Grasping For Air (Adair Empire Book 6) Read online

  “Come with me, and when your boy toy here gets free, he can go find her.” Tossing his cuffs to me, his gun swings around to aim at Daniel’s head as he instructs, “Put them on.”

  “Don’t.” The single word is snarled. He fucking hurts Danny-boy, and I’ll slaughter him.

  “Put them on then.” He shrugs. He has no idea what it’s like to take the life of someone who has done no wrong.

  “Pants?” I ask, remembering I left my phone in the pocket. If I can get a call to King before putting the cuffs on, I know they’ll track us down. They’ll find Daniel and Danika even if they don’t find me. I have no doubt Miller plans to kill me; otherwise, he’d have an entire team knocking down the door to bring me in. “How’d you find me, Miller?” I’m trying to stall for time.

  “I was the one you bragged to when you bought this place, remember? Hurry up.” I can hear he’s losing patience.

  Stepping into the jeans, I feel the device in my pocket and quickly slip a hand inside. Grateful, I know the last call was to King, and it won’t take much to get it out.

  After hiding the phone under the blanket, I look to Daniel again and see he’s regained consciousness. With a slight nod, I know he’s going to feign sleep until we’re clear.

  “Danika!” I snap again, sick of not getting a fucking answer.

  A sick smile plays on Miller’s lips as I lock the second cuff in place. The cold steel knotting my stomach as he speaks with laughter. “Buried out back.”

  “You motherfucker!” I charge at him, knocking him to the floor in the hallway as pain ricochets through my side, and the echo of a gunshot splits the morning.

  Fire burns my side as liquid drips bellow me. The smell of blood is in the air. “Guess who’s going to die now?” He laughs, and I know he’s lost his fucking mind.

  Danika

  Cold seeps into my bones as I lay motionless in the small chest. My body is contorted in a way that I didn’t think was possible. My muscles cramp from my prone position.

  I know I’ve been buried alive. I know dirt surrounds these walls. I know my oxygen is running low.

  I know…

  I made a mistake. Not shocking, since I seem to be full of them, but this? This is on me. I was so stupid.

  After giving myself to my loves, being with them, I was exhausted but oddly not. I had lain with them for hours before hunger finally won out. I was up and in the kitchen, looking to fix us something to eat. Headlights in the front window stopped my mission, and I’d gone to the door. With everything that had happened, I never should have. I have no excuse other than I wasn’t thinking properly.

  Dimitri told us his cabin was off the books. No one knew about it. I had naturally assumed someone was lost, and since I was dressed and the boys were exhausted, I could direct the stranger to the highway.

  I hadn’t anticipated a killer with a gun and threats I knew he’d follow through on. I knew…Lord, did I know. A man looking for retribution has a certain air about them. There’s a deadness in their eyes that can’t be masked, and I saw it in his. I watched in horror as he walked up the porch steps, through the door, and pressed the cold steel of his weapon to my forehead with the promise to skin Daniel and Dimitri alive if I didn’t do what he said.

  So here I am, in a fucking box, running out of air, and praying for a damn miracle. I don’t know how long it’s been. After panicking at the first thunk of dirt dropping on top of the wood, I spent a while talking myself out of passing out. The fear of dying while buried alive is one I’m sure everyone has but never really thinks they’ll experience. If we get out of this, if I survive, I don’t know if I’ll ever recover. The darkness is the worst, not knowing if I’ll see daylight again. Feel the wind in my hair, smell fresh cut grass after a downpour of rain.

  A thundering shot breaks me free of my depressed musings, and I listen intently, closing my eyes in the hopes of heightening my other senses.

  “Dimitri?” I call. “Daniel!” I yell louder. I want out; I need out. I can’t stay in here another minute. “Please!” The tears flow freely now, and I can’t stop the hyperventilating no matter how much I try to talk myself down.

  “Please, someone.” I cry harder, and my body shakes with the fear of the unknown and what’s happening outside of my grave.

  I can hear something, but I’m not sure what it is. Everything is muffled like I’m listening through water.

