Vow of Worth (Vow Series Book 6) Read online

  A crease appeared in her forehead. “I don’t know if I ever noticed that,” she whispered.

  “I do.”

  “You notice me,” she said.

  I nodded and watched her gaze flit across my face and drop to my lips for a second before she stood on her toes and pressed her mouth firmly against mine. Before I could even form a thought, one of my hands left her face, curving around the back of her neck, and held her tightly to me as my lips brushed across the seam of her lips, begging her to open them for me.

  I groaned when she did and our tongues met, clashing against one another. She whimpered and my mind finally returned. I broke our kiss and leaned my forehead against hers.

  “You’ll never know how badly I wanted that,” I whispered. “But it can’t happen now.”

  I want to be a good man for her and not take advantage when she’s upset. I don’t want her doing this because I give her attention or thinking I could ever be the same as the men in her past. “Not tonight, sweetness. You had a bad day and you’re my client…and…”

  I was running out of excuses as I stared at her and her lips. Fuck. I wanted to kiss her again. Once wasn’t enough, and we hadn’t kissed nearly long enough.

  “I want you to kiss me, Kiernan. It’s not because of a bad day or anything you’ve said. I’ve wanted to kiss you since you showed up in my training class and I saw you with Pepper Jack. Please kiss me.”

  I stared at her, tightening my hold on her again. I leaned back and tried to find the answers in her gaze.

  “Kiss me,” she whispered again. I’d have been a fool to resist.

  I slammed my lips down on hers and devoured her.

  21

  Caroline

  Kiernan’s kiss chased away the memories and hateful thoughts that had been consuming me. I wound my arms around his neck and arched my body into his. The long, thick column of his cock pressed against my stomach.

  I felt this kiss down to my toes.

  It was the kiss. It wasn’t two people pressing their lips together. It was all-consuming and passionate. Life changing. Nothing else mattered except for his lips and tongue. And his hands, roaming over my body. I was wet. My nipples were pebbles. My clit pulsed with need. I was coming undone at the seams, and we were only getting started.

  My hands trailed over his chest and abs until I reached the point where his shirt ended. I pushed my hands under the fabric, feeling his solid form beneath them. Since the photoshoot, I’d been fantasizing about having my hands on his body again and about his being on mine. The planes of his chest were warm and hard. I brought my hands back down to the bottom of his shirt and pushed the fabric up.

  Kiernan broke our kiss and traced a finger over my cheek, down to my lips, and across my bottom lip. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” I said and pulled his shirt off the rest of the way. My voice was husky and filled with desire. “I need you.” I’d never admitted that to anyone before. I was independent and spent most of my time alone. I needed Kiernan. Right now, I needed to feel him inside me. I was too scared to analyze it any further, thinking about how else I might need him.

  My eyes swept over his body. In the dim light of the kitchen, the peaks and valleys of his muscles created shadows across his form. I leaned forward and planted a kiss against his chest, smoothing my fingers over each ripple of his abs. Kiernan groaned. Large, calloused hands trailed down my body to the curve of my ass and down to my thighs. He lifted me off the ground, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as I yelped and looked down. “Kiernan…” I started to protest and unwrap a leg from around him.

  His hand gripped my thigh tightly. “Shut it. Don’t even think it. You’re perfect. I love your body and I’ve been dreaming of it.”

  I licked my lips and nodded, deciding to trust him. Wrapped in his strong arms and leaning against the vast expanse of his chest, I didn’t feel like I was too big for him. I fit perfectly against him, like we’d been two puzzle pieces just waiting to connect and fit together.

  Kiernan strode to my bedroom and kicked the door closed behind him. “Don’t want to be interrupted by Harmonica,” he said and grinned. He turned and pinned my back to the door before ripping my shirt over my head. I arched my back, unhooking my bra, and let it drop to the floor. Heat rose in my cheeks as Kiernan’s eyes trailed down my neck and to my breasts.

