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Chapter Twenty-Two
It had the makings of a perfect evening. The snow had finally stopped falling, leaving the landscape covered in a fresh blanket of white. A fire blazed in the hearth, and Holly sat on the floor playing Monopoly with Ethan and Ryan. Adam shut down the computer and ambled over to sit behind Holly.
He stroked her hair, enjoying her interaction with his brothers. Yes, it was a perfect night. So it shouldn’t have surprised him when the phone rang.
He sighed in disgust and dropped his hand from Holly’s hair.
“Don’t answer,” she said huskily, turning to smile at him sweetly.
For a moment, he almost heeded her request. But it could be Cal calling with news, or it could be Mom and Dad. “I’ll be right back,” he said, dropping a kiss on her upturned lips.
He shoved himself from the floor just as the phone quit ringing. Before he could settle back down, his cell phone started buzzing.
Fuck. Whatever it was, it must be important.
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He walked over to the computer desk and flipped open his cell phone.
“Adam here,” he said shortly.
“Adam? It’s Lacey. Look, I need your help. All of you if you can swing it. I’ve got a missing kid. Fresh snowfall’s made it impossible to pick up any tracks. I could use you. ”
Adam sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Damn. The last thing he wanted to do was trek out into the cold, but he couldn’t very well leave a child out to freeze to death.
“Where do we need to come?” he asked in resignation.
“Meet me in town. We’re organizing our search here at headquarters. And listen, Adam. Bring your rifles. We have reason to believe this is an abduction. ”
Adam shut the phone and looked up to see three pair of eyes watching him.
Holly uncurled her legs and stood up. She walked over to him, worry creasing her brow. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Behind her, Ethan and Ryan also stood, their attention focused solely on Adam.
“That was Lacey,” he said. He glanced down at Holly to gauge her reaction.
She frowned slightly but didn’t say anything.
“What did she want?” Ryan demanded.
“She needs our help. Got a kid gone missing and with the fresh snowfall, they can’t get any tracks. ”
“Man…” Ethan said.
“You have to go,” Holly said softly. “I mean, you have to find the child. ”
Adam nodded.
“You go on. I’ll be fine,” she said, hugging her arms around her.
“One of us should stay,” Adam said, looking to his brothers for confirmation. “Holly shouldn’t be alone. ” He didn’t want to alarm her, but there was no way they’d leave her unprotected with her husband out there. The incident in Denver was still too fresh in his memory.
“I’ll stay,” Ryan said. “You and Ethan go on. ”
Adam nodded. “All right. ”
He enfolded Holly in his arms. “We’ll be back as soon as we can, baby. ”
She reached up on tiptoe and kissed him. “Bet your ass you will. ”
He grinned. Then he turned to Ethan. “You ready?”
Ethan brushed his lips across Holly’s hair then hurried over to the closet where they kept their gear.
Five minutes later, they walked out the door and got into the Land Rover. As he backed down the drive, heaviness settled in his chest. He couldn’t explain the feeling, but worry nagged at him.
* * *
Holly turned to Ryan as the door closed and spread her arms out. “Just you and me. ”
He grinned and sauntered over to her. “I can think of worse things. ”
Her heart turned over in her chest.
“Oh, the things I’m going to do to you,” he said wickedly.
She smiled and shoved him playfully. “Oh no, bad boy, what I’m going to do to you. ”
He raised a brow. “I think I like the sound of that. ”
She fluttered her eyelashes. “Meet me. Bedroom. Five minutes. ”
He reached out to grab her, but she darted from his grasp. She ran for the bedroom, shrieking with laughter. “Five minutes!” she called back.
She shut the door behind her and headed for the closet where she’d hidden the sexy lingerie she’d bought in Denver. She pulled the silky, peach camisole top from the tissue where it was wrapped then snagged the matching silk shorts.
Quickly shimmying out of her jeans and shirt, she danced out of the closet on one foot as she thrust the other into the shorts. She tossed her hair with her hand and headed into the bathroom for a quick check.
The smiling, laughing girl in the mirror was a long way from the tattered, scared rabbit who’d run for her life just weeks ago.
She picked up a brush and ran it through her now light brown hair. She only had about one minute before Ryan would break down the door. She dropped the brush and scurried out of the bathroom and headed for the bed.
To her surprise, Ryan was there waiting for her. Naked.
“Oh, you’re bad,” she scolded. “You were supposed to wait five minutes. ”
He grinned sheepishly at her. “Telling time has never been my strong point. ”
She stood there, hand on her hip.
“Come here,” he ordered.
“I ought to make you wait,” she grumbled as she crawled up the bed.
He curled an arm over her waist and rolled her underneath him in one smooth motion. His lips rested an inch above hers, and he lowered them until they brushed across her mouth.
“You look hot in that outfit,” he rasped. “It’s a damn shame I’m going to have to take it off so quickly.
She laughed. “A terrible shame. ”
He pulled at the top until it bared one breast.
“I love your nipples. They’re perfect. Pink. So feminine. ”
He rolled his tongue across the puckered tip. “They taste as sweet as they look. ”
“You’re such a miserable tease,” she groaned out.
He tugged at the camisole top until the straps fell down her shoulders. He continued to pull at it until it gathered around her waist.
