Neal (Golden Streak Series) (5 page)

“I want you.” She wanted to nod, to beg
him to take her, but he lifted his head again. “But I can’t. Not like this. You
still don’t trust me, and as much as I’d like to mark you as mine, I won’t do
that now either. As I said, I have entirely too much respect for you to do
that.”

He sat her feet down on the floor and
took a small step back. Before she could unwind her arms from him, he leaned in
and kissed her again. His tongue danced along hers several times as she chased
his with hers. When he lifted his head this time, he took her lower lip into
his mouth and nibbled on it before letting it go. They were both breathing
hard.

“Christ, do you have any idea how much I
want to drop to my knees right now and drink from you?” He leaned his forehead
to hers and she heard him chuckle slightly. “I’m not going to survive this, am
I?”

Rayne pushed him away and moved to the
light panels along the wall. She didn’t care if he followed her or not, she
just needed to get away from him. She’d not rejected him; he’d done that all on
his own. When the last light was out, she moved to the front of the shop and
turned the handle to close off the office, only to feel him put this hand over
hers.

“Why can I touch you?” His breath was
warm on her neck. “Before when we touched, it was painful. Why not now?”

She shook her head, not able to answer
him right away because she knew the answer as well as he did. He was her mate. She
turned to him and looked him in the eye.

“Men have done nothing but take and take
from me since I was a child. A neighbor found out that I could make our tree
grow fruits better than his and he tried to poison our tree, killing some of the
animals that lived in it. Another man decided that having me as his wife was
going to be to his advantage because he thought, because if I could protect his
little dog from his wrath that I could keep him safe when he sold his drugs.” She
tried to turn away, but he held her and she told him what hurt her the most. “Then
there was a man that I really and truly loved. And I tried to tell him I was
different, that before I’d marry him he had to know the real me, the person I
hide from everyone. He said he could handle it, that loving me was all he could
think above anything else. That whatever it was didn’t matter to him. But it
did.”

He pulled her chin up when she dropped
it, trying her best to hide the truth even from him. “What did he do? How did
he hurt you?”

When she pulled away from him this time,
he let her but only so far. Then he moved in closer and stood near her so closely
that she could feel his heat at her back. Looking out into the dark parking lot
to her right, she saw a car and assumed it was his. She told him what she’d
never even told her mom.

“He sat on the couch and waited for me
to prove whatever it was that I felt I had to do. He hadn’t even wanted to
believe the small stuff. I’d shown him plenty of times before, things that I
never mentioned to him but he had to notice. But when I let go, he sat there so
quietly afterwards that I was afraid. And when he stood up and walked to me, I
thought maybe I’d been wrong about him, that he would…I don’t know, continue to
love me. But he hit me. Drew back his fist and slammed it into my face. When I
looked up at him, he stood over me and screamed at me to get up. To stand up
and tell him the lies again so that he could knock them out of me. I was so confused
that I stood up.”

She thought about that night so often
that she could see it like it was a movie in her mind. When she’d stood up,
he’d grabbed her around the throat and started to squeeze her. As she clawed at
his hands to make him let her go, he smiled at her. A smile that she’d never
forget as long as she lived. A smile that told her that the man she’d come to
love had been nothing more than a monster hiding behind a façade. And he was
going to kill her.

But she’d let herself go limp. And when
he had shaken her, she felt her power run up her arms to her hands as darkness
started to take her. Lack of air had her losing her grip as well. When she touched
him, she felt him fling her away…and then nothing at all.

“You killed him.” She’d forgotten he was
there and hadn’t realized that she’d spoken aloud until he asked her. She
supposed he didn’t ask her really, but she answered anyway.

“Yes. Someone must have heard the fight
and called the police. My mom came to the apartment a few minutes after they
had arrived. She told the police I was breaking it off with him and he must
have gotten pissed.” She turned when he pulled her around to him. “My mom knew
that I had probably killed Jeff, but she had never asked. I think I might have
scared her a little, but she never said anything more about him, ever.”

“You didn’t tell her what happened?” She
shook her head. “And what did the police say? I’m assuming you didn’t go to
jail.”