  My hands curled into fists on his back as I resisted the urge to cover myself. When his eyes met mine again, I gasped. He didn’t say a word, but I read it all in his features. With him, I was safe. I was cherished. Under his gaze, I wasn’t broken, undesirable, or something to be discarded. He didn’t see me that way. I was beautiful.

  Our lips crashed together again. He pushed his hips against me and brought his hands to my breasts, tweaking my nipples. His lips left mine and trailed down my skin until he sucked a nipple into his mouth. I moaned, arched my back, and begged for more.

  Somewhere in the distance the oven timer rang, but we both ignored it. Kiernan carried me to the bed and fell on top of me, still kissing and sucking on my skin. I fumbled with his belt and the button of his jeans until he rose from the bed, removing the rest of his clothes while staring at me. His gaze roamed over my body, and I felt it like a caress.

  My throat felt dry as he stood before me naked. Every inch of him seemed to have been carved from stone. He exuded power. He stroked his long, hard cock, squeezing the head. My heart hammered in my throat, and I couldn’t even blink. From his golden hair all the way down to his toes, the man was divine. He made me ache.

  My hands grazed over my stomach to my breasts, and I tweaked my nipples, still unable to look away from him. Kiernan had bewitched me. He groaned and his chest puffed out. One second he was standing tall in front of me, and the next he had me naked along with him and his hands were everywhere, driving me into a lust-filled frenzy.

  Kiernan’s fingers circled my clit, and his tongue traced the column of my neck. He whispered in my ear as fingers entered me. “Words don’t fail me often, but seeing you naked and needy for me has left me speechless. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, Caroline. Fuck. There’s so much I want to do to you, but first I have to taste you. You’re so fucking sweet, and I need to know if your pussy is just as sweet.”

  My breath hitched. Kiernan kissed down my body, leaving a trail of goose bumps in his wake. I’ve had men between my legs before, but it always felt like they were doing it because they thought they had to before the main event. But Kiernan’s growl as he spread my thighs and breathed in deeply made me quiver with anticipation. He lowered his head but kept his jade-green eyes on me as he swept his tongue over me. He closed his eyes in his rapture, pressing his tongue harder against me, and ravaged me. My hands fisted in his hair, and I ground my pussy against his mouth. One of his hands tightened on my thigh, and the other followed the path of his tongue, dipping into me and thrusting as he licked and sucked on my clit.

  “Open your eyes, Caroline.” I did and met his hungry gaze. “You’re even sweeter than I hoped.” His voice rumbled against me, making me shiver, before his mouth returned to my clit, but his eyes never left mine. He let me see everything he was thinking and feeling. I’d never felt more powerful, more beautiful, or more desired in my entire life. I came alive under his touch. My orgasm slammed into me, and I cried out his name. My eyes never left his. Even as he licked and sucked and fingered me through the waves of my orgasm and crawled up my body until his hips were cradled between my thighs.

  His hard length was against me. I wasn’t even sure when he’d put a condom on, but he had. I shifted my hips. I wanted him closer. I wanted to feel him inside me. I wanted to connect with Kiernan on every possible level. “I need you, Kiernan,” I whispered.

  “I’ll never get tired of hearing that from you,” he said and plunged inside me. I gasped at the feeling of fullness. He claimed my mouth. Claimed me. His hips rocked, pulling himself almost all the way out and slamming back inside me. I cried out agai
nst his lips, but he never stopped kissing me.

  “You’re gorgeous, sweetness. I didn’t think I’d ever see something as stunning as you smiling at me. For me. But you coming for me just may rival it. I fucking want you so badly, Caroline.”

  My nails raked down his back and he growled, slamming harder into me, lifting one of my legs higher on his hip and picking up his pace. I’d never been consumed so wholly. So completely. So devoutly. I believed every single whispered comment. I felt his need and desire.