  Garbled voices can be heard, but I can’t focus my mind enough to recognize if it’s Daniel, Dimitri, or the killer. I know I’m not far from the house, but I don’t have a clue how deeply I’ve been buried, let alone if they even know I have been.

  “Daniel!” I scream as loud as I can, hoping against all odds one of them hears me.

  Once my voice stops echoing in the small box, complete silence greets me, and for the first time since opening the door, I have to wonder…

  Am I dead?

  Daniel

  Adrenaline has been pumping through my veins at a steady speed since I felt someone standing over me. The hand over my mouth followed by the prick in my arm triggered a consuming anger in me for a while. Now it’s pure rage that has me breaking free of the zip ties affixing me to the radiator as Dimitri tackles his son of a bitch ex-partner to the ground. The gunshot wasn’t shocking, seeing Dimitri’s blood on the flooring was.

  Before this asshole knows what’s happening, I’ve got my arms free and around his neck as he tries to wrap his hands around Dimitri’s, and I’m cutting off his airway.

  Just before he goes limp, I ask, “Where the fuck is Danika?” No matter how hard I’ve searched, in my limited viewpoint, or listened, I haven’t heard her since waking up, and I don’t know how fucking long it’s been since she’s gone missing.

  “Hopefully dead.” His laughter is cut short by the snapping of his neck as I let his body slide to the floor next to Dimitri.

  “D? You alright?” I spare him a glance as I run back to our room in search of pants. It’s then that I notice the clothes we stripped off of Danika are missing. “Her clothes are gone.” That gives me a small semblance of hope.

  “Ahh, fuck, getting shot hurts,” D grumbles as he climbs to his feet. Checking his side, I can tell he’s going to need stitches, but the bullet only grazed him. “I’ll fucking live.” He smirks at my frown.

  A muffled “hello” can be heard near the bed.

  “Shit, King.” Dimitri walks over holding his side. Staggering to the washroom for a cloth to stem the blood flow, he puts the call on speaker. “King, we’re here, man. Danny-boy’s got some wicked neck-snapping skills.”

  “What the fuck is going on? Who was shot?” A baby can be heard crying in the background with Lilith’s soft voice trying to soothe him.

  “That’d be me. Look, I don’t have time to explain. We’ve gotta find Danika. Everything’s fine. See you soon.” Hanging up before King can demand answers, I admire Dimitri for so many reasons. His give no fucks attitude one of the biggest.

  “You think he was lying?” I nod my head to the lifeless body on the ground.

  “About her being alive?” I swallow hard at the thought of anything else being true. “He wanted me to suffer. Watching the two of you die would accomplish that.”

  Hustling down the stairs, we hit the door running, not wanting Nika to be buried longer than she has to. I don’t even want to think about the possibility of her running out of air.

  “Danika!” I yell out, looking on the ground for loose soil.

  “Nika, baby, answer us!” Dimitri calls as he searches around the side of the house.

  Walking into the trees closer to the road, I close my eyes to listen, hoping she’ll make some noise. That she can make noise. “Mi amore, call out!”

  Minutes pass, feeling more like hours, when I finally hear it.

  “Please,” trailed by sobbing.

  “D! Over here!” I follow the sound behind a fallen tree just feet from me. The shovel is laying on the ground next to some up-turned r
ocks, grass, and other debris.

  Dropping to his knees as I dig, Dimitri calls for her, “Danika! We’re here, babe. Hang on!”

  After about a foot of digging, the shovel clashes down on hard wood. Dropping the tool, I slump down next to Dimitri as we dig her the rest of the way out by hand.

  Her crying grows more frantic as we free the lid of the box the bastard trapped her in. “Oh God!” Her words are barely discernable as she tries to get free, only locking herself in deeper.

  “Hang on, mi amore. Let us.” I try to remain calm when inside I want to snap the dickhead’s fucking neck again. Her legs are bent at an awkward angle; her arms are red and cut up from pushing on the walls of her cage.

  “I can’t.” She cries harder. “Please, Daniel, please get me out.”