“For a little while, about four days. One
of the officers kept me informed and told me that they were investigating some
other crimes. They knew him from some other relationships, I guess. He’d been
an abusive bastard all his life, but they had thought when there hadn’t been
any calls for a while that….” She pushed him away. “It doesn’t matter, Neal. We
can’t be together. I won’t have another man hurt me.”

He didn’t say anything as they moved
toward the exit. She had a feeling that it was far from over with him. He’d
argue because it seemed to be something he enjoyed doing, but she was going to
stand firm on this. Neal had to understand that she was not going to be his
little mate and there was no way she was going to have sex with him. No matter
how much she…he wanted it.

When she stepped into the night, she knew
they weren’t alone seconds before someone stepped in front of them. She had about
half a second to protect them both before the shots were fired.

Chapter 5

“No, I didn’t know who he was.” Neal
wanted to go to the police officer and knock him on the head, but Ryland held
him back. He said to see how Rayne handled the cop. That’s what he was afraid
of, that she’d handle him like she’d done the man who’d shot at them.

“Did he say anything? Or tell you why he
wanted to kill you?” She shook her head and told him he hadn’t said a word. “How
about if he told you who hired him?”

“If he hadn’t said a word, then I’m reasonably
sure that he didn’t tell me who hired him. And for the record that would also cover
him not telling me why he wanted to kill me.” Neal watched her glare at the cop
as he started to ask her something else. “You ask me again if he said anything
and I won’t be responsible for what I do to you.”

Ryland laughed and changed it to a cough
when Rayne glared at him. Neal had had enough and went around his brother and
to Rayne. He looked at the cop who had been the first on the scene and had been
driving them both crazy since.

“Have you seen to her wound yet?” He
shook his head and then looked at her. “Then I would suggest that you do that
right now. I think she’s answered your questions enough times that you should
be able to write a book about it.”

He saw his brother coming toward them
and could have leapt for joy. Alistair would settle this and they could go
home. Neal, for one, was tired of standing around while they tried to figure
this out. Alistair shook his hand and started to put out his hand to Rayne but
pulled back. So he’d been warned too. It might have been funny if he wasn’t
already so pissed off that he might have hurt someone himself.

“I’m their attorney, Alistair Golden,
and I’m here to see what kind of idiot makes a woman who’s been shot nearly
thirty minutes ago still sit here bleeding. Is this the way we treat our
victims? I certainly hope to Christ not.” Alistair yelled for someone in charge
and the police captain came to where they were standing almost immediately. Alistair
asked him the same thing.

“We offered her medical assistance, and
she said she couldn’t afford it. So, we been asking her questions. She said she
didn’t have a lawyer, not that we said she needed one. Looks like a clear case
of self-defense if you ask me.” All of them looked at the body and then at Bronwyn,
who simply shrugged. “Looks to me like he was intending to rob them, and well,
as you can see, they took care of it.”

Not what happened at all, and Neal was
pretty sure that anyone who Bronwyn hadn’t “adjusted” to see things this way
could tell. The man had been killed and that was all that was correct in the
statement. When the police said they could go, he had to remind Rayne that her
mom was at his mom’s home or she would have gone to her own place. The ride in
Ryland’s car to the house was made mostly in silence. Bronwyn was the only one
talking and she was doing it a mile a minute.

“Mom had the cook make something that
could wait, not knowing when you shut your shop down.” Bronwyn looked at him
and smiled. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a big dinner at your mom’s
house. She said she wanted to do it more often, especially after the—”

“Pull over, I’m sick.” Ryland jerked the
wheel to the side of the road and stopped the car just as Rayne leapt from it. When
Neal made to follow her, Bronwyn stopped him.

“She might need a minute or two. Apparently
this happens when she’s really upset, and I’d say this qualifies.” She nodded
after a few more minutes. “Go to her, but, Neal, you might want to tread
lightly. She’s really close to the edge right now.”

He nodded and moved out of the car to
where he could see her outline. Bronwyn handed him a few things as he was
slipping out and he put them in his pockets. He walked up beside her but didn’t
touch her for fear of upsetting her. She looked at him when he handed her his handkerchief.