  My pussy began quivering around him, and my second orgasm was barreling down on me. Our bodies were slick with sweat, and our lips kept meeting for more kisses, never getting enough from each other. He didn’t stop telling me how much he wanted me. How beautiful I was.

  In that moment, as my orgasm crashed into me like a tidal wave and he planted himself deep and came with me, I felt beautiful.

  Kiernan pulled out of me and lay next to me, wrapping his strong arms around me, both of us still breathing hard as we came back down to earth. The oven’s timer was still going off, and I finally registered it. I bit my lip and giggled. “I don’t think those cookies survived.”

  Kiernan laughed and kissed my neck. “Doesn’t matter, sweetness. What we just had was so much better than any cookie.”

  22

  Kiernan

  I’d spent the past few nights in Caroline’s bed, getting lost in her body. We’d barely come up for air, and I knew the pile of work on my desk at MarxMen was piling up. Crawling out of her bed that morning, while she was still naked and wrapped in her white sheet, leaving nothing to the imagination, was almost impossible. The image of Caroline with tangled sheets wrapped around her legs, the swell of her breasts peeking from the top with hard nipples poking through the fabric, and her luscious hips and ass on display would be seared into my mind for the rest of my life. Her hair was scattered over her pillow, and an adorable sleepy smile was on her lips as she slept peacefully. I didn’t want to leave her side. I wanted to climb back into bed and stay there with her, but Maddox and Roman were waiting on me in the pre-dawn hours.

  Another woman had been taken.

  Roman and Maddox were sitting in the conference room when I arrived. Cups of steaming coffee were in front of them, on the gleaming black surface of the table. I strolled into the room and went straight to the coffee bar, poured some into the largest mug, and grabbed a protein bar from the selection next to the pot. I sat in the swivel chair and opened the bar. “What happened?”

  Maddox grabbed the back of his neck. His suit jacket had been flung on the chair next to him. His shirt was wrinkled and his tie loosened around his neck. He had scruff along his jaw and looked like he hadn’t slept in days. “Another woman was taken. A dentist…Carrie Leonard. He took her from her office, just like the vet. We’re not sure if they’re connected, but it’s the same area and both female doctors.”

  “Security cameras? Any witnesses?”

  Maddox shook his head. “Security cameras were cut, including those from surrounding businesses. The parking lot where her car was parked is in the back of the office building. Seems she was the last to leave. Her car, some blood, and her purse with her phone were found in the lot.”

  “Who alerted the police?” Roman asked and took a long drink of his coffee. He was flipping through the thick manilla files in front of him, scanning down each page.

  “When she didn’t come home and the roommate couldn’t get in touch with her, she drove over to the office. They had plans. She saw the bloodstained purse with its contents spilled in the parking lot and called the police. Donahue and I were still at the office working on the vet’s case when the call came in. We arrived on the scene shortly after the first officers who responded.”

  “Where’s Donahue?” I asked. Porter Donahue, Maddox’s partner, was usually with him when Maddox came to us for assistance on a case.

  Maddox growled. “A fuckin’ rookie handled some of the evidence before we got there. He’s watching the evidence intake, making sure the kid doesn’t screw up again.”

  “Think he did it on purpose?” I asked. I’d learned to question everything and never make assumptions.

  Maddox shook his head. “No. He’s just a kid in his first few months on the force. Besides, I think Donahue scared the shit out of him and he’ll never make a mistake like that again.”

  I chuckled. Donahue was a grizzly bastard and stuck to his code. He didn’t like mistakes and wouldn’t tolerate them from anyone. If you were on his good side, then you were golden, but if you were on his bad side, he’d snarl and lecture you until your day was effectively ruined and you were scared straight.

  “What do you need us to do?” Roman asked.

  “Our tech department is backed up. This can’t wait. I brought the victim’s phone and copies of the surveillance in the area. It will include footage for forty-eight hours before the abduction. See if y’all can find anything in the days leading up to the blackout or can determine how the person cut the tapes. Fuck. I’ll take anything right about now.” He scrubbed the back of his neck again.