  “Nika, you gotta take a few deep breaths,” Dimitri tells her in a firm voice. “Stop struggling and relax, we have you.”

  Shaking her head, her words stutter out. “I can’t. I need out. Now!”

  Placing one hand on her hip and the other under her head, I meet her gaze as Dimitri pleads with her again. “Deep breaths with me, baby.” I see her calming down as she watches him breathe deeply. Mimicking his actions so I can free her.

  Lifting gently and trying not to hurt her, I notice more scratches along her body and see that the stitches in her leg have popped, leaving a pool of blood on the bottom.

  I can feel my body vibrate with the anger rushing through me at the speed of a freight train. A hand on the back of my thigh has me turning to look at Dimitri, who observes us both. Soothing us. Being the steady center in our turbulent emotions.

  Taking a deep breath, I continue to help Danika out of her hell. We collapse on the ground with a thud. Her laying on top of me, curled in a small ball. Dimitri lays beside us, turning our bodies so he holds us. Even in pain, Dimitri is the one who keeps us together.

  “I thought I was dead. I didn’t believe–“

  “Shh, you’re okay, we’re all okay,” I try to reassure her.

  “Danny-boy took him to ground, Nika. He ain’t coming back.”

  “We’re safe? Who was he? Why was he here?” She leans up to look between us. In a pile of blood from the two of them and dirt from beneath us, we’re all a fucking mess.

  “Yeah, Danika, we’re safe,” I murmur, brushing my face into her hair. Needing the affirmation that she is indeed okay.

  “My ex-partner.” Dimitri’s voice is bitter. “He thought I betrayed the bureau, wanted some kind of warped fucking revenge.

  “That’s ridiculous.” She frowns. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” Her shy gaze moves between us as we slowly sit up, “I wouldn’t get to touch you again.” She reaches out with both hands, gliding them up our chests. We both close our eyes to savor her touch. “To kiss you.” A soft kiss lands on my neck as she does the same to Dimitri. “To make love to you both.”

  I’m shocked when she pulls her shirt over her head and crawls into Dimitri’s lap. “Nika,” he groans.

  “I never got to feel you inside of me. To have you release your essence into my womb. I haven’t felt your warmth claim me, Dimitri.”

  “You’re hurt,” he replies as she places her lips over his.

  “So are you.” Her hands cascade through his hair. “I need this, Dimitri. I need to feel alive. You and Daniel give me life when all I feel is death.”

  “Fuck,” he growls when she bites his neck. “Alright, Nika, I’ll give you everything you fucking want.” A dark light enters his eyes, and in it, I see a love so prolific I’m not sure Dimitri knows what it means.

  “Both of you,” she whispers. “I want both of you at the same time.”

  Dimitri

  I don’t think she knows what the fuck she’s asking for.

  Both of us.

  Inside her.

  We’re both fucked.

  “Strip, Danny-boy,” I bark, and she turns her head to watch him. We both do. Daniel’s body is a fucking work of art. Sculpted muscles with vibrant tattoos make him fucking drool-worthy.

  Naked, he helps Danika stand and take her clothes off as I remove my own. Setting a bed of our clothing down, I lay flat. Holding out an encouraging hand for her, she lowers herself over my hardened cock, weeping with need to feel her cunt wrapped in a tight embrace around him.

  Without any warming up, Danika slides down my length with ease. My eyes close of their own volition and allow me to simply feel her silky depths. “Fuck, Nika.” The words are torn from my soul.

  Her hips begin to move slowly as Daniel stands behind her, holding her hair in a death grip. “Fucking beautiful,” he mutters, looking down at her ass rocking back and forth on my cock.

  “This pussy is gonna be the death of me, baby,” I groan when she tightens her walls.

  Dropping to his knees behind her, Daniel runs one hand from her thighs, across my own skin, and up her back, pushing her to lay flat on my chest. Raising up on his knees, he grabs my hand and drops it on the small of her back.

  “Hold her,” he instructs. Shocking us both with his next move.

