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Her eyes opened. She saw the fierce pleasure lash across his face as he came. A release that just fed her own as the climax rolled through her on an endless wave. She’d never felt so close to anyone in her life. Bonded. Linked, body and soul.
He was hers. Completely and totally in that moment. And it really only seemed fair since she had belonged to him for a very, very long time.
She’d given him her heart years ago. He just hadn’t known it. Since then, no one else had ever been able to truly get close to her. How could they? No other man could compete.
Not when she had been in love with Brady all that time.
***
He carried her to the bedroom and tucked her under the thick covers because he didn’t want Noelle getting cold. Brady ditched the condom, hauled on a pair of old sweats, and was on his way to join Noelle in that cozy bed when his phone rang.
He stopped halfway to the bed. Noelle’s eyes remained closed.Asleep already?
The phone rang again. Cursing softly, he spun on his heel and marched to the den. Their clothes littered the floor, but he scrounged around until he snagged his phone. Elliott’s smiling picture filled the screen. Wincing—because yep, no way did Elliott need to know what Brady had been doing five minutes ago—he took the call and put the phone to his ear. “She’s safe and sound, sleeping in my bed.”
Silence.
Shit. Okay, he probably should not have added the “my bed” part to that sentence. He should have just stopped after the “sound” bit.
Brady cleared his throat. “I took her to my cabin, not her place. I was worried the jerk might try something there. I needed to get her away.”And all to myself.Yes, selfish, but true. He’d wanted her far away from everyone else and far from any other threat out there.
“I want this bastard stopped, Brady.” Elliott’s voice was devoid of its normal humor. Most folks thought Elliott was easy going, the fun one to be around. Elliott always had people smiling and laughing while Brady was the intense and dark one.
Folks thought wrong. Elliott’s quick grin was a lie. Beneath the surface, he was just as intense and dark as Brady. One of the reasons why they were such good friends. “You and me both.”
“He could have kidnapped her tonight. He could have fuckinghurther. He could have—” Elliott broke off.
A good thing. Brady didn’t need a list of all the things that could have happened. He already knew. The fears kept playing through his mind on repeat. “He knows her,” Brady said as he cast a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure that Noelle was still sleeping. “He’s someone in her life. Someone close enough that he knew she’d be going to that real estate listing when he first scared the hell out of her.”
“Anyone could have known that,” Elliott threw back. “It was an open house, listed on our company website. Not some big secret.”
True enough, and her home address would certainly be something easy enough to obtain, but the part that told him this was someone close to her… “The Santa suit.”
“What?”
“The charity event is personal for her. He waited until she was on her own, and the SOB came with his own freaking Santa suit so he’d be disguised. Hell, she said he crooked his finger and beckoned her closer. He wanted her to think he was me. I think the bastard knows about my relationship with her.”Relationship.“He knows I was at her place last night. He thought she’d rush to him—because she thought he was me—and that he could get her away without any problem.”
“The prick needs to think again.”
“He won’t stop. He’s not just going to turn away and give up.” Brady believed this to his core. “I’m not letting her out of my sight. Until we have the bastard, where she goes, I go.”
“And that’s why she’s in your cabin? So you keep her in your sight?”
He took a few steps back, turned and looked into the bedroom. He’d left the door open so he could see her. In the bed, she still slept. “I would kill for her without any hesitation.”
“I know.” Gruff. “So the hell would I.”
Yes, Elliott would. But he had no experience with killing. Brady did. “I won’t lower my guard. Neither will she.” A pause as he drank in the sight of Noelle. Voice low, he asked, “What did you find out about the security footage?”
“No one knows why the cameras shut off. The guard on duty said he actually caught a couple making out in the security room a bit before everything happened with Noelle. The cops questioned the couple, but they swear they didn’t see anyone.”
Alarm bells blasted in Brady’s mind. “Who was the couple?”
“Addison Lane and her date, Trevor McIntosh.”
He didn’t remember seeing Addison with a date. When she’d approached him and Noelle, it had just been her. “Addison doesn’t like your sister.”
“She’s in competition with my sister,” Elliott corrected. “I’m pretty sure she views Noelle as her biggest competition in town.”
