Page 45 of Rescuing Abbey

Son of a bitch!He had been scouting the barn the day before so he could take out the damn cameras. I slammed my fist on my desk, causing everything to rattle with the force. I pulled up another angle of the barn, but it hadn’t caught anything useful.

My blood went cold, and I fought against a wave of panic that threatened to overtake me. I still had a few more cameras to look at, but the only real clue we had was effectively useless. No one could identify the guy based on what the camera had caught.

A rap on the door made me jump in my chair. Liam froze when he saw me. Suddenly, my vision tunneled, and it was harder and harder to breathe. Liam crouched so his face was even with mine. “Duke. Are you with me?” His hand weighed on my shoulder. His presence settled me, but not as much as Abbey’s had during the last episodes.

“I’m fine,” I growled and tried pushing his hand away, even knowing I couldn’t fool him. I’d calmed myself enough that his worried gaze pissed me off. I wasfine… or at least I would be in a few minutes.

“Did you find anything?” His tone was gentle.

“Yes,” I snapped, hating the way he treated me—like I was about to fall apart. I drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “But it’s a dead end. The guy cut the video feed. Can’t get a good view of him.”

“Dammit.” Liam rubbed his forehead. “What do we do?”

“I’m going to take a look at the feed again and see if I missed anything.” I'd no sooner gotten out the words than my chest tightened, and I began to pant. What if I couldn’t keep everyone safe? What if next time someone got hurt or died? I couldn’t have that on my watch again.

Liam took one look at me. “I’m going to go find Abbey.” He stood and strode to the door.

“No,” my voice boomed in the small space. “I can’t see her right now.” I couldn’t. I didn’t want her to see me fall apartagain. This was the worst I’d been in a long time. So many episodes so close together were wearing on me, and I didn’t want to scare her.

“I think she’s exactly what you need. Don’t fight this. Let her help you.”

“I’m going to take a shower.” I shoved my way past him and went to my room. As the water heated, I stripped and stepped under the spray. It was enough to calm my emotions for me to handle them, but I still couldn’t settle the unease churning in my stomach.

I needed to protect Abbey, and someone had gotten close enough to set fire to the barn. What if she’d been in there? What if she had gotten in the way of the guy on accident? Would he have done something to harm her? I’d never forgive myself if something happened to her.

“Duke?” Abbey’s voice filtered in through the open door.

I looked up and groaned as she entered the room. I was going to kill Liam for not heeding my demands.

“Liam told me I’d find you in here.” The worry in her voice was like a knife to my heart.

I couldn’t pull my gaze away from hers, no matter how much I tried.

“Oh, Duke,” she crooned at what she saw in my eyes.

She opened the shower door and cupped my cheek.

I reached for her without thinking and pulled her in with me, clothes and all. Liam was right; I did need her. I needed to know she was here, she was safe, and she was mine. I needed to feel her, fuck her.

I crushed my lips against hers. Her hands gripped the back of my head and neck, and she kissed me with such ferocity, it was like she knew the turmoil raging inside me. I pushed her against the wall and rid her of her shirt. When her pants and panties were on the other side of the shower, I hauled her up until she wrapped her legs around my waist.

She brushed her hand over my dripping hair and nodded at the silent request I was giving her. That was all I needed. I slid into her with one solid thrust. She gasped, and I groaned. Her pussy gripped my cock as I slowly retreated, then surged forward. I fucked Abbey hard and fast. She hung on and took everything I had to give her, coming so beautifully, it pushed me over the edge.

I leaned my forehead against hers and let the water spray over us as we both came down from the rush.

“I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you?” I looked at her, realizing I’d never taken her that hard before.

“I won’t break, Duke.” Abbey kissed me. She didn’t let go until the muscles in my body relaxed.

When I released her, we scrubbed each other’s bodies. She had some special power over me, and I wanted her to be mine forever.

ABBEY

“Abbey, you have to wear that. You look totally hot in it,” Grace said as she admired me in the dress she loaned me.

“No, I can’t.” I tugged at the hem. It was shorter than anything I’d ever worn, and it clung to my body like a second skin.

“What? Why not? That dress totally screams you.” Blake stood beside me at the mirror in the guest room in the big house where we were all getting ready. “You look beautiful.”

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