Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Pipe looked around the barn with a smile on his face. It was amazing how having Cora in his life, his cabin, his bed, made him so much more content than he’d ever been. He spied her standing in a corner with Alaska, Henley, Reese, and the other women employed at The Refuge. Everyone had worked hard to decorate the barn for the occasion.

Tonka and Henley had secretly gone to Los Alamos and gotten married in a civil ceremony, and to placate everyone afterward, had agreed to let them host a wedding party.

One thing Pipe had learned over the last year was that celebrating the good times in life was just as important as working. And more important than dwelling on the crap that had happened in their pasts.

Alaska had organized everything, and the barn looked like a completely different place than it usually did. The stalls had been decorated with ribbons and bows, the animals all had colorful bows around their necks, which were already looking a little ragged. The goats had promptly eaten theirs, and when any of the other animals got close enough, they tried to eat their bows too.

Melba was loving all the people and the attention. The horses were ignoring everyone, the cats were mainly hiding from all the hubbub, the dogs were looking for any scrap of food that had been dropped on the floor, and Scarlet Pimpernickel, the calf Jasna had named—which wasn’t a calf anymore—was mooing loudly, looking for someone to pay attention to her. It was chaotic, just like things occasionally were at The Refuge. But Pipe wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

The women separated then. Alaska went to a table and got ready to start the music. Reese, who was just beginning to show from her pregnancy, headed for the doors at the end of the barn. Ryan and Carly handed out champagne glasses filled with Sprite, and Robert and Luna stood by a table heaping with appetizers and finger foods, guarding it from the roving animals and ready to help serve when the time was right. Robert had even used some of his precious stash of Christmas Tree Cakes to make a sweet dip. It was the best endorsement he could’ve given Henley and Tonka.

“If I can have your attention,” Brick said loudly, making everyone immediately stop talking and turn toward him. There were a handful of guests in attendance, but mostly the group that had gathered was Refuge family.

“I have the extreme honor of presenting Finn, Henley, and Jasna Matlick!” Brick said, not drawing out the moment. Reese pulled open the barn doors, and Tonka, Henley, and Jasna walked through hand-in-hand.

They were all smiling, although Pipe noticed that Tonka looked a tiny bit uncomfortable being the center of attention. Everyone was aware that this wasn’t the kind of situation he preferred, but for his girls, he’d do just about everything.

Trotting behind the new family were their two rescue dogs. Wally, a beautiful, sleek pit bull mix, and Beauty, a tiny terrier mix.

The family walked over to where a small riser had been created. They stepped up and Tonka immediately wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist, pulling her into his side. Jasna was too excited to stand still. She had a huge smile on her face and seemed to be reveling in the attention.

Everyone in the barn was dressed casually, something Tonka insisted on. Jeans and T-shirts were the norm. It was March, and while there was snow on the ground outside the barn, inside it was toasty warm.

Pipe wandered over to where Cora was standing. She had her phone up and was streaming the ceremony. He wrapped an arm around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder as he cuddled behind her. She turned her head and grinned at him, then turned her attention back to her phone.

Looking around, Pipe saw Brick standing by Alaska at the table with the music. She was ready to hit play as soon as the speeches were done. Spike was standing next to Reese, holding her hand. Stone and Tiny were trying to corral the goats for the couple of minutes it would take for the “official” part of this party to be completed.

The only person missing was Owl.

Everyone knew where he was. He was where he’d been for the last couple of months, since Cora and Lara had joined their Refuge family. In his cabin with Lara.

She was struggling, hard, and it was painful for everyone. It had taken a while for her to fight her addiction to the painkillers she’d been forced to take in Arizona. She suffered from depression, anxiety, and still found it difficult to be around anyone other than Owl.

He knew Cora was devastated that she couldn’t help her friend, that Lara still felt uneasy even around her, but she’d vowed to do whatever it took to help her heal. Which was why she was FaceTiming with Owl, making sure both he and Lara were there for Tonka and Henley’s celebration, even if it was virtually and not in person.

