Savage Sweetness (Lost and Found Book 3)

  Savage Sweetness

  By Elizabeth Lennox

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  Copyright 2022

  ISBN13: 9781950451623

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Any duplication of this material, either electronic or any other format, either currently in use or a future invention, is strictly prohibited, unless you have the direct consent of the author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Seductive Secrets – Angela’s story!

  Chapter 1

  The earth’s violent shaking was his first clue that something was seriously wrong.

  The sudden, intense heat and bone-jarring power of the unexpected explosion knocked Kasim clear off his feet. Without warning, a sharp pain ripped through his head. He felt as if the front of his body was on fire. Then darkness consumed him.

  Voices. Kasim’s eyes fluttered open briefly as he returned to himself. He could hear voices. Not close by. The voices seemed far away. And the smell! The scent of garbage, vomit, and…other things he couldn’t quite identify jolted him back to reality. The memory of being thrown and hitting his head came rushing back. The pain lashing his skull was worse than anything he could remember.

  Forcing his muscles to relax, the pain slowly receded. It was still there, but it wasn’t as intense. The respite allowed him to assess his situation and immediately, he knew it wasn’t good.

  The darkness surrounded him, but not completely. There were spots of light in the distance. It took him several moments to realize that he was lying on the wet ground as rain sprinkled down over him.

  Why the hell was he on the ground? And where was he? He looked around, but the stained, cement walls didn’t make sense to him. And where was the smell of garbage coming from?

  An explosion. Right. Slowly, the day’s events penetrated his mind. Yes, there had been some sort of explosion. A bomb? It must have knocked him backwards. He looked around again, careful not to move his head too much. The slicing pain in his head warned him not to move too quickly.

  There was no fire near him. Wouldn’t an explosion cause fire? Slowly shifting on to his side, he took inventory of the myriad aches and pains. Besides a throbbing head, he didn’t seem to have any other serious injuries. Definitely some bruises on his back, but his ribs weren’t broken. Thank goodness!

  Still, nothing made sense. An explosion? What had exploded?

  He slowly got to his feet, ignoring the pain in the back of his head. It wasn’t as bad as it had been a moment ago, but he wasn’t going to shake his head any time soon.

  Standing, he looked around. He was in a basement? No, not a basement. There were stairs, but he could still see the night sky. Cement walls. Garbage. Distant street lights. Stairs?

  He was in a stairwell. The explosion must have knocked him backwards and he’d fallen down the stairs. That would explain his throbbing head. Reaching back, he felt the knot. He probably had a concussion too.

  That’s when he heard voices. Looking around, he grabbed the metal handrail for balance. There were raised voices somewhere close by. Kasim knew that he needed to inform his guards that he was alive. They would be searching for him.

  Taking the first step was an excruciating effort, but he managed it. The next step wasn’t quite as bad and, by the time he reached the fifth stair, Kasim figured that he was okay, just stiff .

  The voices were becoming clearer and Kasim looked around, trying to locate where the voices were so he could announce his presence. But as he peered over the cement wall supporting the stairway, all he found was chaos! His bodyguards were scattered across the ground and their wounds looked severe! Were they dead?

  And yet, even as he watched, someone stepped over a body and into his field of vision. Then he heard, “Find him!” barked by an unknown voice. A stranger? His guards wouldn’t have brought on a new team. Not at a time like this!

  Another voice, this rough and gravelly, declared, “We have to find him! His body isn’t with the others, so he must be around here somewhere. And if he’s alive, then make sure the new wounds are consistent with an explosion! He has to be dead for the plan to work!”

  Kasim ducked behind the wall. He knew they were referring to him. He had to be killed and whatever new wounds inflicted on his person needed to look like they’d occurred during the blast.

  So…a bomb. No, not just a bomb. An assassination.

  Someone was trying to kill him.

  Kasim grimaced. Someone trying to kill him wasn’t exactly newsworthy by itself. That was a fact of life. As Sheik of Alistar, people tried to kill him all the time.

  No, what bothered him was that so many of his personal body guards had died during the attempt. His hands curled into fists and he had to fight the urge to burst from his hiding place and attack the people disrespecting the bodies of his personal guards. Those were his friends, people who had done their best to save his life.

  Vowing that he would find out who did this, Kasim rubbed his temples as he forced himself to think. First thing he had to do was to get away from here. Then he’d have to contact…who? He couldn’t contact his security guards. They might be in on the attempted assassination. He doubted it, but until he validated their innocence, he couldn’t trust anyone.

  Well, actually, there were four people he could trust. Yes, he could trust his friends, Marco, Angela, Callum, and Dash. He trusted them completely! In fact, they’d saved his life the last time someone had tried to kill him with a bomb!

  His first priority was getting away safely.

  He heard footsteps crunching on the asphalt and pressed his back to the concrete wall. The footsteps paused briefly right above his head before moving on. Kasim figured that the person was searching this area alone since there were no other footsteps.

  Excellent, he thought, quietly stepping out of the stairway. Moving quickly, he silently moved behind the man. It took only two jabs of his fists to the guy’s back and side to take the man down. He checked for a pulse. Still alive. Kasim nodded and dragged the man behind a rusty dumpster so he was out of sight.

