Chapter 9
Blood. Oh God, so much blood. Splattered across the room.
On the floor, the walls, the furniture. Crimson red blood everywhere.
The raw stench of death hung in the air, surrounding her like a thick, suffocating blanket.
What happened? Momma? Susan? Nicholas? No!
Oh God, no! They can’t be dead! This can’t be happening!
Why? Oh God, why? It's my fault, all my fault. I killed my family. They didn’t deserve to die this way.
They’re all dead because of me. Run! Hurry! Run before it is too late!
Moriah woke up terrified, covered in sweat, and gasping for air. She fumbled for the lamp next to her bed and turned it on, her gaze darting around the room.
The beach cottage.
She was at the beach cottage in North Carolina—not her family’s Chicago apartment—and the walls here were pale blue, and the carpet was ivory.
Not dark red. Not covered in her family’s blood.
There was no lingering metallic odor, just clean, salty ocean air.
Momma, Susan, and Nicholas weren’t tied to kitchen chairs, sitting there with dead stares and riddled with bullet holes, the souls already drained from their mortal bodies.
Sitting up, she wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks.
Her grief was just as strong now as it had been the exact moment she’d found her family in the apartment and then fled.
Would she ever be able to think of them again and not picture how they died?
It was all her fault. Well, mostly her fault.
She could never forgive herself for the part she played in their deaths.
If there was an afterlife, she hoped her family would forgive her.
However, she would always blame herself.
Focusing on the small alarm clock on the nightstand, she sighed with frustration. It was five-thirty in the morning. She would never fall back to sleep at this hour, not with the gruesome images of her family occupying her thoughts.
Slipping out from under the covers, she stood, pulled on a clean pair of jeans, and fastened them under the navy blue T-shirt she had slept in. Stepping into the attached bathroom, she used the toilet, flushed, and then washed her hands and face at the sink.
As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, she noticed her face was thinner and paler than usual.
With the dark circles under her eyes, she could pass as one of those “before” advertisements for some amazing new beauty cream.
She hadn’t slept more than five hours a night in months, and it was taking its toll on her body.
She refused to try an over-the-counter sleeping pill because she didn’t want to be groggy if she suddenly had to run again.
They had managed to find her twice, and both times, she had been able to escape—barely.
Learning from her mistakes, she adapted as best she could.
Walking barefoot, she exited the bedroom and went down the hallway into the kitchen.
She moved on tiptoes so she wouldn’t wake KC.
A little coffee and some fresh air would help vanquish the terror that always accompanied the nightmare.
She just wished she could find something that would erase the ghastly visions from her mind permanently.
A few minutes later, she headed for the back deck with a coffee mug and granola bar in hand.
Closing the door behind her with a soft click, she turned and jumped in surprise.
KC climbed the stairs in cotton shorts, a T-shirt, and sneakers.
Despite the chilly morning air, his body was drenched in sweat.
And what a body it was. His T-shirt clung to him, and she longed to run her hands across the taut plains of his torso and down to his muscular thighs.
A flush of arousal hit her, and she felt a pang of desire low in her belly. She tried to keep the huskiness out of her voice, but she wasn’t too successful and prayed he didn’t notice. “Hi, where were you?”
Halting at the top of the stairs, he grabbed the towel he must have left on the railing earlier and wiped his face and neck. “I couldn’t sleep, so I took my morning run a little early.”
She couldn’t tear her hungry gaze away as he dragged the towel up both of his strong arms. Her mouth watered. “You . . .” Clearing her throat, she tried again to speak. “You look like you just ran a marathon.”
Hanging the towel around his neck, he shrugged. “Nope, only ten miles. Five out, five back.”
Moriah’s mouth hung open as she gaped at him. Had the man actually just run ten miles? Holy shit! Well, at least now she knew how he kept his perfect male physique and squeezable ass.
KC shrugged his shoulders again and chuckled. “That’s a short hike in the military.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “If you say so. I’d hate to think what you would call a long hike. I’d have a heart attack before I finished the first mile.”