The only person Lara felt truly comfortable around was Owl. He’d moved her into his cabin the day they’d returned to New Mexico, and they’d spent the last few cold months hunkered down together. Lara wasn’t ready to talk to Henley, their resident psychologist, so the woman was giving Owl pointers and tips so he could help her as much as possible.

Pipe hated that Lara was struggling so much. And he hated even more the nights when Cora cried in his arms because she felt so helpless to do anything for her best friend. She wasn’t a crier, but the thought of Lara suffering was enough to make her break down. Despite that, Cora refused to give up. She had hope that one day, Lara would be able to break through the bubble of fear she currently lived in. Until then, she continued to do everything she could to make Lara feel as if she was just as much a part of The Refuge as everyone else.

Pipe loved her all the more for it. Her stubbornness was one of the things he adored most about her.

“Thank you all for coming,” Tonka told the crowd. “It feels right to be doing this here, surrounded by the animals who were my salvation when I needed it the most. Before getting my head out of my butt when it came to Henley, I hid out here in the barn, feeling as if the four-legged creatures in the world understood me more than any human ever could. Henley saw through my gruffness, and with her patience and understanding, made me see that hiding wasn’t going to heal my pain. She shared her love, and her daughter, and helped me understand my past wasn’t ever going to disappear. It was always going to be there, lurking, ready to try to steal my joy. But it doesn’t have to dictate my future. And my future is here. With my wife, my daughter, our friends…and our new little one, who will be here in the fall.”

Tonka gently put his hand on Henley’s stomach.

Everyone let out a gasp, then clapped enthusiastically.

“Did you know?” Cora asked as she turned to look up at Pipe.

He grinned down at her, but didn’t respond.

“Of course you knew,” she mumbled with a small smile, turning back to their friends.

“Yup, I’m pregnant,” Henley said when the congratulations had died down. “We’d decided to let nature take its course, and surprise! Now, I’m going to keep this short because if I don’t, the goats are gonna overpower Robert and Luna and eat all our food.”

Everyone laughed as they looked toward the table and saw the chef and his daughter doing their best to protect it with brooms, wielding them as if they were knights of old brandishing their swords.

“Anyway, I’ve worked here almost since The Refuge opened, and I knew from the second I stepped onto the property that this place would make a difference in so many people’s lives. I just wasn’t expecting to be one of those lives. When the worst thing in my life happened, you were all there for me and Jasna. That’s what family is. And I love you all so much.”

She sniffed, and Pipe smiled as Tonka leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

“And I’m so happy to be a big sister!” Jasna said excitedly.

Everyone clapped again, and when the noise settled down, Tonka made a point of meeting the gazes of his friends and co-owners of The Refuge. “This is not my thing, speeches, being the center of everyone’s attention, but there’s no one I’d rather celebrate my marriage with than all of you. Thank you for your patience with me. For your support. For being there no matter what.”

Pipe dipped his head in recognition of his friend’s words.

“Now…let’s eat!” Tonka exclaimed.

He leaned down and kissed his wife. Jasna ignored her parents and jumped off the short riser and headed to Scarlet to give her some attention. Everyone else made their way toward the food, but Pipe’s attention was on Cora.

She clicked off the phone, then turned to face him. She smiled…but he could tell she was sad about Lara.

“She’ll be okay,” he told her. “And maybe Tonka’s words will sink in. About his past not dictating his future.”

Cora sighed. “I hope so. I just…I have so many emotions when it comes to what happened. I can’t believe the FBI still has no idea where Creepy Guy is.”

Pipe’s lips twitched at her insistence on calling him Creepy Guy, but then he sobered. He also wasn’t happy that the man was in the wind. “They’ll find him,” he told her.

“I know. But I think Lara would feel a lot better, safer, if he was behind bars somewhere. She’s terrified he’s going to come after her.”

