” That’s all she could get out.
“Okay. I’m going to hang up, and check out— ”
“No!” she nearly screamed into the phone.
“Skylar, I need to, so I can concentrate on who it is.”
“Please, don’t leave me,” she cried. She needed him right then. She wanted him on the phone so she knew what was going on, not to wait inside patiently.
“Ok. I won’t leave you.”
She loved him even more. He was coming to her rescue, again.
“Sky, I’m coming up around the side of your house. How many can you see?”
She could not look; just the thought that someone stood outside of her house gave her the chills.
“Skylar?” he all but shouted into the phone. “Baby?” She could tell by his voice that he was worried.
“I can’t, Nate.”
“That’s fine, baby.”
She could hear Nate breathe over the phone, so she focused on that. After several minutes had passed, she started to get worried when he had not said anything to her.
“Nate?”
Her backdoor started to open, slowly. It dragged against the wood floors.
Jesus Christ. They were in the house, now.
She dropped the phone and moved further into the corner. She wrapped her arms around her belly, protecting her unborn child. She heard footsteps in the kitchen, and then they started moving closer to where she was. She curled up on the floor, and prayed that no one was going to hurt her baby. They could get to her, but not her baby. The door slowly opened, and she slammed her eyes shut, not wanting to see who or what was coming for her.
Her heartbeat was beating so fast that she thought she was going to have a heart attack. The door to the cupboard was pulled open, then a hand touched her on her shoulder, and that was when she lost it. She was not going to go through what she had before, never, never again. Throwing her arm out, she connected with someone’s face. Screaming out, she started to move away from whoever it was, and towards the door.
“Damn it.”
“Nate,” she whispered. God, she had hit Nate.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he groaned.
Standing up, she moved closer to him. “Sorry, I didn’t know it was you.”
“I know. I should have told you that I was going to come inside.” Shaking his head, he walked out into the kitchen. He opened the freezer, grabbing out some ice before wrapping it in a towel and then held it against his face.
“Did you see anyone outside?” she asked from the doorway.
“No. Whoever it was, left. But someone was there. Do you have any idea of who it could have been?”
“No. Maybe it was some kids playing a prank.” That was the only thing she could come up with. Shaking her head, she moved towards him. “Let me have a look,” she asked.
He sat down on the table, and she moved to stand between his legs, and removed the towel. Leaning forward, she got a closer look at what she had done. There was a small cut were her bracelet had cut him, just below his eye and his cheek was bright red. God she felt bad. Reaching in and pulling out a piece of ice, she slowly and gently placed it over the cut, making him hiss in a breath.
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
Nate reached up and held her hand where it was, closed his eyes and leaned into her hand. Looking down at him, she gasped. Nate had come to her rescue wearing a pair of boxers, and nothing else. Glancing down his body, she had forgotten how well built he was. She could not take her eyes off of him. His chest was perfection; the lightest amount of hair covered it. Moving further down, his six-pack was to die for; she was so tempted to lean over and run her tongue over every single muscle that covered him. She could spend hours doing exactly that. She trailed her eyes lower and they landed straight on his crotch. She stifled a moan at the thought of what was under there. She couldn’t help it. Her hormones were off the charts from the pregnancy. All it took was one look at Nate and she was a goner.
Nate cleared his throat, and her eyes shot to his face. He grinned at her.
Bastard!
He knew full well what he did to her, and he was enjoying every second of it.
Slapping him on the chest, she walked over towards the fridge and opened it to offer him a drink. She reached for a bottle of water, but before she closed the door, she dropped it and clutched her belly, watching as the bottle hit the floor with a loud bang.
There was no way she was going to get any sleep after seeing Nate in only boxer shorts, but now her baby was wide wake and kicking.
Nate quickly shot out of his chair and moved towards her.
“What is it?”
She shook her head, and replies, “I’m fine, Nate.” She attempted to go past him, but he stopped her.
“Skylar, if there is something wrong, I want you to tell me, please.”
He was worried about her, so he must care for her.
Of course, he cares. You’re carrying his child!
“Really, Nate. Nothing is wrong.”
“If you’re fine, why did you drop the bottle?” he asked.
The baby started kicking again. It could hear it’ father’s voice. She had not noticed until then, every time the baby kicked so much, it happened Nate was near.
Smiling, Skylar reached for his hand and placed it over her belly. “This is why I dropped the bottle.” Covering his hand with hers, she felt as the baby started kicking against his hand. Nate’s eyes shot wide open.
“Is that our babe moving?” God, he was so cute. She nodded as he knelt down onto the floor right in front of her, placed both hands over her belly, and waited. His eyes jumped to hers when he felt movement, and she saw moisture in his eyes.
He really, truly cared about his child. The look in his eyes almost made her cry. She could see the love and affection in them for his baby. Why hadn’t she let him be a part of this pregnancy earlier? She did not know then that he would act the way he was now. He leaned closer to her belly, lifted her shirt and placed the gentlest kiss against her. She sobbed at what he did. Nate started to mumble against her, she couldn’t hear what he was saying until he said the last part. “I love you,” he whispered. Tears started running down her cheeks. How could she have been so cruel and leave him out of everything involving his child? Well that would stop, immediately. She made her mind that from that point on; he was going to be there through everything.
