Together Forever Read online

  “Pax, I need to do something! My man is out there, hurt, maybe— maybe—” I continue wailing as she tried to comfort me. “It’s all my fault! I should have— he wouldn’t have gone after Shane if I would have— NOOOOOO!”

  Pax is talking on the phone to Jesse, and I hear her tell him to call Tuck and to get over here fast.

  My thoughts are racing with worry when the front door opens with a bang, making me and Paxton jump. Jesse and Tuck coming racing over to us. My brother picks me up and carries me to the couch in the living room. “Pax, go get some ice to put on her leg, she’s got a nasty knot and bruise forming here. Tuck, get on the phone with Stiles to see if there is any news. Go!” I love when Jesse takes charge, that’s why he’s such a great and protective brother.

  I hear Tuck talking on his phone, “Buck, where’s Shane? Something’s up, go look around for him. Ok. Let me know.”

  We all are sitting in the living room, Jesse’s pacing while Tuck is watching Pax texting on her phone. No word, yet, but it’s only been 30 minutes. Shit! It seems like hours. I am about to lose my mind! Pax has been making coffee for everyone and warmed up some leftovers, but no one is eating. How can we?

  I finally get my knight in shining armor, my first and last love, and he could be hurt somewhere, alone or dead. My lip trembles but no more tears can be shed as my eyes are all dried out. He said we would be together forever.

  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

  “Fuck!” I moan. My head feels like it’s going to blow up. What the fuck happened? I try to move my arm and cry out in pain. Shit, I think it’s broken. I wish I could clear my muggy head. I can’t think straight. I am laying on the ground and it’s dark out. I use my good arm and push myself up until I sit against the wall. My hand instinctively goes to my forehead. Shit, that hurts. Feels like a lump there. My hand comes back full of blood. I squint in the darkness trying to figure out where I am. I look and see I’m in the alley behind Buck’s shop. Shit! I reach for my phone and it’s gone. Great!

  I manage to get on my knees. Fuck, my leg hurts. I inch my way up, my good hand pushing on the wall. I limp over to the door of Buck’s and grab the handle. Pain is everywhere, my head, my arm and now my leg. Damn, I’m fucked up. I finally get the door open, which feels like it weighs a ton. I can hear Buck talking up ahead but my eyes are blurry, so I can’t make him out. I lean against the wall. My body slowly slides against the wall as I try to get to him.

  “Shane? I was just coming out there looking for you. What the—” Buck yells as I start dropping down to the floor until I sit.

  Fuck, I’m dizzy. My hand is on my forehead trying to stop the pounding. “Uhhhhh,” I moan.

  “Fuck! Henry! Get an Ambulance! Hurry!” Buck yells. “Shane, man, hang in there. Hang on buddy.” He moves my hand out of the way and presses something against my head.

  “Ohhh,” I groan. Shit, I feel like I was hit by a fucking truck. I hear ringing in my ears, wait, that sounds like sirens. “Buck, I think you’re being raided again. You need to leave.” I try pushing him away, but he’s like a fucking brick wall. I lean my head back. Man that took a lot of energy. I need to work out more.

  “Shane, sit still man. You’re gonna hurt yourself worse,” he tells me. What? Damn, the room’s spinning. Weird. I try to bring up my left arm and pain shoots up my arm. “Uhhhhh!” I yell.

  Two men are in front of me, one squatting down beside me, and the other bent over digging around in a black bag. “Hey, man. I’m Carlos and I’m here to help you. Can you tell me what all hurts?” The man in front of me asks.

  I look at him and squint. I blink a few times. Damn, why are my eyes still blurry? “My head, left arm and leg.” He nods and starts talking to the other guy. Buck’s pacing the floor behind them. “Ow!” I screech as Carlos works on my head. “Shit, man. Be careful!”

  “Sorry, sorry,” he quickly answers. “Gotta get this cleaned up a bit then I’ll put a dressing on it until we can get you to the hospital. My man, Mike over there—” he nods to the other guy. “He’s gonna put your arm and leg in a splint, just in case anything is broken, ok?” I try to nod, but my head feels like it could fall off my shoulder and bounce to the floor. “Do you know what happened?” He asks.

