Savage Redemption

chapter 8



They landed on a dirt road beside an old barn an hour outside of New Eire, the capital of the North American Coalition. Conlan hadn’t set foot in the city since the day he’d left prison. It held too many memories, both good and bad, for him to ever be comfortable there again.

Lucius wasn’t staying. He had interrupted a job of his own and needed to get back to it. Before he left, though, he gave Conlan the bear hug that was his usual greeting. It was a good thing they didn’t see each other often, because Conlan wasn’t sure his ribs could survive it.

“You watch your back, lawman. I ain’t got time to attend any funerals right now.”

Message received and appreciated. “I’ll do my best to not inconvenience you any more than I already have. You do the same.”

The big man laughed and clapped Conlan on the back hard enough to send him stumbling forward a couple of steps. “Not a problem on this run. I’m actually doing a little honest work for a change.”

Lucius tossed Conlan a set of keys. “There’s a transport parked inside the barn. The title and plates are clean, so no problems there. I left some cash in the console, you know, just in case. There’s also an apartment in back. Nothing fancy but it’s clean.”

He dropped his voice then. “Go check it out. I plan on having a talk with your lady friend before I leave.”

“Lucius—”

“Go on, Conlan. She’ll be along in a couple of minutes.”

Before he could protest again, Lucius got that stubborn set to his jaw that meant there’d be no talking him out of it. “It’s the price of my help. Now get moving. I’ve got places to be.”

Conlan glanced at Kat, who’d been hanging back, giving the two men a semblance of privacy. However, there was no way she hadn’t heard every word the two of them had said, not with his friend’s booming voice. Normally, Lucius only knew two volumes—loud and even louder.

“Fine, but remember, she’s been scared enough.”

Lucius’s expression clearly said he doubted that, but he was bound and determined to have his say. When Conlan started to walk away, Lucius called after him, “If I find out you needed me and didn’t call, I’ll kick your ass, even if you manage to get yourself killed.”

If Lucius’s warped sense of humor was making an appearance, Conlan knew Kat was safe. But what words of wisdom did Lucius feel duty bound to impart before he left to finish his honest day’s work?

When Conlan was about halfway to the barn, he glanced back to see Kat and Lucius standing toe-to-toe. Neither one looked mad, but they weren’t happy, either. Should he intervene? No, probably not. Kat seemed to be holding her own, and Lucius had already told him to take a hike. Maybe that’s just what he should do. If Kat could hold off a bevy of armed mercs with nothing but guts and a gun, she could handle one bearded giant.

* * *

Kat wasn’t surprised when Conlan walked away after catching the keys that his oversize friend had tossed him. She hadn’t been able to overhear everything the two men had said in the noisy helicopter, but she’d heard enough. Obviously Lucius knew exactly what had happened three years ago and what her actions had cost Conlan.

No one who counted himself among Conlan’s close friends was likely to forgive her for that debacle anytime soon. She’d hear Lucius out but offer no excuses, no apologies. Conlan might not believe her, but she’d made the only decision she could at the time. She didn’t expect him to forgive her. After all, she’d never forgiven herself.

Lucius glowered down at her, crowding her space. “So you’re the one.”

She stood her ground and glared right back at him. “Yes, I guess I am.”

He jerked his thumb in Conlan’s direction. “He tells me that whoever is hunting you threatened your nieces.”

The memory made her shudder. “Yes, they did, and then they showed up at the O’Day estate and demanded Rafferty turn the three of us over to them. Conlan ran the mercenaries off, but they’ll be back. The only reason Conlan’s helping me this time is to protect Rose and Maggie.”

Lucius snorted. “Lady, he might think that, and you might think that. But ask yourself this—if Conlan was so hot on protecting your nieces, why is he here with you and not back at Rafferty’s place standing guard over them?”

Where was Lucius going with this? Of course that was Conlan’s intent. He’d told her so.

When she didn’t immediately respond, Lucius shook his head and looked disgusted. “You’re as blind as he is. He could’ve brought the girls out with you or, better yet, instead of you. One call to Ambrose, and the big honcho of chancellors would’ve met him outside of Rafferty’s place instead of me. There are a lot of different ways Conlan could’ve handled the situation, but he chose this one.”

Then he leaned in close, finally forcing her to back up a step and then a second one. “There’s only one reason I didn’t shove you out of my helo over that lake we passed a ways back...and that’s because I’m seeing a spark of life in Conlan that’s been missing for a long time.”

He glanced back toward the barn. “So listen carefully, lady. Conlan is my friend, and I have damn few of them. Your shenanigans almost killed him three years ago. Screw with that man again, and I’ll be coming after you myself. Understood?”

She appreciated Lucius’s loyalty to his friend. For that reason, she didn’t tell him to back off. Instead, she executed a sloppy salute. “Understood, sir.”

Lucius finally smiled, his teeth gleaming whitely against his black beard. “Good. Maybe you’ll do after all.”

Then he stared past her to where Conlan stood waiting by the barn. “Now go get your life straightened out, so Conlan can do the same with his.”

Then the big man lumbered back over to his helo and took off. When he was gone, she started across the field toward Conlan, still trying to make sense of what Lucius had been trying to tell her. When she couldn’t, she decided she didn’t really need to know why Conlan was with her. It only mattered that he was.

* * *

Conlan breathed a sigh of relief when his friend finally left. There had been a minute there when he’d feared he was going to have to intercede, but then Lucius backed up a step and smiled at Kat. She must have said something that pleased the man.

