Rob stopped beating Jay the moment he realized the younger man wasn't fighting back. Well… Rob stopped punching him a few seconds after he realized Jay wasn't fighting him, remembering the look on Veronica's face after Jay had asked how much Rob was paying her for sex. The hurt and devastation in her eyes was almost more than he could bear. He knew he screwed up by attacking Jay instead of going to her and helping her through the hurt. But he'd never had to deal with these types of feelings before. Never cared enough to want to help a woman in emotional distress. The only way he knew how to deal was by beating the shit out of the source of the problem.He turned back to Jay, fire leaping into his eyes and a growl on his lips. "What the fuck is your problem, man?"Jay was doing his best not to double over in pain from the blows he'd taken to his jaw and torso. Rob hadn't been messing around. He knew how to floor a guy in seconds. Fortunately, Jay knew how to take a hit. He grew up on
She was with another man.He could see the pair easily through the diner window. They sat in a booth next to the glass, oblivious to the stream of people passing on the sidewalk, oblivious to the pair of dangerous men observing them. The guy was big and mean looking. Every bit as rugged and confident as Rob. He was tall and muscular with a full head of hair and a dark beard. Every visible inch of the guy's skin was tattooed. He looked like a biker. Someone Rob might hang out with if he didn't intend to kill the guy first chance he got. Veronica's small hand was sitting casually on top of the stranger's hand, as though touching was the norm for these two. The guy looked enthralled with whatever she was saying. Not that Rob blamed him, Veronica would be enchanting while reciting a cookbook.Every muscle in Rob's body vibrated with the need to crash into the diner, tear them apart and then make the man bleed. For a long time. Then murder him, slowly and painfully. Jay chuckled and smack
Later that night Robert showed her exactly how much he enjoyed a good chase when Veronica decided to wear her new leather jacket, a pair of black panties and nothing else. When he demanded she relinquish the coat, she refused and took off running. He had a foot of height on her, but Veronica had been running for years, so she wasn't easily caught. She ran through his massive home, laughing hysterically when he hit the bottom of the stairs and tripped over his own feet because he was too busy watching the curve of her ass."You're going to pay for that, woman!" he growled, righting himself."You'll have to catch me first!" she shrieked rounding the kitchen island and facing off with him as he stalked toward her.Her heart beat with adrenaline and anticipation. He looked so incredibly yummy as he strode toward her, sexual heat radiating from every line of his body. His dark brown-grey hair was wildly mussed and wet from the shower they just had. His strong jaw was hair roughened and h
Two years laterVeronica didn't have many things that belonged to her. Life had taught her too many hard lessons about broken toys. As a child, things that belonged to her got taken away. Either when she moved homes, or in the homes she was moved to. She learned not to care about things, because it hurt too much when she lost them. Sometimes she would be allowed to keep the things, but the other kids would break them. Then she didn't want them anymore.Veronica was a pretty child. It didn't take long before she became the toy. And it didn't take long after that before she became a broken toy. She stopped keeping things for herself. Until one day, a thing started growing inside her. A thing that she desperately wanted to protect, but knew she would never be allowed to keep. Unless a knight in shining armour came along and rescued her. So instead of allowing her new toy to be torn from her and broken, like all the other toys, like her, she'd screamed and cried and banged on the walls o
Book One: Because You're Mine"She's been hurt."The three simple words sent a chill through Jay's heart, dissolving his annoyance at the interruption. He dismissed the two men he'd been meeting with and turned to Greg with a raised brow. Words weren't necessary. Greg had been his right hand for nine years. He understood exactly how much Allie meant to Jay."Allison was taken to the hospital in an ambulance twenty minutes ago. Preliminary reports say a knife wound to the arm and across her side. The cuts don't appear to be life threatening, but deep enough to need stitches."Jay's fury rose with each word. Renowned as he was for icy calm and deliberate control, Allie was the only person that could draw this kind of feeling from him. He struggled to contain the rage so he could ask the requisite questions. It wasn't necessary. Greg knew exactly what he wanted."She was working in one of the addiction offices at the soup kitchen. Apparently a fight broke out among the clients being
Allie pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders and tried to curl her legs into her chest without pulling on her fresh stitches. She tried to calm the shivers that wracked her body, but they kept coming. She was laying on a cot, tucked into the far corner of one of the wings of the emergency room in the Regina General Hospital. She wanted to ask for a blanket, but didn't want to disturb any of the busy staff that were rushing by her tiny curtained cubicle.She'd been in the hospital for nearly three hours. The first hour had been waiting to get into the cubicle, the next had been waiting to see a doctor and the third had been waiting for her doctor to sign the release forms. She wished she could say it was just an extra busy day at the hospital. She knew better. It was always like this. She'd accompanied people there on more than one occasion. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to suppress another shiver. Sighing she ran her hand lightly over her arm, avoiding the heavy banda
A few cold words to a rushing nurse promptly produced her doctor. Jay was able to ascertain the extent of her injuries and obtain her release. The doctor assumed Jay was her husband. Jay did not correct the man. Jay asked the doctor if Allie was well enough to fly, his hand tightening on her arm when she gasped in surprise. The doctor confirmed that her wounds weren't serious and would mend with a few weeks. The butterfly stitches could be removed in 10-14 days if they didn't come off on their own. Before Allie could protest his actions, Jay gathered her bag and the jacket that had slid from her shoulders during their prolonged hug. "Anything else?" he asked."I'm not going with you," Allie said, her voice higher than normal as he took her good arm and began steering her back through the busy corridors toward the emergency exit.Jay took a breath of fresh air once they were outside. He didn't like being cooped up in any building, but he especially hated hospitals. He led her towa
"Where are we?" Allie asked. Her voice sounded hoarse and dim to her ears after an hour and a half of flying noise droning in her head.The plane had landed on a private runway in the mountains. Jay took her good arm in a firm grip and helped her from the plane. Weariness settled over Allie as warm afternoon sun shone down on her dark head. She looked around her in tired curiosity as Jay ushered her into the back of a waiting vehicle. "We're just outside of Kelowna," he said."Near mom's place?" Allie asked in surprise.Jay smiled fondly. "I bought a small vineyard in the area not long after she married Rob. It's only a few hours from Vancouver making it an easy weekend home for me.""Why didn't she tell me?" Allie asked. He'd been in the area for years and she hadn't known."I asked her not to," he said, his eyes piercing hers. "I knew it would spook you to have me nearby when you visited. You might have come less often."Allie opened her mouth to deny his words, but then stop