Pipe nodded. He and the rest of the guys weren’t exactly thrilled by that prospect. They’d discussed it at length, and he knew they’d all do everything in their power to keep that from happening. To stay vigilant. And they’d also had a long talk about actually purchasing a helicopter for The Refuge and putting in a helipad and a small hangar. It would mean cutting other things they’d planned to do on the property, at least for a while, but after Stone’s amazing flying had gotten them safely away from the estate in Arizona, they all realized how things could’ve gone downhill if that chopper wasn’t at their disposal. With Cora and Lara both hurt, and Grant having regained consciousness so quickly…

It wasn’t the worst idea to have a helicopter at their disposal at The Refuge, just in case they needed to evacuate.

“She’s going to be all right,” Pipe insisted. “She just needs the time she needs.”

Cora sighed. Then nodded.

It was another in a long line of things Pipe loved about her. She was resilient and trusted him with every ounce of her being. He vowed to never let her down. That trust was a gift. He knew it and cherished it.

She’d said something a week after they’d gotten back from Arizona that had stuck with him. They’d been talking about Grant, and why he was the way he was, and she’d commented that she should’ve been just like him. Angry and bitter. And maybe a criminal. He could acknowledge now that it was a miracle she wasn’t. She was wary of people, yes, but Pipe couldn’t blame her for that. And there were times when she slipped and questioned why he was with her, but overall, she was remarkably well-adjusted for someone with her background.

He loved her. So much it almost scared him sometimes. But he also embraced it. Cora made him a better person. Kept his demons at bay. Just being with her opened his eyes more to the beauty that was all around him. That was life itself.

“You know how I went to town yesterday with Ryan, Alaska, and Reese?” Cora asked him.

Pipe was glad for the change of subject. He didn’t like to see Cora sad. This wasn’t a night for sorrow. It was for celebrating Henley, Tonka, and Jasna’s new life together…and the new baby on the way. Things were changing on The Refuge, and Pipe was happy with the direction the business was going. “Yeah?” he said belatedly, when he realized Cora was waiting for his response.

“Well, we didn’t just go to that chocolate shop and get you those British chocolates you like so much.”

“No?” he asked with a lift of his brow.

“Nope. I met with your tattoo guy.”

Pipe blinked in surprise. “You did?”

“Uh-huh,” Cora said with a small grin. “And…since he still had the art he used to ink your new tattoo, I asked him to go ahead and do mine.”

Pipe froze. “What?”

“I got the same tattoo you did,” she told him. “Right where I told you I wanted it. In the small of my back. It’s a lot smaller than yours though, because holy crap, Pipe, that shit hurts.”

Without a word, Pipe grabbed Cora’s hand and began towing her toward the doors to the barn.

Cora giggled. “Pipe, wait, we can’t leave!”

“We can and we are. You should’ve waited to tell me you got inked if you didn’t want me to haul you straight to our bed.”

She laughed again. Then turned her head and called out, “Alaska! We’re headed out!”

“You told him?” she asked loudly, making everyone turn to look at her, then Cora.

“Yup!”

“Have fun!” Alaska called out.

Ryan and Carly both gave her a thumbs up, and Reese simply smiled.

When they were out of the barn, Pipe growled, “I can’t believe you got it without me.”

“I know you wanted to be there, and I wanted that too, but I thought it would be more fun for it to be a surprise,” Cora said.

Pipe grunted.

He’d wanted to be there to support her when she’d gotten her first tattoo, but he was touched beyond belief that she’d gotten the same art that he’d put on his shoulder blade.

“It’s still red,” she warned him as he pulled her toward their cabin. “It’s gonna get all scabby and gross.”

“Tattoos aren’t gross,” Pipe told her.

“You know what I mean,” she muttered.

Pipe looked down and saw she was smiling as he walked them way too fast across The Refuge grounds. “How’s your arm feel?” he asked.

“Good.”

“And your arse?”

Understanding why he was asking, her smile widened. “It’s fine.”