  “I’ll get on it. Some of the other guys too.”

  Maddox lifted a cardboard box from the floor and pushed it across the table. I stopped it with my hand and put it in the chair next to mine.

  “Appreciate it. Call if you find anything.”

  Roman nodded, rising from his chair, and shook Maddox’s hand. I did the same and sat back down as Maddox left the room. Roman sat back, steepling his fingers in front of him. “You have time to help comb through that?”

  I nodded. “I’ll make the time. Shift some things around if I need to, but I’ll take this and keep Caroline’s case.”

  “What’s happening with her case?” Roman asked, putting a file in front of him. Everything in the office was digitized, but Roman still preferred to work from paper.

  I groaned and scrubbed a hand down my face. Several late nights and the exhaustion of knowing that whoever had terrorized Caroline was still out there were weighing on me. Every path I went down led to a dead end, and I was locked in a battle of wills with the person on the other side of the screen. They were damn good, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I’d track them.

  “They’re pinging IP addresses all over the world. Nothing in the southern United States. There hasn’t been anything else since the note in her car, but she’s freaked out. I’m monitoring all her work technology. She still hasn’t gotten back on her laptop. Every time I think I’ve had a break, it leads to a dead end. The guy is playing with me and with her.”

  I wasn’t sure what Roman heard in my voice, but he pushed the file away and set down his coffee mug, staring at me from across the table. I met his gaze, unfazed by his piercing eyes. This look may have gotten others to talk, but it didn’t work on me. Never had. Something which drove him crazy. I smirked and he scowled.

  “Kiernan. She is a client. If you cross a line and it goes bad, there are so many scenarios that I don’t even want to think about. There is a reason the rule is in place. It’s an unbalanced power dynamic and she’s vulnerable right now. You’re a good man, Kiernan. I know you wouldn’t hurt her intentionally, but you haven’t been looking for anything serious. What if she is? If you actually think there’s something there and you want to pursue it, wait until you find the bastard and then pursue her. I know you like her, but you have to play this smart, man.”

  Anger bubbled in my chest, but I didn’t say a damn word, just stared at him. He didn’t know what was between Caroline and me, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to share. I understood where he was coming from, but I’d never hurt her.

  “Understood,” I said. And I did understand him, but that wasn’t going to stop me. There wasn’t a damn thing in this world that could stop me at this point. Not now. I stood up, grabbing the box under one arm, and left Roman in the conference room.

  23

  Caroline

  “What the hell is he doing?” Daphne asked.


  She was lounging in the chair next to my fireplace. She lifted her legs when I vacuumed between the chair and the coffee table. Her blond hair was piled on top of her head. The shirt she was wearing had a picture of a cat, and her leggings had tiny skulls on them. She’d come over to drop off a portrait of Kiernan in a kilt, which an author had bought. It was still wrapped in brown paper. I was waiting for him to come over and open it before I peeked at it.

  Daphne was staring at Pepper Jack, who was pacing in front of the couch. It was the same couch he always plopped down on, but he wasn’t lying there now. He was pacing in front of it. He’d seen me vacuum before and didn’t seem to have an issue with it until I got closer to him, so this behavior surprised me.

  I turned off the vacuum and edged around the coffee table toward him. “What’s going on, bud?” I asked. His eyes flicked to mine then away and he kept pacing. His tongue was lolling out the side of his mouth, and his gaze kept shifting to the couch. “Did you lose a toy in the cushions?”

  Kiernan had slept over almost every night for the past week, and Pepper Jack had stayed when he wasn’t here. He didn’t cause any of the destruction that he normally did at Kiernan’s, much to his chagrin, but it made me laugh and I loved giving Pepper Jack treats to continue to win him over. I lifted one of the couch cushions, and Pepper Jack sat down and placed his paw on my arm. I lifted the next cushion and froze for a moment.

  “What the hell?” I muttered.