Holden’s mouth left my nipple long enough for him to grunt his pleasure.
“Harder, Leigh-Leigh.” His hands on my ass squeezed, his fingertips dug in to the point of pain, and he drove his cock up as I slid down. “Fucking hell. Beautiful.”
A tidal wave of emotion rolled over me. It came out of nowhere and I felt tears hit my eyes. Then my chest swelled until my breath hitched. Holden’s head came up and he took me in. The change in him was immediate—lust to concern. Desire to apprehension.
“Charleigh?”
“I don’t know what came over me,” I answered his unasked question. “I’ve missed you so much. I’ve missed this. Not the sex…well, yeah, the sex…but the part where you make me feel beautiful and wanted. The part where you look at me and I feel like I’m the center of your universe.”
“You are the center of my universe.”
“When we’re like this, I believe I am.”
“Good.”
Just good, that was all he said, but that was all he needed to say. He wanted me to believe. He wanted me to feel beautiful.
“I’m so scared, Holden. I can’t lose you again.”
“I could promise you, you won’t, but I’d rather show you. Every day, Leigh-Leigh, I’m gonna prove to you I was worth the risk.”
My eyes drifted closed and I willed myself to memorize the moment. Commit to memory the fierce determination I’d seen on his face. I never wanted to forget how I felt right then.
I took a breath and opened my eyes.
The man of my dreams was right there, his eyes were on me, his hands gently stroked my back, we were connected in the most intimate of ways. All of it was overwhelming. All of it was mine to keep if I was brave enough to stay the course. Everything I ever wanted was under me, at my fingertips. I was his. But more than that, Holden was mine. He always had been. Years of separation hadn’t changed that.
“You’ve always been worth the risk,” I told him and swiveled my hips.
Our eyes remained fixed, attached, linked. I braced my hands on Holden’s shoulders and slowly worked myself up and down his shaft until my climax built to the tipping point. I let myself fall over the edge of pleasure, the enormity of my orgasm had me floating away. I needn’t have worried, Holden was there with me. United as one as we both shook and trembled.
“Holden,” I gasped.
“You feel that, baby? That’s us. You and me. Always. I love you, always.”
“Always,” I echoed.
26
Two days later, Holden was still riding the high. He felt like he’d traversed a mountain taking the long way around, but now he’d reached the summit and he was looking down, and all he saw was beauty on the horizon.
There was a tap on Holden’s office door but before he could call out, Nix opened the door. The look on his friend’s face cut off the smartass retort about not waiting before he entered.
“What’s up?” Holden asked and stood.
“Jonny and Mr. Purdy are downstairs.”
“Who?”
“Ayla Purdy’s father.”
Ayla was one of the missing girls Cory Saddler had found.
A man who did not work on Sundays. After some poking around, Jonny still hadn’t found any evidence Cory had gone in on his day off on the Sunday in question. Which left the question—what was the man really doing out driving before dawn? But more, why had he lied?
“Is Ayla okay?”
“By the look on her father’s face, I’d say no.”
Holden moved around his desk and followed Nixon out into the hall. They made their way down to the conference room in silence. Earlier, Holden was disappointed Charleigh hadn’t come into the office with him; she had an appointment first thing. So Holden had taken Faith to school. The little girl only agreed after Holden had spent a good amount of time explaining to her that the people who had hurt her and her mom were still in jail. Throughout the conversation, Holden had to check his vocabulary and refrain from calling the Towlers Bitches From Hell. He’d managed, but barely.
He’d also been careful not to call the women aunt or grandma. As far as Holden was concerned, they were dead to Faith. And he’d do everything he could, including taking Faith and Charleigh on the run to keep the Towlers away from his girls.
But when Holden caught sight of Ayla’s father, he was happy Charleigh wasn’t there. The man looked destroyed. There was no shortage of anger rolling off the older man. But it was the sadness that hit Holden in the gut.
“Mr. Purdy. What can we do for you?” Nixon asked.
“There’s no easy way to say this,” Mr. Purdy started. “Ayla’s pregnant.”
Oh, fuck.
The man swallowed and looked at his feet.
“Nix—” McKenna paused in the doorway and started to back out into the hallway. “Excuse me, I didn’t realize you were in a meeting.”
“You know.” There was no missing Jonny’s cold, hard tone.
“Um.” McKenna glanced at her husband and he nodded. “Yes.”
“Is there anything else we should know?”
Technically, McKenna was breaking the law by hacking into Ayla’s phone. Jonny didn’t ask how McKenna found the information she found and she never admitted to illegal activity.
There had been times when the proper warrants had been obtained, but this was not one of those times.
“Elliana’s worried she is, too,” McKenna softly said.
“How did you find out your daughter was pregnant?” Holden inquired.
“Periodically, my wife checks Ayla’s phone. She’s not allowed to have a passcode on it. This morning while Ayla was in the shower, KiKi looked through her phone and saw one of those disappearing messages… you know from that app… I can’t remember the name. Anyway, my wife saw the last message Ayla sent to Elliana telling her she was pregnant. The message had expired before KiKi could show me. But I did read the message from Elliana that said ‘he’s gonna freak’.”
