by Kaylea Cross
Avery chuckled. “I love how much you adore him. Big, tough guy with a squishy spot for animals.”
He didn’t deny it, because it was true. Ric was family. “Yeah? You like that?”
The smile she gave him hit him straight in the heart, open and sincere. “I do.”
He kinda did too.
The sun was just about to set, the last, deep, golden-orange rays filtering through the base of the tree trunks ahead. They slanted across the forest floor, casting a pattern of light mixed with long, purple shadows from the trees. The air smelled of pine and cool, crisp autumn air, faint birdsong echoing around them.
“It’s so peaceful here,” she murmured, tipping her head back and closing her eyes.
It was. A big reason he liked to get outside and away from everyone for a few hours at a time, to center himself and recharge. Being surrounded with this kind of beauty was good for the soul, and God knew his still had a lot of healing left to do.
“I’m curious about what you told me about your mom,” Avery said, her gaze on Ric as he loped ahead. “Why did you end up in foster care?”
He didn’t like to talk about it, but he was glad she’d been thinking about him, and if he wanted more than her body then it was only fair that he open up a little about his past. “My birth mom was a single parent. She had a hard life, and repeated the cycle by becoming a raging alcoholic and drug addict.” Surprisingly he didn’t feel awkward or ashamed telling her, maybe because she was a cop and would have seen plenty of shitty situations involving kids.
She turned to him. “Oh, I’m sorry. How old were you when you were taken from her?”
“Six. Probably two or three years too late, to be honest.”
She nodded, watching him. “Was your mom the first foster home you were placed in?”
“No. I bounced around to a few places through elementary school, and they even moved me to different towns. I wasn’t an easy kid. Had a lot of anger and trust issues. I was defiant and closed up, and had a temper. I got into fights a lot.”
“You were hurting and probably didn’t feel like anyone really loved you. Of course you were going to act out.” She squeezed his hand, and made his heart clench in turn. She was totally right. That’s exactly how he’d felt, on top of being lost and alone.
“They finally sent me to Nancy, who took on high-risk kids. Best thing that ever happened to me. She was the only one who saw through the attitude and acting out. She stuck it out, stuck with me, refused to let me keep repeating my old patterns, and made me into a better person.”
“I think I love her. A loving foster parent is worth their weight in gold, and then some.”
“They totally are. I never knew what a real home was until her. Then, after high school I joined the military, and that became my family too.”
She glanced at him. “It must have been hard for you to have to leave it.”
“Real hard.”
She nodded, switching her focus to Ric as he trotted back toward them, his tongue lolling in a grin of doggy bliss. “Tate never told me what happened to you.”
His insides automatically tightened. “I was in a helo crash.”
“You don’t have to talk about it if it’s too hard,” she said gently.
It would always be hard. But he wanted her to know. Because he wanted her to understand him and why he was the way he was. “We were coming back from an op. Three of us, and some U.S. Green Berets in the back of a Chinook. Tango on the ground got off a lucky shot with an RPG and brought us down.”
He pulled in a deep breath and ordered his muscles to relax. He was safe with Avery out here in the woods, not back in that hellscape no matter how much his mind tried to insist he was. “The crash was…bad. Both pilots were killed. All of us were hurt. Some of the guys in the back were trapped. Then the fuel ignited.” He’d never forget that terrifying whoosh and the blistering wave of heat.
“Oh, God.” She was staring at him now, her fingers tight around his.
“I was hurt pretty bad, but I wasn’t trapped, and I knew we only had seconds to get out. I managed to drag one guy out, went back for another, and as soon as we got clear, the enemy ambushed us.”
“Mason,” she whispered, her face full of anguish.
He either got this out now, or never at all. “We were pinned down. The three of us had to defend the aircraft with only the weapons and ammo we had on us. The helo was engulfed in flames. We could hear the guys trapped inside screaming, but couldn’t get to them, it was just too hot and the firefight was too intense.”
Avery stopped. She turned to face him, sorrow filling her eyes. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you about it.”
“No, it’s okay. I want you to know.”
She searched his eyes a long moment, then reached up to wind her arms around his neck and press her body to his in a hug that almost made his heart implode.
He wrapped his arms around her back and rested his nose in her hair as he exhaled, soaking up the comfort she offered even as his pulse increased. This was the real Avery. The soft, kind soul beneath the sarcastic edge and shields. And man, he had no defense against her whatsoever.
“How long were you out there?” she murmured into his neck.
“Thirty-seven hours. The enemy kept coming back with little pockets of reinforcements. I got hold of a functional radio I found in the debris field and finally got us some air support. Warthogs came in and strafed the enemy positions, then circled us until the medevac finally arrived. But not before the enemy got one of us.”
She made a sympathetic sound and rubbed his back in a soothing motion. “How bad were you hurt?”
“Broke my back in two places, messed up both my knees. Minor burns on my arms. I had a few surgeries, spent a few weeks in the hospital and then started rehab.”
She hugged him tighter. “I’m so glad you made it.”