  “I— I’m not totally sure. I remember going out back for a durry and next thing I know, I’m waking up on the ground.” Fuck that guy Mike is killing me with that damn splint. Hurry the fuck up. I hear Carlos ask Buck what a durry is, and I can’t help but chuckle. Shit, that hurt.

  They finally get done and get me up on a gurney. There’s police here now hovering around me. That reminds me of something, Fuck! Allie! I look over at the policeman and yell, “You! You need to call Detective Stiles now!” Then I look at Buck. “Call Allie! Fuck! I need to see if she’s ok!” I try to sit up, but Mike restrains me. I’m shaking my head back and forth between them. “No! You don’t understand! There’s a guy after her, call her!”

  Carlos lays his hand on my good arm. “Man, calm down or I’m gonna have to give you something and I don’t wanna have to do that.” I lay my head back down, wincing, and take deep breaths. “Ok, now. Buck will call Allie for you but you need to stay calm for me, ok?” He looks over at Buck, and I see him nod.

  I have to know my girl is ok. My thoughts are now going in all different directions. What if that was some kind of ploy to get to my girl. Fuck! I bet she is sick with worry. I fucking hate that!

  Buck leans over to me. “I already called her. She and Paxton are on the way to the hospital to meet you there.” I sigh a big one out of relief. My girl’s ok. Thank fuck! “Easy, man. She’s good.” He smiles and pats my right shoulder.

  It takes fucking forever in the ER. I’ve been in this room for hours. If they don’t get finished and let me see my girl, I’m gonna walk the fuck outta here. I don’t give a shit that my cast isn’t completely dry. I will leave. I start to doze off, for the thousandth time, and open my eyes to the prettiest sight I have seen all damn day. My love’s eyes are peering into mine, a sad little smile on her face and her hand smoothing my hair. Thank fuck she’s on my good side because I can’t wait another minute. My arm goes around her waist, and I hoist her up, partially on top of me.

  “Shane!” She yells. My mouth covers hers so fast she doesn’t know what hit her. Damn! I missed her taste, her smell, her everything. I plunge my tongue in her mouth and play seek and search with hers. “Mmmmm,” is all I can hum.

  Her mouth releases mine with ‘pop’. She begins stroking the side of my face with her finger, that sad smile there again and a lone tear falls from her eye. “I was so scared,” she whispers. “I didn’t know where you were and— And your phone called mine and it was him. Oh, Shane! He could have killed you.” She sniffles. “Because of me,” she says so low I can barely hear it. Wait! What?

  I take her face in my hand and search her eyes. “What? What do you mean? Love, tell me what happened?” She tells me everything and by the time she’s done her face is in my chest heaving with her cries. Mother Fucker! Fuck I wish I could get my hands on him!

  I rub the back of her head, trying to soothe her. “Shhhh, love. It’s over. I’m fine. And Thank fuck you’re ok.” Internally I am thinking of how I’m gonna kill that bastard. Making her worry herself sick. These little games he keeps playing are gonna end. Now!

  I am finally released from the ER and Allie drives us home and puts me to bed. Not the way I wanted to be put to bed but the pampering was nice. She rolls over immediately and lays her arm across my chest. We had to switch sides due to my broken arm and bruised leg. Thank fuck it was my forearm the fucker broke, so my cast is from my hand up to my elbow. More flexibility to be able to still hold my girl. My head isn’t pounding me to death like it was, but I have six stitches with a large bruise on the side of my forehead. I think I’m in love with pain pills right now. I hope the asshole had fun taking his aggressions out on my leg. Fucking bruised the hell out of my thigh. Thank fuck he didn’t break anything there.

/>   I awake to light streaming in the window above the bed and my girl gently shaking my shoulder. “Shane,” she whispers. I grab the back of her head and pull her mouth to mine. Great way to be woken up, but I’d prefer to have my cock buried deep inside her. I missed having my hand on her breast last night. “Why the pout?” She asks when I finally let her breath.

  I kiss her again and bring my hand around and cup her breast. “I missed this last night. I had a hard time sleeping without it.” I circle my thumb over her nipple, causing it to peak. Fuck I missed this. She giggles and moves away. I bring my lower lip up again, giving her my best pout.

