Her Guardian Angel (Fire and Snow)(48)

"I do believe this room needs to be christened. Maybe with a little more than a kiss?"

Dominic chuckled "Why my sweet Adele, I do believe you're right. We best correct that." He pressed his lips against hers as he lowered her to the bed.





Chapter Twelve

Cole's mood was rapidly getting darker. He'd spent five days searching Zeehan finding not even a trace of her anywhere. He raised his hand to tentatively prod his swollen jaw. To top off the brilliant time he was having, yesterday his 'friends' had found him and decided to spell out the benefits of him leaving town. Bastards. Damn, he needed to vent. Maybe he'd have to look for another stray dog or something tonight. Where the hell was his slave?

He chucked his bag in the tray and shut the lid then hopped in and took off toward Rosebery. He hoped he found her soon. Animals just weren't the same, and he was starting to really loose it.

It didn't take long to get to Rosebery, and Cole couldn't believe his eyes as he drove down the main drag. After weeks of looking, there she was. Relief poured through him as he watched her walking across the street in front of him. Thankfully there were two cars between him and her. She was with a woman, holding her hand and staying very close to her side. Damn it. He couldn't just take her if she was being watched over. He was going to have to plan this out. He forced himself to turn up the next street and headed out of town. He needed to sit and think about how he was going to work this.

He found a deserted car park facing over the river, swung his ute in and killed the engine. He sunk back into his seat with a smile on his face. She was alive. And soon, very soon he would have her back where she belonged. He just needed a plan on how to get her. The way she was cuddled into that woman wasn't good; he doubted he would be able to catch her alone. He would have to take both of them. Maybe if he used his old Ruger pistol, the one he'd bought off that rough-as-guts captain a couple of years back... Yeah, he would grab the slave, hold the pistol to her and make the woman come too. Hell yeah, that'll so work.

As he was about to start his car to head back into town, he noticed movement off the side of the car park. A bitch and her pups were sniffing around the edge of the gravel. He smiled darkly as an idea came to mind. Just perfect. He'd get his work out tonight. Then he'd leave them for his slave to find in the morning. Make her suffer a little of what he'd been suffering since she left him and give her a hint at what she could expect to happen to her when he got her back.

~ * ~

Kelly braved leaving the house on her own for the first time. She walked out the front door, across the road, through a vacant block of scrub and had ended up here, sitting on a large flat stone that jutted out over the river. The sun had heated the surface a little and felt warm on her bottom. She guessed by late afternoon it would be too hot to sit on. She looked out over the river, watching it flow and the odd fish that swam close to the surface. She loved watching water. It was so peaceful and calming. The sound it made had always helped soothe her nerves, not that her nerves needed soothing so much any more. That thought took her back, reminding her this last week of peace was an anomaly in her world. Pain and suffering were much more familiar to her. She lightly fingered a fading bruise on her knee as her mind revisited her dark place and the man who had made it hell.

Something dripping on her knee brought her back to her current reality and the peaceful river before her. She was now sitting with her head resting on her knees, her arms wrapped around her legs and she was crying. She brushed her tears away and focused back on the water. Two weeks, three days. That's how long she'd been free from hell. Her nightmares were finally getting better. She fingered the key that hung around her neck. She had a feeling living with Adele was what was making them better. Thinking about Adele made her smile. Adele had been so good to her. Kelly had panicked when Dr. Maynard told her she could leave the hospital. She didn't know if Adele had meant what she said about taking her in. After Adele told her, she had spent less and less time with her at the hospital. Now she knew why. She'd been getting everything ready for her. When the doctor had walked in with her discharge papers, Adele and Dominic had been one step behind him with big grins, ready to take her to her new home.

Kelly's biggest shock was when she arrived home. She liked that word: home. She'd never really had one before, but as soon as she saw the purple house, she knew it was home for her. Everything in the house was neat and clean and girly. Most importantly there were no bolts or chains. She'd dropped down on her bed when Adele had shown her around her room. Kelly had a beautiful white iron framed bed with a pretty pink and purple cover and sheets and a big window that let the bright autumn sunshine in. The biggest shock had been the wall of built in cupboards filled with clothes and toiletries. She had never owned so many clothes in her life. She couldn't stop the cringe at the memory of him ripping her clothes from her when he had first taken her as his slave. She hadn't owned any clothes at all since.