Mason closed his eyes, her words hitting a tender spot deep inside. For so long he’d grappled with survivor’s guilt. Wondering why he’d lived when almost all the others hadn’t. “Thanks. I’m starting to be too.”
She lifted her head to stare at him. “Starting?”
He nodded, holding her gaze. She was beautiful, inside and out. “Until I came here, I felt lost. The world just didn’t make sense to me anymore. I didn’t understand people, and they didn’t understand me.”
“I can see why you’d feel that way. Not a lot would make sense after going through something like that.”
“No.” He smiled a little, his chest seeming lighter now that he’d told her. “I’m better now than I used to be. Ric’s helped me a lot.”
“I’m glad.”
He was done talking about himself. “Now, your turn to tell me something.”
She looked surprised. “Like what?”
“Like what happened with Doug.”
She grimaced at his name. “To give you the backstory, I didn’t want to get married in the first place, but he just wouldn’t give up. He was relentless, wooing and courting me, doing and saying all the right things. So I finally said yes. Things were good at first. But within a year of getting married, I was miserable.” Her expression was wistful.
“Did he cheat on you?”
“Not that I know of. He just…stopped caring or trying at some point early on. Almost as if he wasn’t interested anymore because he’d won me, and the thrill of the chase was over so he was bored and didn’t have to try anymore. I knew we’d made a big mistake.”
His loss, my gain. Mason would fight for her, always.
She shrugged, heaving a little sigh. “He wouldn’t talk to me about it, would just gaslight me and tell me it was all in my head, because he didn’t want to admit we were a failure. But it wasn’t just all in my head, and finally one day I woke up and realized it was never going to change. I decided I wasn’t going to stay married to someone who didn’t want or really love me, so I kicked him out and filed for divorce.”
Mason shook his head, dumbfo
unded. “Like I said before, he’s a fucking idiot. But I’m glad you ended it. You deserve so much more than that.” She deserved better than him, too, but he hoped she would overlook his shortcomings and give him a chance.
Her lips curved. “Thanks, I think so too.”
He cupped her face in his hand and kissed her. It started out sweet and tender, but quickly turned to something more. She pressed to him and curled a hand around his nape, her tongue gliding along his. Mason gripped her hip and pulled her tight to his erection, straining against his fly.
She moaned and pressed her face to his chest. “God, Mason, what do you even want from me?”
“You sure you want me to answer that?”
She lifted her head and met his eyes. “Yes.”
All right, then.
He curved his hand around the back of her head, his heart thudding, his body on fire. “I want your heart to beat faster when you see me. I want you to get all hot and wet whenever I get close. I want you to crave me the same way I crave you.” I want you to let me in.
Avery stood frozen, staring at him in shock. “I…”
He dropped a kiss on her lips, trying to lighten the mood. “You asked.” He wasn’t sorry he’d told her. He just hoped he hadn’t scared her away. “Come on, let’s head back.”
She didn’t pull her hand free when he took it. They reached the end of the trail and turned onto the road where he’d parked his Jeep. Ric paused a few yards in front of them, his ears perked, nose quivering as he sniffed the air.
Mason stopped Avery, automatically stepping in front of her as he looked around for any sign of a threat. When his gaze swept over his Jeep, he cursed and stalked forward, ready to draw his weapon from the holster on his hip.
Avery was silent as they read the message someone had sprayed onto the side of the Jeep.
Get Out Or Die.
Chapter Fourteen
To hell with this.
Avery whipped out her phone and strode up the road into a small clearing for a better signal to call Tate, watching for any sign of trouble as Mason prowled around, his face livid. “Tate, I’m with Mason up at the trailhead near the property you guys put an offer on. Someone spray painted a warning on his Jeep while we were on the trail.”
She turned to Mason, now standing next to her, and put Tate on speaker. “Any idea who might have done this?” she asked him.
“Ray,” he growled, still looking around. “Old bastard must have followed us here.”
“He lives in a trailer over on Ridgeline Drive,” Tate said.
Not far from here. It was possible he’d seen them and waited for them to disappear up the trail before vandalizing Mason’s Jeep. “We’re heading over there now,” Avery told him, heading back to Mason.
“That’s a conflict of—”
“I’m just gonna talk to him. If I need you to come up, I’ll call.” She ended the call and strode to the Jeep with Mason.
The short drive took them further up into the hills, to an area Avery had only been to once before. Ray’s trailer was parked apart from the others.
“His truck’s not here,” Mason said.
She got out and marched up to the door with Mason right behind her, but there was no answer. They circled the trailer, looking for any sign of him. “Probably hiding out, waiting for us to leave,” she muttered.
“Or he’s at the bar in town.” He caught her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Look, let’s just head back home. The old man is just angry and frustrated. I’ll file a report, and then Tate and I can deal with him in the morning.”
“Are you sure? Because I’ll go find him now.”
A smile softened the rugged planes of his face, his cool blue eyes warming, even more vivid against the dark stubble on his face. “I know you would. But yeah, we’ve got this.” He set a hand on her waist as he led her back to the Jeep. It made her think of what he’d said on the trail.
I want you to crave me the same way I crave you.