  The feel of his cock gliding against mine forces a groan to rattle in my chest as Danika’s breathing picks up pace. With both of his hands, he grips her ass cheeks and props her hips up a bit higher. When I feel the tip of his cock pushing into her pussy, my breath stalls.

  “Oh fuck,” she cries out as Daniel slowly pumps his hips, spreading her tight hole wider with each stroke, making me harder with each passing second.

  “You’re gonna be the fucking death of me, Danny-boy.” My hips buck involuntarily as I feel him deeper inside of her. I can feel his pulse pressed against mine, and when he leans over her back, pressing his forehead to hers and then mine, a lecherous grin appears, and I’ve never seen the man so fucking satisfied.

  “If she’s gonna have a baby, it’s gonna be fucking twins, and they’re gonna be fucking ours.”

  She gasps.

  I growl.

  We come together.

  Epilogue

  Dimitri

  Two Months Later.

  Buried bodies.

  Broken dreams.

  Desperate measures.

  We conquered the worst of the worst only to be thrown back into the lion’s den over and over again. For months, we battled forces who should have been destroyed before they breached the walls.

  I’d be lying if I said I regret any of it. I don’t. I don’t think any of us do. Because of the hell we’ve all been through, we found something we likely wouldn’t have otherwise.

  Love.

  An obsessive love.

  A saving love.

  A twisted love.

  A promised love.

  A dark love.

  An untraditional love.

  We’ve all found it. Claimed it.

  Now as I watch our family—because that’s what the Adair Empire is; family—say goodnight after a celebratory barbecue for the birth of the third child, Hendrix Adair—Castiel and Talia’s boy–and the announcement of Danika carrying twins—one mine, the other Daniel’s. Holden and Bishop, King and Atticus’ boys, can be heard playing side by side on the blanket the girls have spread out, and I know that everything has happened with purpose and reason.

  Without the destruction, we’d have never found our perfection. The other halves to our wholes. With our enemies vanquished and our lives moving on, there’s only one question that remains…

  What’s next?

  Epilogue 2

  Sometimes love is found in the dark. It consumes you, swallows you into the pits of hell.

  Sometimes love can be the greatest gift a person will ever receive.

  The darkness can overpower you in such a way you fight, you resist, any good brought into your life.

  A King can find his queen. Broken, lost, afraid. But he’ll bring her back to life. He’ll give her the life she never dreamed of. A child to love, a family to care for.

  “You’re the air I breathe, my quee
n.” ~ King: 13 Little Lies

  When a cold man rescues a woman who will change his life, giving them both hope for more, love can be born. Savored in such a way neither is one without the other.

  “With me, princess, you can be anything you fucking want to, so long as you’re also mine.” ~ Luther: 2 Truths and a Lie

  Killers lurk inside of us all, and no one knows better than a man looking for peace. A love of lies should die a quick death. It shouldn’t heal our wounds. A love of lies can be profound in ways we never understand.

  “You’re everything I don’t deserve, dolce, but I’m going to take you anyways.” ~ Castiel: With Lies

  Light can be found when nothing else was expected. That light can bring you a dark love, a deep love. A connection you didn’t know you longed for, let alone would achieve.

  “Have no doubt, little lamb, you are a warrior. You are fierce, and you are mine.” ~ Atticus: Secret Lies

  Even the beast will find love in the dark. He’ll devour it as quickly as the flames of Hades will rise in Hell. With beauty rises a love to incinerate even the darkest of souls.

  “I’m your life now. Whatever you want, it’s yours, Meadow-mine.” ~ Carver: Past Lies

  Love isn’t always traditional. It comes in two’s or three’s; it comes with many trials. Love is as subjective as life can often get. When you find it, you tempt it with promises. Lure it in with a subtle hint of what’s to come. Just because you feel you don’t deserve it, doesn’t mean you won’t get it. Whether by fate or design, in two’s or three’s, love…is love.

  “I need this, Dimitri, I need to feel alive. You and Daniel give me life when all I feel is death.” ~ Grasping For Air