Yearning Absolution (Yearning Series) Read online

  Yearning

  Absolution

  By

  Rachael

  Orman

  Yearning Absolution

  Copyright 2013 by Rachael Orman

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Yearning Absolution is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  I owe the biggest thanks to my husband and daughters for always letting me do my thing and putting up with mommy’s craziness. Rebecca, my cover designer and awesome friend, thanks for being so wonderful. Wendi, Jennifer, Jana, Chelsea and T for being there when I needed someone to help reign in the wild side. Jacqui, my biggest fan, thanks for motivating me to getting the book done as quickly as I did.

  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Epilogue

  “Forget all the reasons it won’t work and believe the one reason that it will.” - Unknown

  Chapter 1

  Gwen sat curled up on the couch in her boyfriend’s living room with a sketch book in her lap. It had been two days since the night, her boyfriend, Cole, had taken her out for a date. Two days since they had come face to face with her former captor, the very man who held her against her will for five long years. She’d killed his brother in order to escape. It had taken 11 years for him to find her but he had A few days before he’d called her, just once, but that night, it was the first time she’d seen him. She and Cole had been walking into a restaurant on their first official date and he’d been standing right outside the restaurant waiting for her. Her entire body had froze at the sight of him. Cole took one look at her face that night and quickly ushered her into the restaurant.

  It was then, while they sat at dinner that Gwen had finally told Cole everything about her past. He was furious that she hadn’t told him about her captor’s phone call as soon as she had gotten the call. Once they were finished with dinner, they slipped out the back door and Gwen had spent the night curled in his arms. The next day, he had movers at her house packing her things and moving both Gwen and McKayla into his apartment, where he could help protect her better.

  Gwen looked over as McKayla entered Cole’s living room. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with her purse in hand.

  “Heading out?” Gwen asked as she put down her sketch book and stood.

  “Yea, I have a photo shoot I have to go to.” McKayla said pushing her long blonde hair over her shoulders, her bright blue eyes twinkled as she looked at Gwen. Her eyes always seemed to do that, just for Gwen. They’d be friends for over 10 years and lovers for most of them. She wrapped her arms around Gwen when she came close. She rubbed her nose with Gwen’s. “You behave while I’m gone.”

  “Of course! Have you noticed this view?” Gwen gestured at the wall to wall windows behind her that she had been gazing out. Through the windows was Central Park looking as beautiful as ever. “It’s incredibly inspiring.”

  McKayla smiled and placed a tender kiss on Gwen’s lips before heading out to her photo shoot. Gwen watched as her model girlfriend left the apartment that was 35 floors up in the air before returning to her spot on the couch. She bent her legs in front of her and propped her book up on them so she could glance out the window and sketch new designs at the same time.

  The next day would be her first official day at her new job with MHKR, a leading fashion design corporation that owned numerous high fashion brands. Gwen was hired right from school, she hadn’t even finished her first year before they recruited her. She had worked for MHKR as an assistant under another designer for a year before she debuted her own designs. Then, MHKR had offered her a position as a designer. It was her dream come true, not to mention the fact that her boss was her incredibly handsome boyfriend. Not that dating him had gotten her the job since they hadn’t really been dating at the time she was hired.

  She ran her pencil across her sketch pad as she drew another evening gown. It was what she was good at and what she enjoyed. Gwen loved to wear dresses and gowns because they made her feel feminine and pretty. She had long wavy brown hair, brown eyes with thick eyebrows that accentuated them and pale pink lips. All of it put together with her size ten frame and 32DD breasts made her easy on the eyes to look at. But what she looked like on the outside was different than how she felt on the inside. She had lived a hard life that made her feel like she was dirty and disgusting on the inside. The two people in her life that cared for her the way they did was helping her see herself differently a little more every day.

  “This is most definitely a sight I could get used to coming home to every day.” Cole said as he walked into the room. Gwen let her eyes run over his strong square jaw, short dark brown hair and striking green eyes. Those eyes had been what stole her heart from the very beginning.

  “Hey there, handsome.” Gwen said as Cole came over to her and planted a soft kiss on her lips. He had just returned from the gym in a tight shirt and loose shorts. She licked her lips taking in his sweat soaked shirt. He sat next to her on the couch as she scooted back to make more room. “Seriously, I don’t know how anyone gets in a good workout when you are down there.”

  “You could’ve come with me. Then you could see I’m really not as distracting as you think.” A sly smile slid over his face because he knew it was a lie. Every woman watched when he walked through a room. His 6’5”, muscular body was hard to miss even the very way he carried himself almost demanded attention. He wasn’t cocky but he was very comfortable in his body and his abilities.