“I killed that man and there was no way
that anyone looking at him would see anything but murder.” He took her hand and
held it, just glad for the contact. “What did she do to them? Fuck with their
mind so they’d see it her way?”

“Pretty much I would say. She’s really
good at it and….” He closed his mouth on the rest of that thought. He’d been
about to tell her that Bronwyn could do all sorts of things to one’s mind, but
thought that might be a little too much.

“He was going to kill me. He was sent
there to kill me and he was being paid to do so.” He looked back at the car and
wondered if Bronwyn had gotten who had sent him to kill Rayne and almost missed
what Rayne said. “I would very much appreciate it if you would tell your family
that―”

He cut her off with his mouth. He didn’t
want to hear anything she might say about them not seeing each other, about her
not wanting him to come to work with her. He wanted to be with her. He wasn’t
stupid enough to think he could protect her by being there, because she’d
proved tonight that she could do that without him. He deepened the kiss and
pulled her closer to his body. She moaned when he cupped her ass and rocked
into her hard.

“Please don’t do this.” He licked a path
along her throat and felt her body shiver. He wanted to bite her, wanted to
mark her, but held off. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he did, and as much
as he thought about taking the chance, he did want her to trust him. Lifting
his head, he kissed her mouth tenderly and held her under his chin.

“I don’t want to talk about you not
wanting me around you please. We have something going here and I don’t want to
fuck it up by upsetting you anymore. You’ll come to our house; we’ll eat, then
if you’re not too tired, we’ll talk. But not right now.”

She nodded. “Neal, this won’t change my
mind. You and I aren’t going to happen. I don’t want a mate.”

He didn’t point out that she already had
one, but led her back to the car. Bronwyn smiled at them both from the front
seat and then turned to Ryland. He nearly pulled into moving traffic when she
told him she thought she was in labor.

Rayne reached for her hand, and Bronwyn
took it. He could see the difference in her face immediately. It took him a few
seconds to realize they were still headed to his mom’s house and not the
clinic. He started to say something when Ryland tossed him his cell.

“Call Sindy. Tell her it’s game time and
to come to the house. And Mom. Don’t forget to call Mom because—” Rayne touched
him as well with her other hand. “Christ.”

“I want you to pull over and slide to
the back seat. You’re going to let your brother drive before you fucking get us
all killed. And stop barking orders. You sound like my stepfather.” She looked
at Neal. “Drive, and don’t make me have to smack you to keep you in line either.”

He nodded, and as soon as the car
stopped, he rolled out and switched places with Ryland. When Rayne told him to
wait a minute, he simply sat at the wheel and waited for her to tell him what
to do. She looked at him in the rearview mirror as she sat behind him.

“Neal, I need you to call for an
ambulance to come to us. Tell them what’s going on, that Mrs. Golden is having
contractions about two minutes apart.” He nodded, suddenly very calm because
she was. “Ryland, I want you to go around the car and lift your wife up and
take her to the side of the road. There’s a picnic table over there, and we’ll
use it.”

“She’s not having a baby on the side of
the road.” Rayne grabbed him by the hair so quickly that she had him moving
back when he snapped at her.

“Now you listen here, you overgrown
bossy prick, that baby is coming. We can have it right here in the car where I
might pull the wrong part from the wrong person.” She looked down at his groin,
then at Ryland’s face again. “Or you fucking do what I tell you and take her
over there. Now, big boy, or I carry her myself.”

Bronwyn laughed. “I like you, kid. If
you promise to do this again to Ryland when he gets out of hand, I’ll be your
slave for life.”

“I don’t want a slave. I just want to be
left alone. And when he lifts you out of here, you’re going to lose my hand.
The pain is going to hit you like a knife until I can get to you again.
Understand?” Bronwyn nodded and took a deep breath. When Ryland put his hands
under her to lift her, Bronwyn let her go with a cry. She looked at Rayne and
told her to hurry.