  Quickly, Kasim checked the man’s pockets. His wallet contained about eighty dollars in cash. Kasim stuffed the credit cards into his pocket. He’d discard them later, but Kasim wanted the guy to look like he’d been mugged. He also grabbed the guy’s sunglasses. They’d be useful at avoiding detection, but since he was several inches over six feet, his height would still be a giveaway.

  Looking down at his shirt, Kasim noticed that it was covered with soot and odd stains that he didn’t want to identify. Filthy clothes would make him stand out, he thought and shifted the man’s weight until he could pull the man’s dress shirt off. Quickly, Kasim put it on, rolling his own up into a ball. The other man wasn’t nearly as tall as Kasim, but he was heavier. Kasim managed to remove the man’s slacks as well, which he wrapped around his waist underneath the shirt. The extra clothing disguised his silhouette pretty well.

  Now that his appearanc
e was altered, Kasim scanned the area, then decided that it was best to get out of the area and figure out his next steps later.

  With the man’s cash in his pocket, he turned and, slouching his shoulders, he moved casually towards the sidewalk at the other end of the alley. Moving slowly, he melted into the crowd of passersby, all of who were oblivious to what had just happened only a block away.

  Rosalee beamed as she handed over the steaming cup of milk. “Enjoy!” she told the customer. The customer smiled in return, collected the two cups, and lifted them into the air, out of reach of her young daughter. “Wait, my darling!” she cautioned her daughter. “The cup is hot. I’ll carry it for you. You can hold it when we get to the table.”

  The little girl immediately raced over to an empty table, climbed onto a chair and licked her lips, eagerly waiting for her mother to join her. The mother put her enormous cup of coffee down on the table, still keeping the steamed milk out of the way. “You still have to wait. It’s very hot,” she warned the little girl.

  Rosalee watched the pair get settled. This was the moment she loved, one of the reasons she enjoyed her job so much. The mother handed the girl the chocolate ball, then they both watched, fascinated, as the small girl delicately placed the chocolate ball in the steamed milk. Slowly, almost hesitantly, the hot milk melted the chocolate and then…poof! The crushed peppermint candies inside were revealed. The chocolate and peppermint then melted into the milk, creating a hot chocolate specialty that never failed to entertain and amaze.

  The little girl clapped, excited to taste her treat. Satisfied, Rosalee returned to the operations area of her coffee shop. She’d sold out of almost all of her pastries this morning during the coffee rush. The afternoon rush would be here soon, so she ducked into the back room and started loading up trays of cookies and pre-made sandwiches. In case a customer wanted a hot sandwich, she had a panini maker to toast the bread and melt the cheese. The cookies were soft, gooey, and incredibly delicious. Rosalee adored her little coffee shop. In her mind, she had the best job in the world!

  She sighed happily as she admired her colorful, welcoming coffee shop and bakery. She loved the customers, the tourists as well as the small town’s regulars. She loved the smell of fresh cookies when she pulled them from the oven and she loved the smiles and joy people discovered in her shop. It was perfect!

  As she carried the loaded trays out to the refrigerated display cases, she noticed a customer was playing a news report on their laptop. Rosalee wasn’t sure what had happened, but there was an image of a burning vehicle. Whatever had happened, that violence had occurred in downtown Washington, DC, so Rosalee dismissed her automatic worry. It hadn’t happened in her wonderful, little town, so it didn’t impact her. Washington, DC was about thirty miles away and things like explosions and assassinations just didn’t affect the residents here. Another reason to adore her small town!

  “Hey Rosalee!”

  Rosalee turned, smiling brightly at the tall, handsome man stepping up to her counter. “James!” she replied. “How’s Bessie?” she asked, referring to James’s favorite horse. Bessie was a lovely brown mare with the most beautiful eyes. She’d also birthed the last four champion stallions and was a massive moneymaker for James. James, however, loved the sweet mare simply because she was a beautiful horse and refused to continue breeding her. She’d born enough champions and James had retired her, allowing her the freedom to roam around in the rolling fields that made up his expansive property. It was just a lucky happenstance that James’s property ran alongside Rosalee’s, and Bessie was more than half in love with Rosalee’s big male horse, Fox, so nicknamed because Fox was cunning like a fox and escaped whenever he wanted to cuddle with his lady love next door.

  “Mooning over the fact that you won’t let Fox out to play,” James teased.

  Rosalee rolled her eyes. “Those two are going to break something one day!” She stared up at James, wishing that she could fall for him the same way Fox had fallen in love with Bessie. Unfortunately, while she’d gone out with James a couple of times since he’d bought the property next door, there simply weren’t any sparks between them.

  “They’re going to break my fence,” James grumbled.

  Rosalee laughed but didn’t deny the accusation. He was probably right. “What can I get you today?”

  “Just one of your amazing cups of coffee,” he told her.

  Rosalee got one of her largest cups, filled it up with the steaming brew, and slid it across the counter. James already had his money out and tried to hand it to her.

  “You know the rules, James,” she replied, returning his money.