  “Maybe next time.” Gwen reached over and put her sketch book on the table again. She reached up and grabbed his face with both her hands, pulling him down to her for another kiss. This one much longer as she tilted her head and slipped her tongue into his mouth. She pulled back from him. "If you really want to see me in your house more when you get here, you might want to greet me with a kiss more like that."

  "Oh, I'll be sure to make note of that." He smiled before leaning down to kiss her again. "Now I have to go shower because I stink."

  "Want company?" Gwen wiggled her eyebrows as he stood back up. He laughed. />
  "No. Well, yes, but no. I told you. I don't put out until at least the third date and we are only at date one." Cole winked at her as he held up a single finger.

  "That’s so ridiculous. We've already had sex and it was amazing. I don't see why we are waiting." Gwen pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest. He laughed and thumped his thumb against her pouting lower lip.

  "Because. I want to show you that you are more important than just for sex, which every other man in your life has failed to do. So, I will suffer as you do and wait. It'll be that much more special." He kissed her forehead before walking from the room.

  Gwen had been sexually abused in her youth from the brothers that had help her captive for five years and then she'd continued to let men use her body for years after because she'd thought it was helping her heal. Now that she'd found Cole and seen the way a real man treated a woman, she knew she hadn't done anything but prolonged the harm that the brothers had done to her. She'd been on the clean path for over a year now and she wasn't going back to that lifestyle.

  Gwen stood and walked to stand in front of the windows that looked out at all the greenery below them. Thinking of all the life changes she'd gone through, her life was so much better now that she had taken the steps to find what truly made her happy. She was now going to have to adjust to living with Cole at least temporarily. He'd only asked the girls to move into his place until they figured out what to do about the surviving brother that had just appeared again. Gwen had only agreed because she was truly terrified of him. She knew she wasn't ready to live with Cole full time but the security in his building was very good. The man who had abducted her hadn't tried to do anything the night that they'd seen him in front of the restaurant, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t just waiting for the perfect moment.

  Chapter 2

  "What has you staring out the window?" Cole had returned and was right behind Gwen. She hadn't heard him enter the room.

  "Just, you know, stuff." Gwen let out a deep breath and turned to face him. "I really do appreciate you letting us stay with you. At least now we don't have to worry about him waiting for us when we come home. Or trying to slip into the building to surprise us."

  "Not an issue. Really. I'm happy to have you here where I can spend more time with you. I feel like we've lost out on so much time together from my stupidity and now I can make it up with you here all the time." He pushed her hair off her cheek with the back of his hand before tucking it behind her ear. "We will figure it out. It'd be so much easier if we had a name to start with."

  "You'd think after living with them for so long I'd have heard their names, but they were always so careful to not address each other by name when I was around." Gwen frowned. She hadn't cared when she'd lived with them because it wasn't like she socialized with them. Most of what she knew about them was from them speaking to each other when she was cooking or cleaning or even pleasuring them. Thinking, even briefly, about what she did with them sent a shiver down her back. She didn't want to go there. "What do you have to eat?"

  "Let’s go look." Cole said grabbing her hand and pulling her to the kitchen.

  "You have no idea what you have in there?"

  "No. I don't normally spend a lot of time at home, but since you are here I'll be making the effort to be here a whole lot more." Cole winked at her as he pulled open the door to the fridge. "Plus, I have a house keeper that does the grocery shopping for me and cleaning."

  "Must be nice." Gwen grumbled.

  “I see you are in a mood today.” Cole frowned as he looked over his shoulder at her.

  “Get used to it.” Gwen snapped at him which caused him to close the fridge and move to stand in front of her. He pulled her into a hug, pressing her body against his. One of his hand slid into her hair and pulled her head gently back to look up at him.

  “Listen to me. We will figure this out. Stop thinking about it, it won’t do any good. Now snap out of it or I’ll bend you over this counter and spank you till you cheer up.” Cole said looking into her eyes. He leaned down and kissed her hard as he lifted her hips onto the counter. “Now, what would you like to eat? I will make you whatever you want.”

  “Food?” Gwen scooted back and crossed her legs on the counter. Cole moved back to the fridge and started taking out various items.

  “How about Quinoa? Too bad. That’s what I’m making.” Cole winked at her before pulling a few things from the pantry.

  “I didn’t think you knew how to cook.” Gwen was kind of fascinated watching him. He’d changed into a pair of nice fitting jeans and a black long sleeved shirt that showed off his muscular chest and arms. She was wearing a similar outfit except her top was a v neck sweater that was dark brown.