By the time Neal had made the calls,
Rayne had Bronwyn on the table and her jeans pulled off. He tried to stay back,
but Ryland grabbed him. He didn’t think he’d ever seen his brother look so
terrified in all his life.

“She’s having the baby. I don’t know what
to do.” Neal wanted to laugh; his big brother was falling apart, but then
sobered when he realized that when he and Rayne had a child he was going to
need someone too.

“Do you have the baby bag in the car?” Ryland
nodded. “Get it and anything else you might find that will cover them up when
the baby comes. And water, if there is any water, then bring it too.”

He went to stand next to Rayne and asked
her what she needed. “Open that first-aid kit and find me some scissors and
some string. If you can find some wet wipes, that’ll be great too.” She was
still calm, but he knew she was nervous. Her hands were shaking when he handed
her a half dozen wipes.

Bronwyn screamed, and Ryland paled. The
man looked like he was going to drop over when Rayne barked at him to help his
wife breathe. Neal watched her as she moved from one task to the next, keeping
the mother and father calm while making sure that everything was going well
with the baby. When Bronwyn told her she needed to push, it only took three
really straining pushes and there was the baby.

The police pulled up just as Rayne
handed the baby to Ryland. She had wrapped her up in one of the baby blankets
that had been packed in the diaper bag. She finished up with Bronwyn as the
first officer assisted. By the time the ambulance pulled up, Bronwyn and Ryland
were holding their daughter and the police officer was taking a statement. This
man seemed to know just when to back off.

The medic said that everything was
perfect and offered Bronwyn something for pain. She refused him with a smile
and told him she’d needed it a few minutes ago but for now she had all she needed.
As they loaded her up, he started for his brother’s car to follow them in when
Ryland spoke to him.

“She saved her.”
He looked at
Rayne as she leaned her head against the window
. “And she’s a bossy little
thing that needs to know her…I won’t be able to ever repay her for what she’s
done for me and my family.”

“I don’t think she’ll see it that way,
but I’ll let her know. She wants me to take her home before I drop off your
car. You want to see her, right?”
His brother laughed.
“I mean if I
take her home, she won’t get to hear from you how much you appreciate her being
here for you tonight.”

“Tell her that I need her here for me.
That I have something for her.”
His brother laughed.
“She’s going to
be pissed when she finds out what I’ve done today. But now I’m glad I did it.
She’ll not have to worry about Sanders again.”

“Please tell me you didn’t kill him.”
Ryland laughed
again.
“I mean I appreciate the gesture and all, but I think that there’s
been enough killing today, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do and I didn’t kill him as much
as I’d like to do that and bury him in a trash bag and put him six feet under.
But he will pay her what he owes her. As will the other accounts that are past
due. By the way, she’s going to need an accountant. You know of anyone who might
want the job?”

Christ, he hoped he did but wasn’t sure
with her. She was going to be pissed enough that his brother had helped her,
and he hated to think what she’d say when she found out that he was her
accountant too. He told his brother he’d see him soon and closed the
connection. Neal looked over at Rayne and noticed she was asleep. He pulled out
his phone and called his mom.

“Mom, can you make sure that Karin comes
with you to the hospital.” He knew that she was on her way in as Ryland had
sent pictures to them all as soon as his daughter was born. “I think that Rayne
might need her.”

“She’s with me, and we’re stopping to
pick her up something to eat too. Karin said she’ll be starved.” He heard
someone speaking and waited. “Karin wants to know if Rayne helped with Bronwyn’s
pain.”

“Yes. Why? Does that make a difference
in what she needs? I can stop and get whatever she needs. I’m nearly to the
hospital, but I can make a detour.”

“She said something sweet. It doesn’t
matter what it is as long as it sweet. She said sweet tea works the best and
she likes it.” He nodded and pulled into the first fast food restaurant he saw.
“She also said that she was going to be cold when she wakes up. That you should
see if she’ll let you hold her to keep her from shaking too hard.”

That scared him a little, but he ordered
three large teas and told her he’d see her there. Putting the drinks in all the
holders, he said her name softly until she woke and he handed her the first
glass. By the time they were at the hospital, she was finishing the last one
and the shaking had begun.