“No pain?”

“No. Just a twinge here and there. But it doesn’t hurt right now,” she said quickly.

Pipe grunted. It had been a long time since he’d made love to his woman. He’d eaten her out plenty in the last month. Had gotten her off with his fingers, and she’d done the same for him. But because of her arm and her healing tailbone, he hadn’t wanted to make love and risk hurting her even more. But after hearing about the tattoo, there was no way he could stop himself from taking her.

The second they entered the cabin, he growled, “Bed.”

Cora laughed as she headed toward their bedroom.

Pipe took a deep breath, trying to get control over himself. His cock was throbbing, as if knowing it was minutes away from thrusting home into Cora’s tight, wet body.

Then he started after the woman he would follow literally to the ends of the earth.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Pipe stared intently at the tattoo in the small of Cora’s back as he eased his cock into her soaking-wet pussy. She was on her elbows and knees in their bed, and he’d already eaten her to her first orgasm. She’d been just as horny as he was, dripping wet before he’d even touched her.

The skin around her tattoo was a bit inflamed. He knew the image like the back of his hand, because he’d designed it with the tattoo artist, down to the smallest detail. The wolf, the key around its neck, the barbed wire. It was perfect.

His woman loved him enough to get him inked onto her body.

He loved her back. So much, he couldn’t put it into words. So he showed her instead. He took her slow and steady, loving how wet and hot she was. How her body clenched against him every time he pulled out, as if she didn’t want him to leave.

Pipe tried to be gentle. Even though she was healed, he didn’t want to do anything that might set her back, but Cora wasn’t having it. She began to rock, slapping her ass against him with every thrust.

Her ass cheeks jiggled and that tattoo right in front of his face was burned into his psyche. He ran his fingers over the tender spot on her body. A spurt of precome made his cock glide in and out of her body even easier.

“Bloody hell,” he murmured.

Cora laughed under him, and he felt it around his dick. This woman, she was perfect. In every way. And she was his. They hadn’t talked about getting married since that night on the rooftop deck. They were getting to know each other in ways they hadn’t been able to during the first few days of their whirlwind romance. And everything he learned about his Cora made Pipe even more sure that he wanted her for the rest of his life.

She was his match. It had taken him over forty years to find her, and a lot of heartache on both their parts, but now that she was here, he wasn’t going to let her go. Ever. Ring on her finger or not, she was his, just as much as he was hers.

“Pipe,” she whined from under him.

“What, love?” he asked.

“Faster. Harder,” she ordered.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.

“I’m going to hurt you if you don’t fuck me properly,” she growled.

Pipe grinned. He put a bit more oomph into his next thrust, and was rewarded by Cora’s groan of pleasure. He loved the sounds she made. He loved everything about her.

Focusing once more on the tattoo on her back, Pipe finally let go. He made love to her as he’d wanted to for the last three months. It had been too long since he’d felt the warmth of her pussy. His hips moved fast, faster, and Cora met every thrust. She was beautiful.

Pipe had the thought as her inner muscles fluttered around him that he didn’t deserve her. Everything he’d done, all the things he’d seen, he was positive that he shouldn’t have been rewarded with such an amazing woman. But he’d spend the rest of his life trying to be deserving of her love. Of her loyalty. Of her trust.

“Oh! I’m almost there!” Cora panted.

She didn’t need to tell him. Pipe knew. He shifted so he could reach under her and flick her clit.

She jerked in his grasp as she immediately began to come.

Smirking at how sensitive she was, the fact that he knew just how to touch her to make her explode, Pipe took hold of her hips and fucked her through her peak. She was tighter, wetter, and before he was ready, Pipe felt his balls tingling. He pushed through her spasming muscles as far as he could and held himself still as come burst from the tip of his cock.

The amount of pleasure he got from releasing deep inside her caught him by surprise, just as it had their first night together in Phoenix. An orgasm was an orgasm; at least that was what he’d always thought. But he was wrong. There was something so elemental about coming inside the woman he loved. So primal.