Nate stood, slowly. Moving back away from her, he started to walk towards the backdoor.
He is leaving, just like that?
She didn’t want to be alone, especially after someone tried to get into her house.
Reaching for his arm, she stopped him. “Please, don’t go,” she whispered.
He turned around to face her, and stepped closer. Lifting his hand to her cheek, he lightly traced over it with his thumb. “What do you want me to do?”
“Can you please stay the night with me? I don’t want to be alone.”
“Are you sure, Skylar?” he asked.
She nodded, and he locked the backdoor and walked both of them towards her room. Once there, she pulled back the covers and watched as Nate moved to the other side. Reaching for his boxers, he started to remove them and looked straight at her. “Sorry, you know I don’t sleep in anything,” he told her.
She knew that, but seeing him naked in her bed again was going to kill her. Turning to her side, she gave him some privacy and waited until he got into bed. Nate draped his arm over her hip and pulled her closer to him, against his chest. He placed his hand over her belly, and that is where it stayed.
“Night, Skylar,” he whispered against her ear.
“Night, Nate,” she replied. Snuggling closer to him, she knew it would take a while for her to eventually fall asleep, but she was not going to complain. She was finally back in his arms, where she wanted to be.
––––––––
C
hantal was on her way to meet one of her friend’s at Joey’s bar. Pulling up and parking, she made her way inside and sat down. She needed some things built for her shop, so she had called Bryan. Bryan had worked on several things for her father at their house and she loved his work. He was so passionate about it, and put a lot of love into everything he built. His craftsmanship was amazing. She could sit all day and watch him work his magic.
After getting the bartender’s attention, she ordered a drink and waited. As she was taking her first swig of her drink, across the room she spotted Bryan, and watched as he walked towards her. He could silence a room when he entered. The way he moved indicated confidence and power, and a lot of it. Shaking her head, she smiled towards him and he smiled back at her. She knew why all the girls fell for him—that smile could make a girl swoon and his body was to die for—but he was not who she wanted.
Damn it.
She would not think of
him
.
“Channy,” he said as he pulled her in for a tight hug.
Thumping him on the back, she complained, “You know I hate that name, Bryan.”
“I know. I just can’t help it. It’s so cute,” he laughed.
Laughing herself, she sat down. “Do you want something to drink?”
“Yeah, I’ll have a beer.” Whistling, she raised her hand, and tapped her bottle, letting the bartender know she wanted another.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” Bryan asked.
“I wanted to know if you could make me several items that I need for my shop.”
“What are you after?” His beer was placed in front of him, and he picked it up and took a swig.
She pulled out her list. “I’m after three change rooms, shelving, counter, and an office out back.”
Chantal handed the piece of paper to him, and he glanced over it. “I can do that. When do you need it by?”
She noticed several of the women in the bar moving closer to their table. She just shook her head, smiling. He always drew attention to himself. He never did it on purpose. It was just him.
“Um, I was thinking sometime next week. The shop opens in a month and I wanted everything set up before I brought in the merchandise.”
“Sure, I can have it done by then. Do you have an ideas on what you want?”
Nodding, she lifted out an envelope and gave it to him. As he was looking over it, she glanced over to order another drink, just when Dom walked in.
“Shit,” she hissed.
Bryan looked up at her. “What’s the matter?” He followed her gaze, and asked, “Do you know him?”
“Unfortunately, I do,” she mumbled.
Dominic stood at the bar, and ordered. Seconds later, a guy walked in and headed over towards him.
Holy shit!
The guy was absolutely gorgeous, standing at the same height as Dom, which was about 6 feet 4 inches. His hair was a dusty blonde color, and she couldn’t tell what color his eyes were, but she could sense just by looking at him from a distance that there was mischief in them. He had a devilish smile that would make you go weak, and was built the same as Dom. His shoulders were as wide as a linebacker’s, arms thick as trunks, and the same with his legs. Jesus, the jeans that this guy wore looked like they were ready to explode off of him; they were that tight. His shirt was unbuttoned to halfway down his chest, showing how tanned he was. Swallowing, she glanced down his body, and sweet Jesus, he was wearing motorbike boots.
He was the whole package a girl could only dream about—sinful. From behind, you could class them as twins. There was not much different between them, besides the hair color, but she couldn’t really tell from so far away. She knew she was staring at them, but she really couldn’t help it. They were both so gorgeous and looked even better standing side by side. The stranger’s head turned in her direction, and she couldn’t move as his allure pulled her in.
It must have looked like a lion tracking its prey to everyone else in the room, because it felt like that to her. His lips moved into a sexy grin as he raised his drink to her. Blushing, she watched as Dom turned around and frowned towards her.
What the hell is his problem
? She wasn’t his. She could do whatever the hell she wanted
.
Dom stood up straight and moved around the tables, coming her way.
Oh crap!
She shifted closer to Bryan.