“Did either of them say who “he” is?”
“No,” Mr. Purdy answered and Holden turned to McKenna.
“No.”
Fucking hell.
“Did you confront Ayla?” Nixon entered the questioning.
“No. We thought it was best to talk to the police first.”
“Why is that?” McKenna asked. “I mean, why report her pregnancy to the police?”
“Because there is something wrong. She’s not the same. After that night, something changed in my little girl.” There was no missing the hitch in the father’s voice.
No one said a word. It was obvious he had more to say but needed a moment to compose himself.
“She was…she…something happened to her. And now she’s pregnant.”
“Please, Mr. Purdy, have a seat,” Nix offered.
Christ. Jonny had been right.
“I want you to find the man responsible,” Mr. Purdy demanded as he sat in the chair Nix had offered. The room went still at the older man’s ragged voice, he struggled to keep his emotions in check but lost the battle. His shoulders sagged and he let out a gut-wrenching roar, “She’s…she’s…” The wounded disjointed words coming from a father undone had acid churning in Holden’s stomach.
Unable to watch a father in extreme pain, Holden turned to McKenna. “What else were the girls talking about?”
“The last message Elliana sent to Ayla was reminding her they’d made a pact not to talk about what happened.”
Jesus.
“Has she told anyone else?” McKenna looked at Jonny and shook her head in a nonverbal answer. “I need to know the second she does.”
Translation: If Ayla reached out to the man who violated her, if he was indeed a serial pedophile, she would be putting her life in jeopardy.
Hours later, Holden was getting ready to leave when Weston stepped into his office.
“Got a minute?”
He didn’t; Charleigh had already picked up Faith from school and he was anxious to get ho
me to them, but he needed to talk to his friend.
“Yeah.”
“I need to apologize.”
It took a moment for the meaning behind Weston’s statement to hit him, but when it did, he decided it was time to shut this shit down once and for all.
No more talking about the past. No more hindsight, no more apologizing, no more talking about Paul.
“Appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I don’t want to talk about Paul.”
“Good to know.” Weston chuckled. “I was going to apologize for letting this whole situation go on as long as it did. I should’ve been a better friend. We all should’ve been better.”
“Nothing you could’ve done.”
“Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have tried. We failed you.”
“You really didn’t. I wasn’t ready to face what’d I done, and if you would’ve pressed the topic, you would’ve pushed me away. I’m a stubborn jackass.”
“You are that,” Weston agreed.
“Good. That’s done.” Holden’s tone left no question, they were indeed done with the topic. So he made the inquiry he’d meant to the other night but hadn’t had the chance. “I need the name of the realtor you and Silver used.”
“Looking to finally dump that trailer?”
Holden’s eyes narrowed on his friend. “Call my baby a trailer again and you’ll find my foot up your ass.”
“Touchy. Geez. But seriously, you thinking about moving?”
“Yeah. I need to buy a house.”
“Need?”
Christ, did Weston miss anything?
“Charleigh’s not going back to her apartment. I’d move them into the Airstream but that’d work for about a night. And we can’t live in Evie’s uncle’s house indefinitely. So, I need to buy us a place.”
Weston’s mouth curved up into a broad smile.
“Does she know she’s moving in with you?”
“Not yet. Though Leigh-Leigh’s not dumb. She has to know now that I have her back I’m not letting her out of my sight.”
“You mean bed.”
“That, too.”
“I’ll text you Jodi’s number. Ask her about the property next to me and Nix. The front of the house is around the block, but the property butts up to mine. Might be more house than you’re looking for but you’d be close to us.”
That would be perfect for Holden but Charleigh might want to live in a development where Faith could have friends in the neighborhood, not a hundred acres outside of town.
“Thanks, I’ll ask her,” he said even though he’d leave the final decision up to Charleigh.
“Happy for you,” Weston noted.
“A lot has changed in the last few years.”
“Yeah, it has. All for the better.”
Weston wouldn’t get any arguments from Holden about that. Who would’ve thought that when Nixon had suggested they all move back to his hometown in the middle of bum-fuck-Egypt, everyone’s life would change?
The weight of Holden’s day crashed into him as soon as he walked into the house and saw Faith playing with her Barbies. He’d done his best to hide the anger when Faith chatted with him about her day. He’d done his best to tamp down the revulsion while they all sat around the table and ate dinner, but Holden had barely tasted his meal. He’d gone through the motions of helping Charleigh clean up the kitchen when she’d cornered him and demanded that he tell her what was wrong.
He didn’t hold back when he told her. He trusted Charleigh could handle the ugliness of his day. After he’d unloaded, he couldn’t say he felt any better, but he could see that while Charleigh absolutely didn’t like hearing about it, she was relieved he shared. She’d placed a kiss on his cheek and left the kitchen. That was ten minutes ago and now that the last of the dishes were put away, he was ready to go find his girls. But when he turned to go search, Faith was standing there with her coat on.
What the hell?
“Where are you going?”