“Nah, not if you did some training.” He grabbed a bottle of water he’d left on the railing and drank most of the fluid before removing it from his lips.
Her eyes flared as his throat worked to swallow every drop. How the hell did the man make drinking look so damn erotic? She dropped her gaze to the wooden deck. “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass. I have enough training to do between the range and the self-defense lessons you promised me.”
“We’ll start those right after breakfast if you want.” He tilted his head and eyed her curiously. “What about you? What are you doing up so early?”
She averted her eyes from him, instead glancing out toward the ocean. “I had a nightmare.”
“Oh? About what?”
Moriah refused to look at him as she told him a blatant lie. “I really don’t remember.”
He stepped toward her, and her eyes shifted back to his face. “Maura, I meant what I said yesterday. I’m an excellent listener if you want to talk about it.”
A small, sad smile spread across her face. The man was really nice, and she wished she’d met him under different circumstances. “Thanks, KC. But this is something I have to work out alone.”
Sighing in evident frustration, he bent his elbows and flashed his palms at shoulder height as he backed off. “Okay, but I’m here if you ever want to talk. If you hadn’t noticed, I also have some pretty big shoulders to cry on.”
His light teasing at the end was probably an attempt to lighten her mood. She nodded her thanks and shuffled past him toward the stairs. As she descended, she felt his eyes on her and silently cursed the universe for introducing her to a man she could never have.
KC reluctantly allowed her to walk away before heading inside the house to shower, shutting the door behind him with a click.
He was grateful Maura hadn’t asked him why he couldn’t sleep.
He would have lied because there was no way he could tell her that every time he closed his eyes, he dreamed of her naked in his bed.
Their legs twined together, their skin slick with perspiration, and his hands and mouth touching every place on her body he could reach.
He wanted to bind her hands to the headboard and bury his face in her pussy.
She would have no choice but to enjoy as he licked, nibbled, and tormented her to an explosive orgasm over and over again.
And when she was sated beyond her wildest dreams, he would finally thrust his shaft deep inside her.
Not only inside her pussy but her mouth and ass as well.
He wanted to take her every way he possibly could and then start all over again.
He’d been surprised to see her awake at this hour.
When he found her standing on the deck, he had to force his eyes to remain on her face after he noticed she wasn’t wearing a bra under her T-shirt.
The fleshy orbs had called for him to take them in his hands and tease them until she begged for more.
He’d felt his cock twitch and reached for the bottle of water he’d left out, hoping the cool water would keep him from embarrassing himself with a woody in his shorts.
If that happened, she wouldn’t be able to miss it under the cotton material.
But as she walked past him on the way to the stairs, her unique scent went straight to his groin, and he hadn’t been able to stop the lengthening of his cock.
But by the time he reached his bathroom, he’d worked himself into a frenzy, thinking of what she looked like under her clothes, and was harder than he could ever remember being.
Turning on the water, he stripped off his clothing and stepped into the shower stall.
He needed some relief if he was to face her again without a hard-on.
Grabbing a bottle of body soap, he squirted some in his hand, then wrapped his palm and fingers around his aching cock.
He tightened his fist and dragged it up and down while he closed his eyes and replaced his hand with her mouth in his mind.
She’d be kneeling before him, her fingers digging into his ass as she clutched his hips.
He’d grasp her hair in his hand and tighten his grip until she felt a sting of pain and her juices flowed from her sweet pussy.
Her mouth would open, and she would take him inside, her plump, pink lips closing around him and her tongue licking him.
His hand pumped faster, as in his mind, she moaned around his flesh, and the fantasy vibrations did him in.
With a gasp and groan emanating from him, his cum erupted from his body in waves until he was finally depleted.
Leaning against the shower wall on his other hand, he slowed the motion of the one still wrapped around his ebbing erection.
When his breathing returned to normal, he moved under the water spray to clean himself off.
Fuck! It was going to be a long four weeks. And that was becoming an unwanted mantra.