Cold Reign by R.W. Ringwald II (best novels for beginners txt) 📖

/> “I heard some talk,” Reign said, starting the car. “Has there been a kidnapping in town?”
Caulder heard the clacking of computer keys. “None that have been reported.”
“Well, be on the lookout, and call me if you hear something,” Caulder said. “Send a patrol by Janet's house every hour or so.”
“Caulder, if you need help.”
“Holcomb, please, you know you could lose your job for helping me, but Janet's house may be in danger,” Caulder told him. “Tell them there's suspicious activity.”
“Sure,” Holcomb said. “Good luck in whatever you're doing.”
“Thanks.” Caulder revved the engine, and headed towards Janet's house.

Ten minutes later, he pulled into the driveway. He clicked the button on the garage door opener, which had stayed in the glove compartment. He pulled the car into the place it hadn't been in almost four years.
He knocked on the door, and Janet opened it, she looked slightly panicked, but gave him a quick hug. “The girls are about to go to bed, Ren is out now.”
“Good,” he said, looking around. “Let me run around the house, and make sure it's all alright.”
He walked throughout the house, checking all of the windows, doors, and even locked the garage doors. He shut the porch light off, and walked back to the living room. The girls had just shut the TV. off, and were walking upstairs.
Janet looked at him for a moment. “We need to talk. But before the conversation, I want to tell you a little story: remember the last time you took Camilla and Ren out, you had a lot of fun, right?”
Caulder smiled. “Yeah.”
“He came home with the widest grin, and I almost cried when he asked me, when is daddy coming back.”
He sighed, and rubbed his forehead. “Janet, I...”
“Don't speak, I'll talk and you listen,” she pointed to the couch, and he obeyed, Janet was a scary woman when she wanted to be. She sat down next to him. “I knew, when I married Hank that what happened was bound to happen.”
Caulder sighed.
Janet put her hand on his shoulder. “Six months before he was killed, you and hank got into that shootout, when we thought he wasn't going to wake up.
“I had a couple drinks, and you had taken your medication,” she told him. He remembered the night she was talking about. “We betrayed him, but that gave me something to think about. He died when I was pregnant with Ren, but he never knew.”
“At least he gave you Ren before he was killed,” Caulder said.
“That's what this is about, Caulder. We didn't make love after he got out of the hospital, he couldn't.”
“No, Janet, no.”
“Yes, Caulder.”
Caulder sat in silence, looking at the floor. She rubbed his shoulder. “Do you even remember that night?”
“How couldn't I, that night caused me many sleepless ones, since it happened,” he said, touching her knee. “I loved him like a brother, I feel awful.”
“That doesn't mean we couldn't talk about it, Caulder, it's been four years,” She told him, laying her head on his shoulder. “I knew it would be hard, but not that hard, especially how I feel for you.”
“No,” he said, trying to pull away from her.
She grabbed a handful of his hair, and turned his head towards her. “You ran last time, do you really think it would work a second time?”
“Janet,” he said, grabbing her shoulders. “It almost destroyed me, waking up in your bed.”
“It doesn't have to be that way, Caulder,” She said, almost in tears. “I already told you my dark secret. What do you think it did to me, knowing that, and not telling you?”
Caulder's brain stopped working, there was no way to think his way out of this one. He wanted to slap himself, but Janet pulled him closer, and he had wanted this for so long. When she touched her lips to his, he couldn't help himself.
He stood up, still locked to her. “Come on,” she said, leading him upstairs.
He took one look at the bed, and he started having second thoughts, but she kissed him again, shutting the door behind her. He pulled her blouse off, revealing a laced bra, and her perfect skin. He swallowed as he pulled his shirt off, and flung it on the floor, on hers.
She pulled his belt off as he worked on the button on her jeans. “Are you sure you want to do this,” he asked looking her in the eye.
She pulled his belt from his pants, and looked at him with a feral look in her eyes. “We wouldn't be here if I didn't,” she panted pulling his pants down.
She slid herself out of her jeans, and her panties once he unbuttoned them. He pushed her down on the bed, kissing her as he did so. “Do you think we need-”
“Don't worry about it, I'm covered,” she said.

Janet woke up, Caulder's arm as a pillow. She stared at him for several minutes, his honey colored hair hung beautifully over his face. She hadn't known how much she missed him until that moment, waking up next to him.
She rubbed his chest, the muscles visible, as well as the two scars on his left shoulder, and the long line down his right arm. She ran her finger down it, and watched his arm tense up.
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Text: story by R.W. Ringwald II
Publication Date: 12-22-2011

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