“Come on, I’m taking you out for an ice cream sundae.” Faith waved a twenty-dollar bill in the air. “With sprinkles.”
Holden glanced up and spotted Charleigh leaning against the door frame with a smile on her face.
“Ice cream?” Holden asked.
“Mom says ice cream sundaes with sprinkles make the worst days a little better,” Faith chirped.
“No.” Charleigh giggled. “I said, spending time with you makes the worst days a little better. But ice cream helps.”
Holden took in Charleigh’s bare feet and short-sleeved shirt.
“You need to get boots and a coat, baby, it’s—”
“I’m gonna stay home. Faith’s gonna take you out.”
Ever so slowly, Holden’s body tightened. The feeling started in his chest and moved upward, the swell so big it was a wonder he didn’t choke. Only when the magnitude of Charleigh’s gesture fully engulfed him, the trust she was giving him, the opportunity to get to know Faith, did he finally understand what he’d set out to win. He thought he knew, he thought since he’d seen his friends with their women and families he had a good idea. He thought since Charleigh had been his once, he remembered what it was like. He’d been incorrect on all accounts. He was clueless, utterly ignorant of the true emotional impact. Family wasn’t a word, it wasn’t a place, it wasn’t blood or DNA. Family was a deep-seated feeling that rooted, blossomed, then flourished. The scale in which you measure those emotions—indescribable. But once the hugeness of the emotions hit—you just knew.
So, Holden had been wrong. He hadn’t known jackshit about what exactly he’d been fighting for. He’d liked the idea of it, loved Leigh-Leigh, wanted to get to know and bond with Faith. Together with Charleigh, he wanted to watch the little girl grow up, teach her, guide her, show her wondrous things. Now, an idea had morphed into an all-encompassing precious emotion.
One he would die to keep—protect with his life.
“Are we going?” Faith cut through his musings.
“You buying?” he asked, and held out his hand.
“Yep.” Faith proudly held up the bill.
“Then it’s a date.”
Faith’s little hand curled around Holden’s and she gave him a mighty tug. “We have to hurry.”
Holden didn’t know why they had to hurry and didn’t bother to ask. He simply allowed Faith to pull him through the kitchen. But as they passed Charleigh, he paused and brushed his lips against hers. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Her smile held him captive until Faith let out a grunt and yanked on his arm.
“We’ll be back.”
“Take your time.”
He’d planned on it. Holden wanted to soak up as much of Faith’s attention as he could.
“Told you we needed to hurry,” Faith noted the crush of people inside The Freeze.
They’d waited in line, ordered, Faith paid, then she took her time counting out her change while a group of teenagers stood behind them in line. Holden waited for one of them to complain, but when Faith dropped some change, Zack Wilson, McKenna’s younger brother, gathered up the coins and handed them over.
That led to Faith telling Zack and his girlfriend about their “date”. As Holden listened, his heart swelled some more. He knew right then he was ass over teakettle for the little girl.
Once they’d been served their sundaes, they’d taken them out to his SUV and sat in the parking lot to eat them.
“You were right,” he agreed.
“Zack brings all of his girlfriends here.”
Holden didn’t doubt it. McKenna’s brother was a good-looking kid and seemed to always have a new girl when he saw the kid.
“Is Mom your girlfriend?”
Faith’s inquiry both surprised and worried Holden. He hadn’t thought about what he’d do if Faith rejected the idea of him being with her mother. Frankly, it never dawned on him that Faith would have a problem with him being around.
But what if she did?
Shit.
He looked over at Faith and took her in. She didn’t look worried or uncertain as she shoveled a huge spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. If Charleigh were here, she would likely tell her daughter to slow down, or at least remind her to wipe the chocolate off her chin.
Shit, again. He didn’t know anything. He was the fun “uncle” who tossed a ball with Caleb, gave Zack condoms when he’d asked, played dolls with Rory, and spun Joss around in circles until she laughed, and he’d do the same with Holly and Dylan when they got bigger. But playing with kids and parenting were two different things. Worlds apart from each other.
“I mean, she is, right? Only boyfriends and girlfriends kiss. Andy asked me to be his girlfriend so he could kiss me. But I told him no because he smells funny.”
Who the fuck was this Andy kid and why did Holden have an overwhelming need to find the boy and tell him to stay the hell away from Faith?
“Who’s Andy?” he grumbled.
“A boy in my class. He’s nice but I don’t want to kiss him.”
“Of course you don’t. Boys are gross.”
That was what he was supposed to say, right? That was better than telling her boys were horny little fucks with one-track minds and she was staying away from all boys until she was twenty-five. At that time, they’d reevaluate the situation, possibly extending the ban on penises until she was thirty. Yeah, that was better. Thirty. She could date when she was thirty. Most guys had their shit together by then.
“You’re a boy and you kiss Mom.”
Damn. That backfired.
“I’m not a boy, doll. I’m a man.”
Faith tilted her cute little head in confusion and Holden quickly changed the subject, not wanting to explain the difference.
“Is it okay with you if your mom is my girlfriend?”
Holden's Resurrection (Gemini Group Book 6) Page 21
