Merry with a Lawman (Love Beach, Holiday Collection)

20. If This is the End

TWENTY

IF THIS IS THE END

BELLE

Someone slaps my cheeks as I come to. “Wakey, wakey.” Chad’s face is there, blurry at first, until I blink a few more times. I jerk back when I realize it’s him. My wrists and ankles are tied, and I’m lying down. I try to scream, but my throat is too dry.

Then a scent drifts to me. One I’m intimately familiar with. Sandalwood, cinnamon, musk, a classic Old Spice. I look up to see Davis next to me, but he’s seated upright against the side of the cruiser, his head lolling forward. Is he hurt? His wrists are also tied, but it’s sloppy.

“Davis,” I croak. His eyes blink rapidly as he fights to stay awake. They land on me. He sees Chad there and kicks a leg out to get him away from me.

Chad guffaws and deflects the kick, standing. “Oh, good, you’re both awake. I told you, Davis. This shit is bigger than me and you. Maybe now you believe me.”

“Where’s Richardson?” I find my voice. I still can’t believe how he walked right into my house and kidnapped me.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s too late to do anything. This is the end for you both, I’m afraid. For you, especially, Davis. Like it should have been a year ago.” He gloats and steps away.

The sound of the boat engine starts up. I shift my head to see him commandeering the boat out to sea.

Back to my man. I implore him with my eyes. “What’s happening?” Is this the end? If it is, there are so many things I want to say to him. Those three little words…

He shakes his head, and I hope that means he’s planning a way out of this.

Chad must be pushing the boat full throttle. The engine noise is so loud we can’t get his attention to talk him out of whatever deviousness he’s doing.

All I can do is pray. If this is the end, then at least I die knowing Davis came around finally. I’m his, he’s mine, and that’s all that matters.Even if he hasn’t admitted he loves me yet.

I struggle but eventually get myself upright, leaning on him.

“Turn your back so I can get to your ropes,” he calls into my ear. My mind scrambles. If he can untie me, I can untie him, and he can try to stop Chad.

We both shift into position, and I crank my neck to keep an eye on the stupid senator. I cannot believe he’d do this. What the hell is going on? His back is toward us as he steers us further away. Turning my head back to shore, I’m shocked at how fast my beloved Love Beach is getting smaller and smaller. My chest heaves, panting, struggling; Davis’ fingers work frantically at my knots. I fear running out of time with him.

Finally, the rope gives and I loosen out of the binds. I scramble onto my knees, helping him out of his, but it’s too late. Chad slows the boat down and brings it to a stop. But another engine noise takes its place, coming closer and closer.

He fidgets with something until, at last, he turns, and eyes us. “Hey, back away from each other,” Chad yells, pointing a gun at us. He grabs me with his free hand, pushing me to the other side of the boat. “You, stay here. And don’t think about moving, Davis.”

Another boat comes up behind me, siding up to ours closely. Davis’ eyes look too ready to shoot and kill if they could.

“You two lovebirds look cozy. Enjoy the ride.” Richardson smirks. A shiver works down my spine; I regret every second I spent with him.

Chad jumps into the other boat, and he turns with a final message for us. “Don’t worry, Davis. I’ll keep watch over your sister. If an accident should ever befall Beau, I’ll be there to pick up all the little pieces and comfort her.” His menacing chortle rings out over us. Davis launches forward, despite his wrists tied, looking like he’d ring his neck—but then freezes and drops.

“Get down!” He yells and shoves me under him, covering me, as bullets pepper out into the boat. It’s a heart-stopping siege lasting several seconds that I’ll never forget the sound of. When they end, my heart beats echo almost as loud and fast in my ears as the shots fired. Eventually, the only noise is their engine taking off.

Davis whispers, “Stay down, don’t move.” Only once they’ve pulled far away does he roll off of me, his breathing rough. I’m gasping for air, not moving, trying to recover. I don’t feel any pain, so I don’t think I was hit.

“Davis? Are you hit? Davis?” I haul up to inspect every inch of him.

He tears open his shirt, revealing his bullet-proof vest. “Get it off. Get it off.” I help best I can and finally see three bullets in the back that the vest protected him from.

“Oh, God. I almost lost you.” I cry. The distinct smell of gasoline reaches my nose.

“I’m fine.” He slowly gets up, and stumbles forward, trying the starter, checking things out. I’m in a heap on the floor, fighting to calm down, rocking myself back and forth. He calls out the inventory of our demise. “The engine’s dead. Gas line leaking. No radio.”

“We’re screwed. What do we do now?” My voice hitches and can’t hide how much I want to break down.

He kneels beside me, cupping my neck, pulling me to him for a kiss full of such passion, I hang onto him for life.

When we part, I can’t let another minute go by when I don’t know how much time we have left. I cling to him, peering up deeply into his blue eyes. “Davis, I love you.”

“Don’t do that, baby.” He steps away, inspecting the boat again like he expects to find some miracle to save us.