He watched Kat carefully as she made her way across the field toward the barn. She paused for a few seconds to hold her face up to the sun, soaking up its warmth as the breeze toyed with her hair. He was hit with the impulse to join her, to hold her in his arms to ward off the chill of fear that gave her that haunted look.

He’d been debating whether they should venture into New Eire right away or if it would be better to grab a little rest while they had the chance. They couldn’t afford to waste any time, but Kat was less than forty-eight hours away from a near-fatal shooting.

So far, she hadn’t complained, but he didn’t want to push her too hard. Another day’s rest certainly wouldn’t hurt, and it would give those booster shots Seamus had given her more time to work their magic. Better to be cautious than have her suffer a setback.

When she’d almost reached him, he announced, “We’re going to camp out here for the night and then get started on the hunt tomorrow.”

“Why wait?”

She wouldn’t appreciate being coddled, so he lied. “We’re going to spend tonight reviewing everything that’s happened from the very beginning. I still have a copy of your old case file, so we’ll start with that. I don’t want to be running blind.”

Kat fell into step beside him. “There’s not much you don’t already know about what happened three years ago. There’s nothing new to talk about.”

Okay, that was bullshit, and they both knew it.

“Humor me.” He let a little of his temper show, his fangs dropping down far enough to show he was as serious as death. “I suggest you start at the very beginning and end with where the hell you disappeared to after you left my bed that night.” Just that quickly, he was trapped in the past, flashing back to the living nightmare where he’d woken up alone and confused. He’d searched his apartment twice before it started sinking in that she’d taken off. Hell, even then he couldn’t believe that Kat had left of her own free will. But with no evidence of a break-in, he’d had no choice but to admit that he’d been had.

After a night sharing the best sex of his life, the last thing Conlan had expected to be doing was reporting to Ambrose that a prisoner had escaped. From that phone call, it had only been a matter of hours before Conlan was behind bars, a prisoner condemned to serve out Kat’s sentence. He should have been executed, but Ambrose had intervened to save his ass. Three long years of self-doubt and bitter regrets had left their mark on him. No doubt about that.

“Conlan?”

The hesitation in Kat’s voice caught his attention, although it cost him considerable effort to drag himself back to the present. “Let’s get started. The sooner we get this straightened out, the sooner—”

“Yeah, Conlan, I know. The sooner we get this straightened out, the sooner you can be rid of me, permanently this time. I’ve heard it all before. Let’s get this over with.”

Then she pushed past him and disappeared into the small apartment at the back of the barn. He followed right on her heels. As soon as they were inside, he slammed the door and grasped her arm, spinning her around to face him.

“Don’t walk away when I’m talking to you, Kat. And I don’t give a rip about what you do or don’t want to hear. None of this would’ve happened—none of it!—if you had trusted me three years ago. Instead, you took off on your own and left me to pay the price.”

He leaned in close, getting right up in her face. “Do you have any idea what prison is like for a Coalition chancellor, especially one responsible for putting a fair portion of the other prisoners behind bars? They managed to damn near kill me half a dozen times before the warden finally ordered me put in solitary confinement for the duration of my sentence—or, actually, your sentence.”

Kat’s face blanched even as she jerked her arm free. “I’d say I’m sorry again, but you still wouldn’t believe me. I had my reasons for leaving three years ago, good ones, but you don’t want to hear about those, either.”

“You’re right. I don’t. All I want is the truth, Kat. I’ve had enough of your lies.”

Especially the ones she’d whispered accompanied by soft touches and kisses in the darkness as they’d made love again and again. Those were the ones that hurt the most. And poor miserable fool that he was, despite everything, he hungered for more of the same.

Her eyes widened as if she’d sensed the direction of his thoughts. But instead of backing away, she actually leaned into him. Temptation proved to be stronger than his resolve to maintain his distance. For the second time since she’d reappeared in his life, Conlan found himself crushing Kat to his chest, his mouth claiming hers. His temper combined with hers to form a volatile mixture that blew the top right off his control.

Despite that, if she’d shown any reluctance, he would have found the strength to stop. But she didn’t; instead, her fingers were digging into his back, pulling him closer, holding him in place as her tongue mated and danced with his. He cupped her bottom with both hands, holding her against the rock-hard evidence of the effect she was having on him.

“Conlan!”

Her voice was husky with heat and hunger, driving him crazy. In this, they were equal, honest. He picked her up and pressed her back against the closest wall. She immediately wrapped her legs around his hips and rocked against him. If they weren’t careful, it would all be over before the party really got started.

He grazed the side of her neck with his fangs, then soothed her skin with a kiss. Chancellors didn’t take blood to live, but it definitely heightened the sexual experience for both partners. As he bit down gently, he cupped her breast with his hand, kneading it hard, remembering how much Kat had liked how he’d done it exactly that way.

Back when he’d damn near killed himself to satisfy her in bed. Back when she’d waited for him to fall asleep and then took off. Just that quickly, good sense returned and desire died. He lowered Kat to the floor and stepped back, both of them breathing hard and hurting.

“I can’t do this. I won’t do this.”

He managed another step back and then another. Kat wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, the same regret he was feeling burning in her eyes.

It was tempting to reach out to her, to apologize, but he couldn’t risk touching her again. Not now.

He needed a few minutes to regain his control. “Go sit down while I fix us something to eat.”

If Kat was surprised by the sudden change in directions, she gave no sign of it. She simply nodded and put as much distance between the two of them as the small apartment allowed.