CHAPTER FOURTEEN
– SEAMUS –
Serenity. Utter and complete peace. My body feels drained and energized at the same time. I’m still balls-deep in her snug pussy, cock softening and yet I’m craving to fuck her again. The slight shift of her body underneath me makes our mixed juices spill onto the couch.
“Shit,” I mutter. “Sorry, babe, I forgot to wrap up. It’s been years...well, not counting the last time when you made me come in my pants. I’m clean, still have my regular checkups even if I’m retired.”
“Me too. B-birth control for my p-periods. All good.” Her cheeks are still flushed from the pleasure we created. “A b-bit messy, t-though.”
A chuckle slips from me, and I lean in to brush my nose against hers. “Fuck messy. When something feels this damn good, it’s definitely worth it.”
“Agreed.” She grins.
I’m about to kiss her when an alarm softly sounds. The sound comes from my phone and it lets me know someone just cut the wires from the security system. The obvious one I installed as a decoy.
I wince when I pull out of her sweet pussy. “Get dressed and stick to the plan.”
Jaxie gives me a tight nod and quickly jumps up to pull on her pants. Shit. The muscles in my leg are burning and it’s hard to bite through the pain it gives me.
I’m barely dressed when I hear Jaxie whisper, “Done.”
Palming my gun and cane, I tell her, “Good, girl. Go and hide, and lock up the dogs so they won’t get hurt.”
Macy and Benny follow her into the bedroom, allowing her to lock them safely into the kennels I brought from my mother’s cabin.
Surprise hits me when I hear a knock on the door, along with the words, “Hello, anyone home? Miss Stalwart, it’s me, Burk Clark.”
I hear the soft creak of the bedroom door. Jaxie pops her head in and is looking as confused as I am.
“Keep your hand on your gun,” I whisper and wait for her nod before I move to open the door.
Backup is on the way. A few days ago Murray and I came up with a plan in case anyone would show up here. One being the complicated security system so they wouldn’t be able to disarm it so easily this time. At least, not without us knowing.
I take a quick glance outside the window and notice it’s just Burk standing on the porch. Strange because there’s no vehicle.
“Burk,” I grunt as I open the door.
The man nods and tries to glance into the cabin behind me. “Jaxie here? I’d like to talk to her.”
Burk doesn’t seem too surprised to see me. He takes a step forward in an effort to get inside.
Not happening. “She’s not accepting visitors.”
“I only need to talk to her, make sure she’s okay. You know she’s been through a lot, and I’d like to pay my respects.”
This makes me snort. “I don’t give a flying fuck, Burk. You’re not welcome here. Go back to wherever you came from before I call the sheriff to let him know you’re trespassing.”
He narrows his eyes. “My property is next to hers, I’m allowed to do a welfare check on my neighbor. Go ahead and call the sheriff. Orson Samuels is a friend, he will agree with me.”
“So, you’re not here to see with your own eyes who owns the majority of the company you want to own completely?” I blatantly tell the fucker.
I know he has a short fuse, and I am provoking him to give me a reason to shoot the fucker in self-defense.
Though, on the other hand, I don’t expect him to react by kicking the cane.
The pillar I had my weight balanced on gives out.
Pain shoots through me when I use all my strength to stay upright.
The fucker manages to slip past me. “You’re pathetic, Seamus. I forced Dax to make you resign. You can’t even handle a desk job, let alone protect someone.”
The sound of a gunshot rips through the air. Burk cries out and I watch Jaxie step closer as she keeps her gun aimed at him.
“Babe,” I softly murmur, and reach down to grab my cane.
Burk is cursing while pushing both hands on his thigh, blood seeping through his fingers. “You fucking shot me, bitch.”
“Y-you’re t-trespassing,” Jaxie snaps.
Burk narrows his eyes. “Not a stupid mute, but brainless all the same. You’ll pay for shooting me.”
“Get. Out.” The gun in Jaxie’s hand trembles.
I move away from Burk and come to a stop beside Jaxie. “You heard her. Get out.”
“Not before...” Burk starts.
Jaxie clearly doesn’t give two shits about what he’s going to say when she cuts him off. “No. Y-you w-will not g-get t-the company. Seamus i-is m-my husband. N-no p-prenup. What’s m-mine is h-his.”
She’s lying her ass off, and I’m completely caught off guard.
Though, the smirk I’m wearing comes easily.
“She makes me one happy man, and I’m not talking about me stepping into the role as one of the owners of Stalwart Ridge Security.
Nice, right? I mean, this complicates your plan to take care of Jaxie.
Killing her might raise a flag, while killing us both will definitely raise more than one flag. ”
“Bullshit,” Burk snarls. “You two haven’t left this mountain for two days.”
I tilt my head. “And how the fuck would you know? Unless you’re stalking her.”
“Put the gun down or I’ll blow her fucking head off.” The voice of a person I hate flows from the open door.
Nolan has a gun in each hand. I hold my tongue to prevent throwing out a remark.
Accuracy is not his strong point. He barely had the required eighty percent score.
Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Burk called in a favor to make Nolan pass his firearm qualification test. Probably why he’s holding two guns; to make sure he hits the target.
“No one is shooting anyone,” I calmly state.
Nolan’s gaze bounces between us and his father.
“What are you waiting for?” Burk snarls. “Kill both of them, you idiot. Bury their bodies in a shallow grave where the predators will pick their bones.”
Movement behind Nolan catches my attention.
Murray gives me a signal, and it makes me whisper to Jaxie, “Brace for impact. Finger off the trigger.”
I don’t give her time to face me or react otherwise when I let go of my cane and wrap my arms around her to pull her behind the couch. Deafening gunfire erupts at the same time.
“Stay down,” I snap at Jaxie and palm my gun before throwing a glance round the couch.
My shoulder feels like it’s on fire, and I have to duck behind the couch when I see Nolan aim one of his guns in my direction. A heartbeat later I throw another glance and see him backing up through the kitchen. Burk is firing a gun as well. Murray fires off a round.
Burk aims his gun, ready to take Murray out when someone fires three times. Burk’s body jerks and crumbles on the floor.
“Nooooo,” Nolan snarls, firing off another round before he jumps out of the kitchen window.
The silence is deafening. Burk is lying on the floor, eyes open, blood seeping through his clothes. I now notice Elodie who slides down the wall. Murray is in front of her, holding her hands while there are two guns lying beside her leg.
“What h-happened?” Jaxie whispers from beside me.
“Elodie killed Burk, saved Murray. Nolan escaped. I have to go after him. Stay here,” I tell her and wait till she nods.
Pushing myself off the floor, I grab my cane, and palm my gun in my other hand.
Murray throws a glance over his shoulder. “No, you stay here with the girls. I’ll go after the fucker.”
I’m about to object, but I know he’s right. The woods are hell for me to walk through, let alone give chase while taking fire. I give him a tight nod.
Murray points at Elodie. “Take care of her. She’s in shock from killing that fucker.”
Now I’m the one nodding. Murray slips out of the cabin.
“S-safe?” Jaxie asks from behind the couch.
“Yeah, babe.” I hold out my hand and she rushes toward me.
She sees Elodie and squats down next to her. “Hey. Hey, l-look at m-me, Elodie.”
A tear slides down Elodie’s cheek.
She’s staring straight ahead and I doubt she’s looking at something when she says, “I shot him. I killed him. He’s dead.”
“Ssshhh.” Jaxie reaches out and takes her hand. “You had no choice. They were going to kill us. Everything will be fine.”
Elodie blinks and turns to Jaxie. “He was going to kill Murray.”
Jaxie gives her a watery smile. “You s-saved him.”
They fall into one another’s arms and start to sob.
Murray stomps back into the cabin, a furious look on his face. “Fucker got away. He’s hurt, though. Blood trail led to tire tracks. Hopefully the fucker will bleed out, it will save us from hunting him down.”
I stalk to the laptop and boot it up. “On it.”
“What are we going to do?” Elodie asks and glances at Burk’s dead body.
Murray and I share a look. “Your call, dude. My pigs are willing.”
My gaze lands on Jaxie. “Your call. Do you want to call the sheriff or get rid of that fucker and stick to the fact that he never came by?”
She bites her bottom lip.
I focus back on the laptop and try to find different security feeds to see if I can spot Nolan coming down the mountain. By now he should have at least passed one.
“No one will ever find out if we handle it ourselves,” Murray pushes.
“It needs to be her decision,” I grunt and keep searching.
“Pig f-food,” Jaxie states.
Elodie releases a sound between a snort and a laugh.
“I’ll handle it,” Murray states and gets to work.
Letting a few programs run on the laptop gives me the time to clean the blood while I wait for any result to pop up. I make a pit stop at the bathroom to bandage the graze on my shoulder before I get to work.
It’s over three hours later when Murray returns. “Any luck finding the fucker?”
“He’s disappeared,” I grumble.
Elodie and Jaxie are on the couch, talking by using ASL.
I make sure they aren’t looking at us when I whisper to Murray, “I doubt Nolan will vanish. Fucker is too vindictive.”
“Yeah, and he saw Elodie kill his father. That shit goes way beyond getting orders to harm Jaxie,” Murray grits. “I’m going to take her to my place; it’s the safest option.”
I bob my head. “We’ll keep looking.”
“Maybe he bled out somewhere in his truck,” Elodie states.
Shit. I tried to be quiet to keep them out of the discussion.
“Maybe, maybe not. We can’t afford to let our guard down,” Murray states.
Elodie wrings her hands. “Fine. I’ll stay with you, but the horses go back to Jaxie and Seamus.”
“Okay,” Jaxie says and steps closer to me.
Elodie has a lot to process, and so does Jaxie. This shit is far from over. Not knowing if Nolan is dead or alive, coming back for revenge, or disappeared from our lives forever.
I lean in and bury my nose into Jaxie’s hair to breathe her in. At least for now we’re safe, alive, and can be ready if the fucker returns.