Chapter Thirty-Two

When Eric pulled into his driveway again, it was ten o’clock the next morning. He and Dayne had stuck around to assist the bomb squad, answer questions, and update the brass for the multitude of press conferences that would be hitting the airwaves for days, weeks, probably months to come.

Crisis averted.

He shut off the engine and got a glimpse of his face in the rearview mirror. He looked like hell, and there wasn’t one square inch of his body or clothes that wasn’t covered with dirt and dust.

The revenge he’d been fueling for Harley Gant was nothing more than a memory, a puff of smoke after a giant bonfire had died down. His only regret was that he hadn’t been the one to pull the trigger.

He should have been exhausted. Instead, he was wired tighter than a wind-up toy. Not from caffeine, but from the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins at seeing Tess again. They were about to have “the talk” that hadn’t been possible until now, and he was scared shitless he’d fuck it up.

“Let’s go, buddy.” He popped Tiger’s door, expecting his K-9 to leap from the Interceptor and charge into the house for breakfast. Deep snores came from the kennel. Tiger was fast asleep, his snout between his paws, his chest expanding in slow, rhythmic motions.

Quietly, he reached for his bag then went outside. Not even his own door closing was enough to rouse his dog. The last twenty-four hours had been long and grueling, and Tiger hadn’t left his side once.

“Tiger.” He reached into the kennel and gently patted the dog’s rump.

Tiger’s head shot up, his breath coming in quick snorts as he leaped to his feet, spinning around in the kennel, then jumping from the SUV and galloping to the house.

Chuckling, Eric closed the kennel door then made his way between Nick’s and Kade’s SUVs. Tess probably wouldn’t be pleased with what he’d made his friends swear to.

He pushed open the front door to his house, letting Tiger trot in first. Saxon and Tango greeted his dog, sniffing and wagging their tails.

“Hey.” Nick rose from the sofa and fist-bumped him.

Kade did the same.

Not unexpectedly, Tess’s duffel sat on the floor beside the sofa.

“You’ve got your work cut out for you,” Kade said, sympathy evident in his hazel eyes. “She’s not happy.”

Nick grunted. “Understatement.”

“Where is she?” He set his gear bag on the floor, looking around the living room and the kitchen.

“Upstairs.” Nick sat on the arm of the sofa. “And she’s mad as hell. Like a powder keg ready to blow.”

Eric couldn’t keep the corners of his mouth from lifting. “Good. That means she’ll be okay.” Taking a life was never easy. Only a stone-cold killer could get away without any emotional scarring. Tess was anything but stone-cold.

“What’d the prosecutor say?” Kade asked.

“The shooting was justified, and she’s in the clear.” From going to prison, that was. There were still a lot of questions the prosecutor wanted answered about Gant, Pritchard, and the others.

Tiger yawned, then stalked to his bed in the living room, circled twice, and lay down with a groan. His K-9 was so beat he didn’t even want food.

“Am I under house arrest?” a frosty voice asked from the bottom of the stairs. Tess’s beautiful green eyes lasered into him like bolts of Kryptonite, then she narrowed those twin beams on Nick and Kade. “They refused to let me leave until you got home.”

From her frigid tone, her meaning was clear as a bell. His home. Not hers.

“Thanks, guys.” He tipped his head to his friends. “I’ve got this.”

Kade gave Tess a quick hug. “Tango, let’s go.” The white shepherd sprung to Kade’s side, following him out the front door.

Nick leaned in to kiss Tess on the cheek then hugged her tightly. “Stay in touch, Red. Wherever you wind up.” He winked then waited a moment for Tess to crouch and wrap her arms around Saxon’s back.

Nick’s black shepherd licked her on the cheek then trotted out behind Kade and Tango.

“Good luck, man.” Nick clapped him on the back.

“Thanks.” He needed it.

After closing the door, he turned to find Tess kneeling by Tiger’s bed, gently stroking his dog’s ears. “Goodbye, Tiger. I’ll miss you. Jesse will miss you even more.”

Tiger lifted his head to give her hand a lick, then went back to sleep.

“How are you?” He tamped down his need to pull her into his arms.

Ignoring his question, she rose to retrieve the small velvet bag on the side table—the one with her crystals. “Am I going to prison for shooting Harley?”

“No.” He snorted. “The mayor of Newark and the governor want to give you a medal.”

She stared at him, unblinking, then went to her duffel and stuffed the velvet bag inside. “Then I’m free to leave.”

“How’s Jesse doing?” he asked, feeling the first vestiges of panic that she might actually leave before he said what he needed to say.

“He’s weak and dehydrated.” She zipped her bag closed. “Nick took me to the hospital last night. They’re releasing him tomorrow, but don’t worry. I’ll send you the money to cover his medical bills as soon as I can.”

“You don’t need to do that.” The small talk was killing him. If he didn’t get his shit together, she’d be out the door and out of his life in two seconds. Problem was, he didn’t know where to begin.

“I pay my debts.” Her brow furrowed, and he had the distinct impression she wasn’t only referring to monetary ones. “I guess this is goodbye.” She gave him a tight smile then picked up her bag.

When she headed to the hall table where her purse was, full-on panic bubbled up inside him. It’s now or never.

He gently clasped her arm, stopping her. If she walked out that door, she’d take that stupid, beating thing in his chest with her. “Don’t leave. Please,” he added, preparing to launch into a full-on beg.

“I have to.” Tears gathered in her eyes, making them sparkle like emeralds. “There’s nothing here for me.”

“There is,” he insisted, rubbing his palms up and down her bare arms. For both of us.