One of these days, he’d come on her back, right on that tattoo.

But tonight wasn’t that night. He was going to fill her again and again, until they were both so exhausted they couldn’t move.

She shifted under him, and Pipe grimaced when he slowly pulled out of her. The last thing he wanted was to leave her body, but he didn’t want her on her knees, putting pressure on her arm or tailbone any longer than necessary.

Before he let her fall to her side, he held her still. Watching as his come leaked out of her folds. It was more erotic than anything he’d ever seen, and Pipe felt his cock twitch. Bloody hell, he’d just come and he wanted her again.

Taking one last look at the gift of her tattoo, he gently lowered her to her side, then immediately followed, taking her into his arms.

Cora sighed against his chest. “I guess you liked my surprise.”

Pipe huffed out an amused breath. “You think?” he asked.

She chuckled and kissed his chest.

His breath hitched. Yeah, he definitely didn’t deserve this woman.

“I love you,” she said softly.

“I love you too,” he returned.

They lay there for a few minutes, before Cora lifted her head so she could see his face. “Pipe?”

“Yeah, love?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Everything. Loving me, believing me. Not being a douche. All of it.”

Pipe smiled. “You’re welcome.”

She sighed again and lowered her head back onto his chest. Several minutes went by, and just when Pipe moved his hand down her side to touch her, to start round two, Cora let out a small snore.

Smiling wider, Pipe sighed. His plans for a marathon night of sex would have to wait. His Cora was exhausted. She’d been helping Alaska and the others prepare for tonight’s celebration and visiting with Lara every chance she could. Pipe had a feeling she’d work herself sick trying to help others. She had nothing to prove, the others already loved her. She was truly a part of The Refuge. She’d learn that with time. Until then, he’d watch over her and make sure she rested when she needed to.

Pipe pulled the blanket up higher around them and closed his eyes as he held the most precious and amazing woman in his arms. Life was full of twists and turns, and while he hadn’t understood why he’d had to endure the things he had in the past, he got it now. He needed those experiences to be the man his woman deserved. Without his past, he wouldn’t be who he was today.

Turning his head, he kissed Cora’s temple, smiling when she mumbled under her breath and burrowed into him. Being the man Cora deserved was his lifelong goal. One he took just as seriously as his military oath.

“I can hear you thinking way too hard,” she complained with a mumble. “Stop it. Rest, Pipe.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with another smile.

* * *

Lara huddled in the corner of Owl’s couch and stared blankly at the television. She felt hollow. Numb. Earlier, she’d watched Cora’s FaceTime call with Owl, also without feeling much of anything…beyond a touch of guilt that she was keeping Owl from celebrating with his friends.

She wanted to shake herself out of the weird headspace she was in, but couldn’t figure out how.

She was letting everyone down, yet she couldn’t seem to care.

Her parents had come to visit her in the hospital in Phoenix, and even though they’d said all the right things, Lara knew they were relieved when it was decided she would go to The Refuge with Cora. They called Owl to check in, but Lara hadn’t spoken to them since arriving in New Mexico.

The detectives had pushed her to tell them what had happened in that house. Lara couldn’t. She’d told them the basics. That yes, she’d gone to Arizona of her own free will, and once there, she’d quickly changed her mind. But Ridge had taken her phone. She’d been kept in the basement almost from the beginning, only dragged out occasionally for appearance’s sake. But always drugged…and then that man, the one she knew as Carter Grant, had hurt her.

But she didn’t elaborate. Couldn’t. What she’d been through was embarrassing and horrifying and unbearable. And speaking of it would only make the memories more real.

She was ashamed that all too soon, every time he’d shown up with pills in his hand, she’d taken them willingly. Gladly. She’d needed them. Needed to enter that floaty world where she barely knew what was happening, and it didn’t hurt when Carter touched her.