  “Yes, I took cooking courses in college because I didn’t want to rely upon people to cook for me all the time. Granted, most days my housekeeper does the cooking but usually on the weekends I cook for myself and now you and McKayla.” Cole shrugged. He was putting stuff into a rice cookers and had something cooking on the stove.

  “Well, good because I don’t cook. McKayla cooks so I’ll leave that up to the two of you.” She hopped off the counter so she could move behind him and wrap her arms around his waist. “I just wanted to come say thank you for putting up with me.”

  “I’m more than happy to. But you have talk to me and tell me what is going on with you.” Cole looked over his shoulder at her.

  “I know.” Gwen let out a loud sigh. “I’m trying. This whole situation has thrown me off.”

  “I know. You won’t scare me away, no matter what you say.” He said stirring whatever it was that was on the stove.

  “I’m gonna go back to my sketches. Let me know when dinner is done.” Gwen squeezed tight before letting go of him. He just hummed and nodded as he was tasting something. She hadn’t gotten very much farther with her sketch before he was calling out to tell her dinner was ready. Cole was walking into the other end of the room from where she was just standing up. Setting down two plates on the large round black wood table, he pulled out one of the leather chairs for her to sit in. Cole pushed it in for her before coming back with silverware and linen napkins in one hand and two wine glasses in the other. He sat next to her and handed her a set of silverware with her glass of wine.

  “Quinoa and chicken. Voila. A healthy and tasty meal.” Cole watched as she took her first bite. “Good?”

  “Mmm. Yes.” Gwen said after swallowing. “I’ve had Quinoa before but it was so dry and not tasty at all.”

  “Ah, but there is a trick to it.” Cole said cutting his chicken.

  “Are you gonna tell me what that trick is or is it a secret?” Gwen asked before taking another bite.

  “It’s a big secret so I can’t tell you. Plus my mouth is full.” Cole grinned before taking a big bite.

  “I suppose I’ll be able to live the rest of my life without knowing that secret.” Gwen laughed. “That’s what I have you and McKayla for. You two can cook, I’ll just eat it and enjoy it.”

  The pair shared the rest of the meal with friendly conversation about crazy foods they’d eaten. When she was done, Gwen pushed back in her chair.

  “That was surprisingly very delicious, considering it was healthy.” She smiled at him.

  “Come with me. I have something I want to show you.” Cole stood and held out his hand for her. She slipped her hand into his and followed him down a long hallway, past the door that lead to his bedroom. She hadn’t quite figured out where everything was in his apartment. It was massive and took up the entire floor of the apartment building. They passed a few more doors before the hallway opened up into a good size room. In the middle was a big flat table, a sewing machine and a desk with a laptop sitting closed on it. There was a bar complete with a sink in one corner and a door that was open just enough that she could see it was a bathroom. “This is your space. I know that you have a design room at your apartment and I want you to feel at home here so I had this stuff brought in when you
were sleeping last night.” He pulled her hand again and led her across the room. There was a short hallway with two doors. He opened the one directly in front of them. “This is McKayla’s room. I know that she’ll sleep in our bed most nights, but just so she has her own room and space to do as she wishes. Or if she wants to sleep in her own bed.”

  Gwen looked at him bewildered for a moment then at the room. It had all the normal bedroom furniture, a walk in closet and its own bathroom. She walked through the room and then came back to him. “Why did you do all this?”

  “Because I want you both to be happy in my home. It was just a bunch of empty space before anyway. Now it will be put to much better use.” He shrugged and opened the other door in the short hallway. “This is a washer and dryer too. You know, just in case she wants to wash her own clothes. The housekeeper will do the laundry in the big set on the other side of the apartment, but I had these smaller ones put here in case she wants to use them. This was originally supposed to be two apartments, but when I bought them I had them combined, the hook up was still there.”

  “How many rooms is your apartment? It’s the biggest apartment I think I’ve ever seen.” Gwen said and she’d seen a lot of apartments.

  “Well, let’s see. There is six and a half baths, six bedrooms, a den, library, a million closets and all the other normal rooms any house would have. I bought it a couple years ago when my ex-wife and I got married. I’d thought we were gonna have a family so I made sure we had the space for the baby, a live in nanny or two, a live in housekeeper and then have our own space as well. Sadly, most of it has sat empty since she rarely even stayed here. She had her own place, said she didn’t want me messing with her stuff or some stupid excuse.” Cole sighed deeply at the thought. “I’ve thought about selling it and getting some place much smaller since I don’t need all this. But I’m glad I didn’t now that you are both here.”