Page 13 of Accidentally Kidnapping the Groom

“No, Princess. Nobody can track my phone. It’s not a regular cell phone. It has satellite capabilities, that’s why I can get a signal here.” I tell her about my brother and me doing contract work for the government and how that gives us access to technology not available to the public. Plus, my brother is a genius with communication devices and computers. He’s written a few applications himself that Uncle Sam has bought. “And Nick has loaded the device with a ton of his tech gadgets that keep anyone from tracking it.” I lean over and caress her cheek. “Your safe for right now.” She leans into my hand and the sweet gesture squeezes my heart. I don’t tell her that I’ve also asked Nick to dig into her background. If someone’s hunting my girl, I want to know who they are and how to take them down. “Are you ready to tell me what’s going on with you?”

She sighs. “First of all, my real name is not April.” Her blue eyes are sad as she watches my reaction. I keep my face blank, but nod to get her to go on. And she does.

The story is so unbelievable, but nobody can make up the details she provides. My jaw clenches so hard I’m about to break a molar. She’s been on the run, alone, for six years. Her piece-of-shit father ran away to save his own ass and left an eighteen-year-old to deal with the Russian mob on her own.

When she tells me about yet another time when she left what she thought was a safe town in the middle of the night and reinvented herself, I can’t take it anymore. I pull her to my side and put my arm around her. “You’re not alone now. Nick and I will help you figure this out.” She relaxes into me and it’s like years of tension leave her body. “What should I call you? Do you prefer Anna?”

She’s quiet for several beats before she answers. “No, I want to be April when I’m with you.”

“Do you know where this ledger is?”

She pulls away from me and scrutinizes my face. “Why?”

“Because the fastest way to get you safe, is to hand that over to the authorities.”

She laughs bitterly. “We tried that, remember. It didn’t work out so well for my family.”

I pull her into a hug. “I’m so sorry about your mom and uncle,” I whisper into her hair. She lets out a little sob and grips my shirt. I stroke her hair and her breathing evens out again. “Nick and I have contacts we can use that would make sure only trustworthy people would be involved in your case.”

“I know where it is.” April whispers against my chest. “But it’s the only thing keeping me alive right now. And I don’t want people to know that I know.”

“Don’t tell me its location. That’s your secret and your bargain chip.” I feel her nod against my chest. “But Nick and I will figure out how to put the bad guys away and keep you safe.”

She leans back a little and looks up at me. Her gorgeous blue eyes are damp and her nose is a little red. “You’d do that for me? I’m nobody important to you or Nick. You’ve only known me for half a year.”

“Princess, you’re everything to me. Have you not figured that out yet?”

Her eyes widen and her lips part. I can’t stand it any longer. My dick has been rock hard since I came out of the bathroom and saw her kneeling in front of the fire. I lift her chin with the edge of a knuckle and lean down to kiss her.

She grabs my collar and deepens the kiss. When we finally come apart, I whisper her name.

“Yes?” she answers.

“I still have to get married before I turn thirty.”

She bites her lip, and I have to clamp down the groan rising in my throat. “Is that a proposal?”

“It’s a command.” I smile, hoping she gets the reference back to when I fucked her in my office.

“Well, if you’re ordering me to marry you, I can’t really refuse, can I?” Laughter twinkles in her eyes.

“No, you cannot,” I answer, surprised over how the thought of marrying April feels so right.

“But you also have to have a baby before you turn thirty-two.”

The image of her swollen with my child fills my mind and I can’t keep the groan inside me anymore. Touching her flat stomach, I swallow hard. “I want to breed you right now. I want to fill you up with my seed until you can’t think of anything but me and the family we’re going to create.”

“Okay,” she whispers, and I lower her down onto the blanket. The fireplace crackles behind her, bathing her beautiful face in warm light.

If I’m not inside her soon, I’m going to combust.

I pull her shirt over her head and get rid of the bra. Tonight I want to see her completely naked. April helps me get her skirt and socks off.

I pause and just stare at her. Her creamy skin glows in the firelight. “You’re so fucking beautiful. And I’m so fucking lucky.”

“Get your clothes off so I can get lucky too,” she demands.

Together, we get rid of my stained clothes and then I’m finally skin-to-skin with my fiancée.

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