Now that she was free of that house, she should be fine. Relieved. Should be getting on with her life. But how could she, knowing that Carter was still out there?

The last words he’d ever said to Lara echoed in her head, over and over.

You’re my favorite. I’m never giving you up. You’re mine.

She shuddered.

“Are you cold?” Owl asked, not waiting for her response, but standing to grab another blanket from the back of the couch. She was cold all the time. Owl had turned up the heat in his cabin, but she could still never seem to get warm.

Lara didn’t understand Callen Kaufman. He was the first person she remembered seeing when she was rescued, and she’d latched onto him like a toddler with separation anxiety. He’d instantly represented safety for her, and while she’d gotten slightly better over the last few months, she still panicked when he wasn’t around.

There was something about the man that made her feel protected. Sheltered.

And that was all it could ever be. She was done with love. With the fantasy of happily ever after. She wished nothing but good luck to the men and women who’d been so amazing, who’d let her stay here at The Refuge, but her desire to be loved, to have a family one day, had died a spectacular death.

There was no such thing as happily ever after. Disney and Hallmark movies were a scam. Romance novels were nothing but fantasies.

Lara swore that as soon as she was able, she was leaving here and moving to Alaska and living in one of those off-the-grid cabins. She’d grow her own food, hunt for meat, use candles for light. That was preferable to being hurt over and over again by people. By men.

Owl draped the fuzzy blanket over her, and Lara forced herself to look at him and nod.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. As many times as you need to hear it. You’re safe here, Lara,” Owl told her gently.

Lara’s gaze dropped to her lap. It was obvious Owl believed what he was saying, and while she trusted him as much as she could trust anyone right now, and she was definitely using him as a crutch, she knew down to her soul that she wasn’t safe.

And anyone close to her wasn’t safe either.

She’d overheard Owl talking to one of his friends—she didn’t know which—at the door the other day. They’d kept their voices low, trying to keep their conversation from her, but Lara had heard.

Carter was still out there. The police hadn’t been able to find him. Ridge was dead, which she felt a smidgen of relief about, but the real danger was Carter. Had always been him. And he was free. He was going to come for her.

She needed to leave. Hide. Because no matter what, Carter wasn’t going to rest until he’d taken her back. He’d claimed her, whether she wanted him to or not, and he would make her pay for escaping his warped basement prison of humiliation and pain.

Lara would rather die than be back in his clutches again.

In the meantime, she’d regain her strength. Try to get better, try to endure longer lengths of time without Owl by her side. Once she was capable enough, she’d disappear.

Cora would be fine. She’d found herself a protector as well, which made Lara happy, but also sad. She’d miss her friend. But she’d be safer with Lara gone.

Lara took a deep breath. First things first, though—she needed to shake herself out of the pit of despair she’d fallen into, at least on the outside. Needed to convince everyone she was okay, so she could leave. She didn’t know where she’d be safe from a monster like Carter, but she refused to drag others into the horror that had become her life.

She looked up at Owl and smiled tentatively.

He tilted his head as he studied her.

“Can we watch a movie?” she asked.

“Yes! Absolutely,” Owl responded quickly.

It was the first time she’d asked for anything, and it was obvious Owl was ready and willing to give her whatever she wanted. She didn’t like lying to him, and by pretending to be getting better, she was lying. But it was for his own good. He’d protected her when she’d needed it the most, and it was time she returned the favor.

* * *

Owl settled on the other end of the couch from Lara and continually switched his attention from the movie to the woman sitting just three feet from him. In reality, was miles away. Yes, she’d asked to watch a movie, the first time she’d requested anything since he’d brought her to his cabin after her discharge from the hospital in Phoenix.

But she wasn’t okay. She might’ve asked to watch a movie, but she wasn’t actually paying any attention. She was lost in her head, just as she’d been for most of the last few months.

Owl had tried everything he could think of to help her, but nothing seemed to work. She didn’t want to talk to Henley, didn’t want to talk to her parents the few times they’d called. Even Cora’s regular visits didn’t seem to make any difference.