  “Detective Stiles is here but I don’t think you should get up yet. I’ll bring him in here.” I take her hand and pull her back to me and kiss her again. She giggles again and gets away from me. Damn, I must be pretty weak. “I’ll just go get him. Be right back,” she says backing out of the room.

  Stiles walks into the room, Allie behind him. She sits on the bed, next to my leg. “Love, why don’t you go make us some coffee, please?” I wink. She smiles at me, then at Stiles and leaves the room. “Ok, Stiles. Cut to the chase. I don’t want Allie to hear anything, she’s been through enough.” I demand.

  He crosses his arms and straightens his stance. “Fair enough. We found your phone.” He comes near and hands it to me. I examine it. Other than being dirty, it looks ok. He moves back to where he was and resumes his stance. “We found it in on the ground in a heap of trash at the end of the alley. Dusted it for fingerprints and it was clean. My guess? He’s trying to get to Allie through you, send a message. He’s trying to scare the shit out of her and it’s working.” He rubs his chin and cocks a brow at me. “Did you know she was talking to her friend about leaving and going back to L.A.?”

  My head rose at that one. What. The. Fuck? No way! I won’t let her! “Ain’t gonna happen, I won’t let her run. I— I can’t lose her.” My hearts beating fast now, with fear of losing my girl.

  “He’s slippery, this Paul. Just when we think we have a handle on where he is, he’s gone. It’s like he’s one up on all our moves, can’t figure it out.” His look turns serious. “But I guarantee I’ll get him. I stake my life on it.”

  “You better because I promise you, if you don’t, I will. Telling you up front now.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Shane’s been really restless ever since Detective Stiles left. Paxton decided to go stay with Jesse and Cassie for a couple of days to help out with the twins and so Shane can get some good rest. I’m cleaning the coffee cups in the kitchen sink, when I hear a noise from the doorway. Shane is breathing heavy, his good hand pushing against the frame, his head laying on it. I drop the cup into the sink, shattering it into pieces. I run over and put my arm around his waist. “Shane! Oh, my God! What are you doing? You shouldn’t have gotten out of bed.” He lays his arm across my shoulder, and I guide his limping body to the closest chair. He sits with a wince and groans.

  I run and get his pills and a glass of water, setting them on the table in front of him. Taking one out, I place it in his mouth. I try to pull my finger out of his mouth, but his lips clamp around it. He looks up at me and smiles. What am I gonna do with this sexy man? Oh, I can think of a lot of things.

  “Shane,” I giggle. “Let go. I need to clean up the mess in the sink.” I try to pull my finger out again, but he clamps down harder. I can’t help but laugh. I love my sexy man when he’s playful, even though he’s in so much pain. Finally, he releases my finger but not before he sucks on it for a bit. Swoon!

  I clean up the mess in the sink and make my man some yummy pancakes and bacon. We sit quietly while we eat our scrumptious breakfast. I look up to see him wiping his mouth with his napkin, a serious look on his face. “We need to talk,” he states simply. Oh, no! What now? He’s done with me and my nightmare of a life. Who wouldn’t be? I can’t believe he lasted this long. His hand reaches across the table and takes mine. Here we go. This is it.

  “I love you so, so very much.” What? Huh? “I can’t imagine my life without you and I will kill anyone who tries to make that happen.” Tears form in his eyes. “Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me. I’ll be a lost man with nothing to live for.”

  I jump out of my seat and kneel before him, wrapping my arms around his waist. I’m crying now, and I don’t really know why. I don’t want to ever leave him. His head lays on mine, his hand stroking my hair.

  “Love, why are you crying? I’m the pussy who’s afraid you’re leaving me,” he says with a frown.

  I look up at him and reach to wipe his eyes tenderly. “I’m just scared, darling. I don’t want to leave you, I swear. I’d rather die. But I don’t want you to get hurt again or worse. I’m scared of losing you. Don’t you understand? He’s crazy. There’s no telling what he’ll do. Look what happened to you. I can’t tell you how upset I was, when we didn’t know where you were, if you were alive. I— If something would have happened. If—”

  He returns the favor by wiping my tears away, huffs to lift me with one arm, and places me on his lap. He winces in pain. “Shane, you’re gonna hurt yourself more, let me—” I am cut off with his mouth on mine. “Mmmmm,” I groan into his mouth. Our tongues fight for dominance as we continue to kiss hot and heavy. His mouth leaves mine and kisses my face. He rubs my cheek with his. I can feel his light morning stubble against my smooth skin and it feels heavenly.