  James rolled his eyes, but didn’t take the money back. “By the way, I was exercising a few of the horses earlier today and I heard Ruppert banging on the stables.” Ruppert was a cantankerous, ugly, shockingly loveable donkey, and Fox’s faithful companion. And although Fox was larger than Ruppert by quite a bit, Ruppert was in charge.

  Ruppert? Why in the world was he hanging out in the stables? Rosalee always let Ruppert and Fox roam around in the pasture during the day. She blinked at James, confused and worried. “Was he okay?”

  James took a long sip of his coffee. “Yeah, I was riding Monty,” he explained, referring to one of the younger stallions, “and heard him kicking. But when I rode over to check on him, he just stared at me as if I was crazy.”

  Rosalee laughed, shaking her head. “That sounds like Ruppert.”

  “I checked his legs, just in case. No open wounds or tender spots, so he isn’t hurt.” He lifted the cup of coffee in a salute. “Talk to you later,” he said, turning away with his coffee and leaving the money. “Buy Arthur a meal with that,” he added, nodding towards the money on the countertop.

  Rosalee took the money and stashed it into an envelope. She’d give Arthur the money as well as a sandwich on her way home tonight. Arthur was a homeless guy who lived on the edge of town in a tent. He was a good man, just down on his luck.

  Kasim looked around, wondering why he felt so hot! And why did it feel as if something was pressing on his chest? Keeping his eyes closed, he assessed his injuries. Did he have a fever?

  Perhaps. He’d hit his head pretty hard yesterday.

  Had it only been yesterday? It seemed longer.

  Maybe he was wounded from yesterday’s bombing, beyond just the bump on his head.

  No, that wasn’t it. Kasim knew that he would have noticed another wound by now. He’d jumped onto the Metro system yesterday afternoon, taking the Washington, DC metro area’s subway system all the way out to the suburbs. Then he’d started walking west. He hadn’t had a destination in mind, just a determination to get away from the city, away from danger. He’d been looking for a safe place to go, a place where people wouldn’t recognize him.

  So, where the hell was he now? And why was he so hot? Why couldn’t he breathe easily?

  Opening his eyes, he realized that it was midday, if the position of the sun was any indication. And it was fall. The air outside was warm now, but not hot enough to make him feel like this.

  He shifted slightly and the weight on his chest moved as well. Tilting his head slightly, he realized that there was a cat sleeping on his chest. Correction. Not one cat. There were two cats on his chest. Okay, that made sense. The presence of the cats…very large, very heavy cats…at least explained why he was having trouble breathing.

  Shifting again, he felt something soft brush against his temple. Kasim realized that his head was surrounded by something soft and fluffy as well. Not cats. He turned slowly so as not to disrupt whatever was snuggled up around his head. He noticed tiny legs and oddly tufted ears that twitched slightly, as if the little grey balls of fur were dreaming about…whatever it was that balls of fur dreamt about.

  For a long moment, he wasn’t sure what the furry things were. Definitely not a cat. Nor a rabbit. They were about the size of a baby rabbit, but…? They were…chinchillas? One fluffy thing rolled slightly and yawned, its ti
ny hands curling into fists. One by one, the little creatures opened dark eyes, noses twitching as they stared back at him.

  Even as he watched, fascinated and curious, the tiny furballs stretched and darted off out of view.

  Odd, he thought. Meanwhile, the cats, shifted again, grumbling quietly as if he’d annoyed them by moving. The cats settled again, obviously in no rush to get up and do…whatever cats did.

  Unfortunately for the felines, Kasim needed to move. Now that the chinchillas were gone, and the heat they were providing was removed, other needs were making themselves known.

  Carefully lifting each feline off his chest and setting them down on the straw-covered floor beside him, he sat up and looked around. The cats stretched, glared at him, then wandered off to find a new sleeping spot.

  Kasim wondered where he was. Obviously a barn, he thought, taking in the heavy overhead beams and the rough wood walls around him. The barn was clean, but there were a few repairs that should be done before the winter set in. The wool blanket he’d found last night was tangled around his feet and Kasim was fairly sure that it was normally used for the horses. He remembered finding the blanket last night after slipping into the building.

  “Excellent,” he muttered, sniffing his shirt. “Not too bad.”

  A thudding sound startled him and he jumped to his feet in alarm. A rude, ragged-looking donkey peered over the wooden walls at him. The shockingly ugly donkey made a sound that shouldn’t come from anything outside of hell, then disappeared from view.

  “Okay, I’m in a stable.” As soon as he said the words, memories of walking through the woods until he’d come across this stable rushed back to his memory. It had been relatively warm inside and had four walls. He’d figured that he couldn’t ask for more than that and, because his head had been pounding, he found a place in one of the unused stalls and passed out.

  The donkey peeked over the wooden wall again and made another disgusted sound. “You’re kind of obnoxious,” Kasim told the donkey. Then the furry head vanished again. “Not a punishment,” he called out to the donkey, understanding what the animal was doing. There were several things that Kasim grasped extremely well; investing, economics, politics, and horses. Donkeys were close enough to horses to count. At least, this one did!