So yeah, her taking the initiative and asking for something as simple as a movie was a huge step…but it wasn’t a genuine one. Lara still had that haunted look in her eyes. She was deeply traumatized by whatever had happened to her in that basement, and it hurt his heart.

He didn’t know what it was about the woman that had gotten under his skin so much. Maybe it was the look in her eyes when she’d briefly connected with him in that basement. Terror. Hopelessness. Resignation.

He’d felt the same way when he’d been a hostage. Every day brought new horrors, and he couldn’t help but feel as if he and Lara were two peas in a pod.

Looking over at her once more, Owl clenched his teeth. She was planning something. He didn’t know what. But he could sense it…and all he could do was continue to promise that she was safe.

This woman deserved more than just barely surviving. More than a life of living in fear. More than a broken helicopter pilot like himself as a guardian.

Owl would do whatever he could to release her from the clutches of whatever fears lived deep within her. Then he’d set her free to find the happily ever after that Cora said she’d been looking for all her life.

Owl himself was no prince charming, not even close. But if he could help this woman outrun the demons that lived in her head, maybe, just maybe, he could find a way to rid the ones that lived in his head too.

* * *

Carter Grant, aka Carl Glick, aka Connor Smith, aka Daniel West, aka a hundred other aliases, sat in the rundown motel on Albuquerque’s Central Avenue…and plotted.

His eye throbbed, which pissed him off. It was proving difficult to get used to having only half his vision. The patch over his ruined right eye made people stay the fuck away from him, which was a small blessing. But it also drew attention, something he hated.

In the months since his cushy arrangement had imploded, he’d picked up a few prostitutes who frequented the area, had drugged them and done whatever he’d wanted. It was mildly enjoyable.

But none of them were Lara.

She was perfect. Blonde, beautiful, delicate. And her skin was so soft. Unlike the girls on the streets. They’d lived hard lives, and it showed in their bodies.

No. Lara was the one. He wanted her back. And he’d get her too. He knew where she was. Up in the mountains near Los Alamos. But he couldn’t just walk into the fancy lodge where she was hiding and take her back. Not with the kind of men who ran the place.

They’d been professional soldiers, just like him. He knew what he was up against because he’d had similar training. The men who’d fought him in the basement of the Michaels’s estate had been good. Really good. But he would’ve beaten them both if the bitch hadn’t jumped on his back and taken out his eye.

Carter would get his revenge. On her. On the men. And he’d have his Lara again.

His dick twitched in his pants as he thought about what he’d do to her when she was back in his bed, where she belonged. Carter didn’t get off on rape. That was too easy. He liked seeing fear in his women’s eyes. Liked touching them, hurting them. Marking them with his fists…with his come, so they knew who they belonged to. That was his kink.

And Lara was his perfect woman. His perfect captive. The terror in her eyes was intoxicating. The way her pale skin bruised…beautiful.

He unzipped his jeans and took out his cock, masturbating to the images in his head of the recent past. Of his Lara.

When he was done, Carter impatiently cleaned himself up and zipped his pants.

He had a lot of planning to do. Needed to find a hideaway, somewhere he could live the life he wanted with Lara. He’d stolen plenty of money from Ridge Michaels throughout his employment, before he’d ultimately put a bullet in his brain. He had more than enough to live comfortably. Away from prying eyes. But before he holed up, he needed his Lara. Needed revenge against the men who’d stolen her away.

Yeah, Carter had a lot of planning to do…but in the end, Lara would be his again. He couldn’t wait.

*

As you’ve guessed, we haven’t seen the last of Carter! He’ll be back…and Owl will need to use every one of the skills he learned while in the military to keep Lara safe. And even that might not be enough… Find out what happens in Deserving Lara.

And who is this anonymous computer hacker? I’m not going to make you wait much longer! You’ll find out in Deserving Lara! Promise!

*

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