“No.” She valiantly blinked back her tears, reminding him that she was the most courageous person he’d ever met. Strength and grace under pressure. “I once thought there might have been, but I was wrong.”

“You weren’t wrong.” He lifted his hand to cup her face, stroking her smooth skin with his thumb. “There’s been something between us since the very beginning. I just didn’t know what it was until now.”

“Stop. Please, stop,” she whispered, letting her chin drop. “I can’t do this again. When you look at me, you’ll always see Harley. You’ll never see me.”

He clasped her face with both hands now, forcing her to look at him. Watching more of those big tears fall was killing him. Somehow, he had to get through to her.

“You’re wrong,” he said in an unsteady voice. “When I look at you, I see the most amazing, beautiful person I’ve ever known. I’m sorry for what I said to you. I’m sorry for being angry that you kept your past from me, and I’m sorry you felt you had to lie. But I understand. You love your brother, and love makes us do things.” No one knew that better than he did.

“It doesn’t matter.” She shook her head. “We don’t want the same things. I want love, and marriage, and children. You don’t want any of that. You said so yourself.”

“I did,” he admitted. “When I said them, I meant them. At least, I thought I did.” The minute Tess blew back into his life, he’d been in denial. “Things are different now. I’m different.”

She uttered a soft laugh. “People don’t change that quickly.”

“You’re right.” He nodded. “They don’t. I think I’ve been changing for a while and just didn’t know it. My parents weren’t exactly marital role models, so I never imagined I could be happy with someone. Then I met you. I was scared, so I ran.”

“Why?” she asked, her voice barely audible.

“Because deep down I always knew you were the one.” The person he was meant to be with. To love, marry, and have a dozen babies with. Well, maybe not a dozen. He fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around her legs and burying his face against her skirt. “Don’t leave,” he whispered then said those three little words he’d never said to anyone. “I love you. I love you.”

A soft gasp came to his ears, and he looked up. Her lips trembled, and he couldn’t tell if she was angry, or sad, or—

Resting her hands on his shoulders, she pushed at him, forcing him to ease his hold around her legs. A lump formed in his throat, threatening to choke him. He’d just spilled his guts, but she didn’t believe him. So be it. His heart was shattering, but he had to let her go.

Just when he expected her to make a run for the door, she lowered to her knees in front of him. “Say it again.”

Does that mean what I think it does? Thank you, Jesus.

He clasped her fingers and kissed them. “I love you. With everything that I am. You’re the yin to my yang.”

Soft laughter bubbled from her throat, followed by the most beautiful smile he never thought she’d bestow on him again. “I love you.”

Her words filled the cracks in his heart. He buried his face in her thick mass of curls, breathing in her sweet scent, kissing her forehead, her nose, then pressing his lips to hers.

Sighing, she opened to him, allowing him to deepen the kiss and drive his tongue into her mouth, tasting her very essence, or chi, or whatever it was that drew him to her like a supercharged magnet. She was everything he ever dreamed of, and she was his. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was holding his future in his hands.

He eased her down to the carpet, holding his weight on his elbows so he didn’t crush her slender frame. Her arms came around him, clutching at his back, sending shivers up his spine.

More. He wanted it all, and he wanted it right now.

Slipping his hand beneath her shirt, his fingers found her nipples tightened into hard little buds. Her skin was warm and soft, like the rest of her, and he couldn’t wait a moment longer to drive himself into all that softness. To revel in her energy and bask in its life-giving properties.

Christ, he was really buying into all that synergistic stuff. He had to, because it was an intrinsic part of who she was, and he wanted all of her.

“Wait! What about your white carpet? You’re covered in dirt.”

He laughed. “We’ll get new carpet. Pink. Purple. Whatever you want.” They both laughed as he tugged off her shirt and unhooked her bra. He bent his head to suckle on her nipples while she cradled his head to her breasts. Next came her skirt, and his heart about stopped at the sight of her sexy little pink thong.

Lordie, how he hoped she had more of those. If she didn’t, he buy her an entire case of them. Pink. Green. Chartreuse. Whatever.

Latching on to the thin fabric with his teeth, he dragged it down her legs then stood to shed himself of his filthy clothes, dropping them to the carpet and not giving a damn if the dirt never came out. The only thing that mattered was claiming his woman and burying himself inside her warm, pliant body.

When she licked her lips, the sight of her cute little tongue made him harder than a stick of dynamite. Lowering carefully on top of her, he spread her legs and touched her moist core, loving the way she sucked in a tight little breath and how she arched her breasts against his chest. Hell, there was nothing about her he didn’t love.

She locked her legs around his buttocks, urging him to slide inside her. He thrust slow and sure into her heat, groaning as her tight, wet walls clutched at him, squeezing and pulsing all around him. If this wasn’t heaven, he didn’t know what was. The only thing he knew was…

I could stay here forever.

Her hips met his thrusts, her breath coming in soft little gasps. When her breaths came quicker, he thrust harder, taking her cues and not wanting to miss a single moment of her orgasm he was sure was seconds away.

Even as the blood rushed to his balls, he held back, gazing down into the most beautiful face he’d ever seen. Her thrusts became more urgent, her hips slapping against his. Tiny fingernails dug into his back, driving him to the brink, but still he held back.

Knowing how much she liked it, he bent his head and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, gently fastening his teeth around the hard bud.

Her body arched beneath him, and she cried out his name over, and over, and over again.

“Sweet Jesus,” he growled then let himself go, spilling everything he had inside her until he was completely spent.

As he floated back to earth, the dark skies of his childhood cleared. This was home. Not this house, but Tess. His home was wherever she was.