Page 86 of Call Sign: King
After swallowing a small bite, Khloe admitted. “I know you won’t believe me, but I even missed you and Trevor’s nagging to get me to eat. I knew you’d be extra pissed if you knew Vlad wasn’t feeding me.”
“Does that mean you’ll be happy to eat better now?” he asked, feeding her another small bite, knowing she couldn’t eat faster than a snail’s pace.
“I’ll try, but I make no promises,” she teased, her eyes drooping.
“One more bite, then I’ll let you sleep.”
“How much sleep have you gotten since I was taken?” she asked. His face must have given her his answer because she teased him. “That’s what I thought. I think you need to eat some of that food and then crawl up here next to me. I’ll sleep better with you spooning me anyway.”
Ryder didn’t have to be asked twice. Toeing off his shoes, he shucked his dirty clothes to the floor and slid between the sheets. Rolling Khloe to her right side, careful not to pull out her IV, he snuggled up to her back, pulling her against his body. Like the first night they slept together years before, their bodies clicked together like matching puzzle pieces.
This. Right here. This was his heaven.
Nuzzling close, Ryder whispered softly, “Sleep well, princess. You’re safe now.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
KHLOE
The small pinch on the back of her hand startled Khloe awake, bringing back the panic of the last few days. Before the fear took over, Ryder’s protective arm still hugging her close to him chased away the nightmare.
Opening her eyes to slits, she was just in time to see Doc cleaning up the spent IV supplies on the bedside table.
“What time is it?” Khloe asked softly, hoping not to wake her husband.
“Depends on which time zone you are asking about,” Doc said with a kind smile. “It’s probably eight at night by now back in Moscow, but it’s not even noon yet at The Ranch. We should arrive a few hours before the sun goes down.”
She’d been so out of it when they’d boarded the flight, Khloe hadn’t even given their destination much thought. As long as it was far away from Moscow, she hadn’t cared.
Now that she’d gotten a bit of rest and the meds Doc had given her had taken the edge off her aches and pains, she finally let herself think about what it was going to be like to return to her life.
No matter what happened, she knew things were going to be different now. Not just for her, but for everyone she worked with going forward. She didn’t have to ask to know Ryder would be tightening her safety protocols even more than he had before, and this time, she would be fine with any measures suggested. She’d gladly do whatever he thought was best to keep from ever letting what happened this last week happen again.
Going to The Ranch made sense. It was secluded. They could come and go without public scrutiny or even knowledge. They had everything they needed there to be comfortable and safe. In fact, they’d enjoyed many of her down weeks in the past — when she didn’t have filming or public appearances — at their Texas hideaway. What a relief it would be to get back to where a normal day included reading scripts on the front porch, playing with the dogs, hiking around the lake, and even taking riding lessons from the special ops guys not out on active missions.
“We need to make a pit stop first. Before we go to Texas,” Khloe said.
“Oh, we are. We should be landing in Maine within the hour. Crash says we should only be on the ground about an hour to get refueled for the final leg of the flight south.”
Khloe looked up at Doc to ask, “Do we have enough fuel to make it to Toronto?”
She saw the worry cross Gretchen’s face.
“Probably, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea. From all accounts, it’s a zoo there right now.”
“That may be, but my friends are in the middle of that zoo, and I want to visit them.”
“We are not going to Toronto,” Ryder said adamantly next to her ear, obviously awake now too.
Wiggling out of his embrace enough so she could lay on her back and see his face, Khloe made her argument.
“I understand that you want to shelter me from the media frenzy, and I agree. I’m not strong enough to deal with press conferences or interviews right now. And I’m certainly not in any shape to be in front of a camera filming.
“But I need to see Trevor and Madison. To check-in on Reaper, Ricky, and Tank.” When Ryder still looked unconvinced, she added, “They were shot trying to protect me. I think I owe it to them to thank them in person for that.”
“You can thank them later. Hell, you can call them. Talk to them on the phone.”
“That’s not good enough and you know it. Would you have been happy just to be told I was okay and then talk to me on the phone?”