“Why not? We’re stuck out here. No motor, radio or phones?—”

“And sinking.”

“What? No.” I shriek, reach his side, and look down to where he’s pointing on the floor of the cabin. About an inch of water gathers so far at the base of the ladder.

“It’s a slow leak, but I think we can hang in a couple of days, tops. Surely someone would come looking for us before then.”

“You don’t know that. Does anyone know we’re even out here?”

He shakes his head. “Gigi and Jackson know you weren’t home. When we don’t show up, they’ll come looking.”

“What if they don’t find us?” I fall against his chest, my arms grabbing his shoulders. “I love you, Davis, and have been in love with you since high school.”

“Christ, Belle. You could have done so much better than me. If tonight tells me anything, it’s that your life is in danger just being around me. You could have found a good man by now, married him, had five babies. You could have been happier, and not in this godforsaken situation.”

I shake my head in disbelief. Even now he pushes me away? “How can you say that? Look at the good you do in this community. People look up to you and trust you. And look how good you’ve always been to Addie. You stubborn man.”

“You’d have been far better off placing your heart and faith in someone else.”

“Don’t tell me who I can love. It’s you.”

“I’ll only lead you into troubled waters, Belle. You heard Chad. There are things you don’t know; a dangerous element moving into Love Beach. I don’t know if I can stop them and they have eyes on you, too. They’ll use you to get to me. It’s a risk I can’t take with your life. I can’t bear to see you hurt.”

“But you already have hurt me, every single time you denied how you felt about me. No matter what, I will never stop loving you.”

“Fuck, Bella.” With an anguished cry, he falls to his knees.

“So if we’re going to die, I have to say it out loud so you know, aside from your sister, when you leave this earth, there was one woman who saw you for the amazing man you are. Me. I love you.”

“No.” He cries, pain in his eyes.

“I always have.”

“Fuck, Bella.”

“I’ll never stop loving you, Davis. So quit pushing me away.”

I fall onto my bottom, tears flowing out of me. I might as well add a puddle of my making to the water collecting below. Suddenly, he hoists me over his shoulder. He carries me down the ladder, into the cabin, and lays me on the one bed on board.

“Davis?” I question him as he yanks his zipper down.

“You’re too good for me, baby.” My gaze travels down to his hand, reaching in and dragging out his thick rod. I push my leggings and panties down without another thought, licking my lips. “You deserve better, and I’ve tried to keep you away, but you won’t leave me be. Then when I finally accept us, now this happens? So if this is our last time together on this boat, then I want one more time with you, in the arms of the woman I love.”

“You love?” I blink away more tears.

He hovers over me, reaching a hand down, strumming my clit. I moan his name, getting good and wet for him.

“I love you, Belle. I can’t deny it anymore.”

My body shakes uncontrollably, and I cry out as he slides into me to the hilt. I wrap my arms around him, hanging on for dear life. Never will I let him go. I’ll drown like this, perfectly happy with him.

“I love you, Bells. Do you hear me?” His thrusts gain momentum. “I can’t promise I’ll be all sunshine and rainbows to live with, but if me loving you makes you happy, then here I am. Take me, faults and all. I love you.”

“Yes, Davis. I love you so much. You’re my heart and soul.”

He pumps inside of me so good, filling me up, as the wind picks up, howling outside.He snakes a hand between us, flicking my clit, knowing exactly how I like it. Even now, seeking to please me.

“Merry Christmas, my good girl, taking my cock so good.”

“Say it again, Davis. It’s the best Christmas present ever.”

“I love you, Belle.”

“Yes. Yes!” Our bodies move in time together, skin on skin, to the sound of the lapping water against the boat. Faced with danger, of life or death, we only have each other. I cling to that as we climax quickly, moaning each other’s names. To me, it sounds like a Christmas wish for us to love each other forever.

We crash hard together, him on top of me, both of us breathless. If this is the end. So be it.

Suddenly, the howling wind outside morphs into the whirring blades of a helicopter. A voice comes over a megaphone.

“Davis? Bella? You two down there?”

“That’s Jackson.” Davis jumps off of me, bringing me upright by the hand with him.

“How did he—?” I gasp.

“I don’t know. Hurry, get dressed.”

He’s faster and moves top side. I join him a minute later.

A spotlight shines from the helicopter hovering above, lighting the boat up. Only then do I spy all the gun holes and water coming in. We’re lucky to be alive. I’m not sure we’d have lasted the night; Davis was probably protecting me by saying we’d last a couple of days.

A harness drops from the bird to the boat. Davis works quickly, securing me in it. I look up at how high I have to travel, nervous about the height. But there’s an even greater fear overwhelming me now that we’re saved. Were his professions of love only in the face of near death?

“I’m scared,” I admit, my teeth chattering. The air current whips around us, freezing me.

He locks everything in, and his lips land on mine one more time, warming me a little. “I will let nothing bad happen to you now that I have you. I love you. You’re mine, Belle. Hear me?”

My heart surges, filling with love for this man, my friend, my protector.