  “Don’t leave me,” he says kissing my cheek. “Please don’t leave me,” he says kissing my jaw. “I can’t live without you,” he says kissing my neck. My head follows his mouth’s trail until I capture it again. I begin to suck the life out of him. God I love him.

  “I won’t leave you,” I say into his mouth. “I’m scared for you, but I can’t leave you.” I kiss him again. We can’t seem to let go of each other. “I love you, my darling.”

  We finally stop just so we can get some air into our lungs, but we never stop touching. Our foreheads are pressed together, and we are smiling like giddy teenagers. He pushes me up and smacks my bottom. “Go! You need to eat. You’re looking a little peaked, my love.” I sit back in my seat and start eating my pancakes again. “I’m sorry you were so worried about me. I never want you to be worried, love. I wish they would fucking find that bastard and hang him from the nearest pole.”

  We finish our breakfast, and I make him go lay down on the couch while I clean up. I find him asleep and tuck a blanket around him. I’m sitting on the chair, just looking at him. To think I caused his pain, that he could have been killed. Because of me. I watch his chest as it moves up and down with his light breathing. My eyes move to his face. He’s so beautiful and all mine.

  I get cozy in the chair and think about everything that’s happened lately. I have the most attentive, gorgeous and sexy man in the world. I will publish my book later today, when I have the energy to do it and I have the best of friends. But, I’m so tired right now that I can’t help but close my eyes.

  I open my eyes, startled. Shit, my stomach hurts. I cover my mouth with my hand, quickly, and jump up and run to the bathroom. I squat in front of the toilet and release everything that’s in my stomach. My body is drenched in sweat, my stomach cramping with nothing more in there to expel. I slowly get out of my crouched position and splash some water on my face. Looking in the mirror, I see the bags under my eyes and the light purple color. Ugh! I hope I’m not coming down with something. Shane sure doesn’t need to get sick now on top of all the healing he needs to do.

  Tiptoeing back into the living room, I check on my sleeping man. Sigh. The bruise on his forehead with the tape over his stitches making him look tough but still looking so young while asleep. His casted arm is over his stomach. His bruised leg is bent and leaning against the back of the couch. I brush his hair away from his face and kiss the top of his head. My man.

  I leave him to go upstairs, brush my teeth and take a shower. I feel like crud. It must be all the worrying and stress from everything that’s been happ
ening lately. No wonder I feel like shit. My stomach starts rumbling again as I finish getting the cream rinse out of my hair. I fly out of the shower and bend over the toilet but nothing is coming out of my mouth. Dry heaving is making the cramps in my stomach hurt worse. I hear the water shut off in the shower and feel a hand on my forehead. I peek up to see my man looking worried.

  “Are you done?” I nod. He takes my arm and helps me to stand. My face immediately buries into his warm chest. “Come, my love. Let me get you in bed.” Looking up at my sexy man’s face, I can see the wrinkles in his forehead as he frowns.

  “But, I’m supposed to be taking care of you,” I answer sleepily. With a smile and a wink he leads me out of the room and helps me into bed. He grimaces as he lies down beside me, pulling me close.

  “We’ll take care of each other, today.” His muscled arm tightens around me. I sigh. I am overwhelmed with the feelings of love from my man. Here he is the one that is in pain, that I caused, and he’s taking care of me. What did I ever do to deserve him?

  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

  Fuck my body hurts! I stretch and look over at my girl. Damn, she still looks pale even in this late afternoon light. We both slept most of the day and yet she doesn’t look like she feels any better. Wonder if she’s caught a bug or something. All the worrying and stress she’s been under the last few days. I think I will let her sleep more and go call my friend.

  I quietly slip out of bed, careful not to disturb her. I make sure the covers are tucked around her. Don’t want my love to get cold. I limp down the stairs, get a coke from the fridge and sit at the table. I drink half the can before my thirst is somewhat quenched. Ah! I dial my friend and wait.

  “Shane! How are you? I heard about what happened, you need anything?” Doc Maddison asks, worry in her tone. “You know I will bring over anything you need to help you out.”