She did. So much it frightened her. He was damaged inside. Would he ever be able to give himself emotionally to her? She’d committed herself to one emotionally unavailable man already, and never wanted to go through it again.
It wasn’t until Mason reached over to curl his hand around hers that she realized she’d been rubbing it up and down her thigh. “You’re quiet all of a sudden,” he said.
“Just thinking.” About what would happen once they got home.
He had her all twisted up inside. One minute she was convinced he was just trying to get into her pants, and the next he made himself vulnerable by sharing the most intimate details of his past trauma.
It was like she had emotional whiplash, and they’d been dancing closer to the edge every time they were alone together. Once they got back to her place, she wasn’t sure she had the strength to stop what would happen between them. And honestly, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to stop it.
Ric nudged the side of her face with his nose, breaking her from her thoughts. She laughed and reached up to ruffle his fur. “Hello, cutie.”
“He knows you’re upset.”
“I’m not upset.”
Mason lifted an eyebrow at her. “Ric’s never wrong about that. And you don’t need to hide anything from us.”
It made her feel bad, especially after the way he’d opened up to her earlier. She flushed and mumbled some excuse, torn between pulling her hand free and never wanting to let go. Mason had a lot more depth than she’d ever dreamed, and that made him so much harder to resist.
“Thank you for bringing me,” she said as they reached her neighborhood. “I’m sorry about your Jeep.”
“I’m glad you came. And it’s all right, I’ll take some pictures, file a report, then get it fixed up.”
“Tate’s neighbor does body and paint work if you—” She broke off, a gasp tearing from her when she saw the patrol car in her driveway and the front windows of her house all broken. “What the hell?”
Mason grabbed her arm before she could jump out of the Jeep. “Stay here.”
Like hell. “I’m not staying—”
He slammed his door and was already rounding the front of the Jeep. She jumped out and hurried after him, taking in the damage.
All four of the front windows were smashed. Two were missing their upper halves entirely, and the other two had holes punched in them, fractures radiating out like spider webs.
“Avery, hey,” the patrol officer said.
“Hi, Bill. What the hell happened?”
“Your neighbor heard glass breaking and saw a car take off up the street. She—”
“Avery!”
She turned to find Pat hurrying across the street toward them, gray curls bouncing, a piece of paper in one hand and a basket in the other. Her quiet sister Bev stood by their garden gate in front of the blue and purple Victorian house, holding a rake in front of her like a weapon, as if she expected the vandal to come back at any moment and was prepared to do battle to protect the neighborhood.
Avery turned her attention back to the eldest sister. “Pat. Did you see what happened?”
“Yes, dear. It happened about fifteen minutes ago. I called you straight away and left a message.”
Avery pulled her phone out. Sure enough, there was a voicemail. Damn. “I was in an area with no service when you called.”
Pat stopped in front of her, gray curls bouncing, eyes alight with indignation and concern. “I first noticed someone stop in front of your house earlier today as well when we were out in the front garden. The car slowed down and the driver appeared to be looking at your house. I didn’t recognize the car, so I watched, and the driver kept going. But then fifteen minutes ago I heard the glass break and ran to the front window in time to see someone in a dark hoodie-thing throw something through your last window.”
Avery set her jaw. “You didn’t happen to notice the make and model of the car, or a plate number, did you?”
Pat lifted her chin, her gaz
e sharp. “Of course I did. But I only got the first part, because it took me a few seconds to find my glasses to see properly. And I wrote the one from this morning down too.” She handed Avery a piece of paper with the numbers on it.
This was one of the benefits of having nosy, elderly neighbors who noticed everything. “Thanks, Pat. This is fantastic.”
“You’re welcome.” She looked at the house and shook her head. “I’m only sorry it happened at all.”
“At least now with your information we might be able to find out who it was.”
“I hope you will. Do keep us in the loop, dear. Oh, and this is for you and your new tenant.” Her eyes gleamed with interest as she glanced at Mason, still standing on the front lawn surveying the damage. “From us.”
From her sister Bev, she meant. The resident baker. Avery took the basket with a smile. God, she loved her quirky sister neighbors. “Thank you.”
“Want me to run those plates?” the patrol officer asked her as Pat walked back across the road to her sister.
“I’ll handle it.”
“Okay. Then I’ll check the backyard, make sure no one’s hiding out back there.”
“Sure.” A hot ball of tension gathered in the pit of her stomach. She walked around the house to look for more damage, but didn’t see any. When she headed for the front door, Mason was there to stop her. “Let me go in first.”
She glared and opened her mouth to blast him.
“Please. I need to make sure you’re safe.”
The annoyance drained away, the sincerity in his eyes reaching into her chest with invisible fingers to squeeze her heart gently. “I’m a cop, in case you’ve forgotten. And this is my house. I go first.” She stepped past him.
Mason followed, none too happy but not arguing. The change in him as they entered the house was stark and fascinating to witness. His expression was set, the look in his eyes and his posture all shifting into operator mode as he drew the pistol from the holster at the base of his spine and opened the front door to make sure it was safe.
Avery wished she had her weapon too, every sense on alert. “I’ll check upstairs. You check down.”
