The guards nodded and stepped back. Avalyn looked to Ramsey, waiting for the trick.
He simply smiled at her and said, “Enjoy your night with my friend. I think you’ll like tomorrow’s challenge. You aren’t even involved.”
She blinked at him. This evil man had just preserved her virtue and told her she could go to Bridger. She didn’t wait to be told again. “Thank you,” she whispered. She hurried past him and the guards and out into the hallway, then down the stairs. Her speed picked up as she reached the main area.
“Bridger!” she yelled. Relief rushed through her, and the anticipation of being in his arms made her legs weak. She pressed on toward the hallway where her and Bridger’s suite was. Ramsey had let her go. Soon she’d be in Bridger’s arms. She hadn’t felt such joy since she’d been kidnapped three days ago.
“Bridger,” she called out again.
She heard the guards running behind her chuckle. She smiled too, not caring if they were laughing at her or with her. Bridger was all that mattered now.
Chapter Sixteen
Bridger slammed into the door more times than he could count. His shoulder was throbbing and he was making no progress. He slid to the floor, despondent and nauseous. For a very long time, the only sounds he heard were his ragged breathing and his painfully thumping heartbeat.
Avalyn. What was she enduring at Ramsey’s hands while he sat here in this rejected stupor? How could he give up on saving her? He drew in a steadying breath and said a lengthy prayer for Avalyn’s protection and help from above. With effort, he stood and spoke to the guards through the door. “Guys, please. What if it was your girlfriend or wife?”
The silence on the other side was deafening. What had Ramsey done to gain such allegiance from his men? Bridger had liked the man before this nightmare, but now he thought he was a psychotic sadist. Money couldn’t buy the loyalty Ramsey had with these men. Yet there had to be something, some way for Bridger to break through their shields.
He slammed his head against the door, then hung it, shame and despair fighting within him. How could he fail Avalyn like this? “Please.” It came out as a croaked whisper. He cleared his throat and tried again so they could hear him. “Please help her. Think if it was your wife, your girlfriend, your sister, your niece.”
Bridger pressed closer to the door, praying inside. He needed so much help, and he didn’t know where to find it. Creed would’ve already taken the entire group of mercenaries out and swept the love of his life into his arms. Bridger cursed himself for not choosing a military career. Why had he wasted so much time being the best at untraditional sports? It was superfluous and idiotic. Who cared about fame or excitement if he couldn’t protect Avalyn?
He heard nothing on the other side of the door. He slammed it with his body again and then collapsed against it. Tears traced down his face. He didn’t know the last time he’d cried, probably when he was little and his brothers were teasing or torturing him. He’d gotten pretty tough with three older brothers. There was nothing tough about him right now. He was weak and his life was meaningless.
He faintly heard his name being called. He straightened. Was he delusional? It sounded like Avalyn. Pressing closer to the door, he listened again. There it was. Avalyn was yelling his name.
“No!” he hollered, not able to stand thinking about what Ramsey must be doing to her. She was calling out for Bridger, and he could hear it this far away. There couldn’t be a worse torture in the world.
“Avalyn! Ava!” He backed up and ran at the door again. He rammed against it, and the door popped open.
The guards stood back, grinning at him. Mike held out a knife. Bridger’s eyes widened and his stomach dropped. “For your hands,” Mike explained.
“Thank you.” Bridger turned, and Mike cut his hands free. “Thank you!” he yelled again, taking off at a run down the hallway.
Avalyn was running right at him. Bridger’s steps faltered. She was free?
“Bridger!” she screamed. She slammed into him.
Bridger lifted her off her feet and swung her around. “Avalyn!”
Guards surrounded them and Bridger tensed, sheltering her with his body. They weren’t taking her from him again. He didn’t care if they killed him. He couldn’t go through the past hour again. He’d rather die.
“Sir,” one of the guards said. “Why don’t you go into your suite? I’m sure you’d like some privacy.” He winked.
Bridger stared at him, hardly able to comprehend what he was saying. He glanced down at Avalyn’s beautiful, shining face. “Ramsey let me go!” she said, beaming.
Bridger shook his head in disbelief.
“It’s true.” Avalyn laughed, looking young and fresh and beautiful. Was it really possible? Her innocence and light had been preserved?
Bridger looked to Klein, who nodded. “He asked us to escort her back here,” Klein said.
“Thank you,” Bridger managed to croak through the lump in his throat. He felt weak all over again, but for very different reasons this time. He swooped Avalyn off the floor, held her against his chest, and strode down the hallway. She smiled up at him, so happy and absolutely radiant. Avalyn was okay. She was in his arms. Nothing else mattered.
Bridger pushed through the door and closed it behind him. He walked to the couch and sank down with her still in his arms. Burying his head in her soft hair, he let out a choking sob. “Ava.” He simply held her close for a few seconds and she burrowed into him, clinging to his neck. “He didn’t …?” He finally dredged up the words, but he couldn’t finish the question. She didn’t appear to be harmed, but he had to be sure.
“No.”
“No?” Bridger raised his head and studied her deep brown eyes.
She shook her head, and a shudder raced through her body. “I thought he would. He told me to shower and left me only this dress to put on.”
Bridger took in the dress. It was beautiful on her, but the thought of Ramsey making her wear it for him, of reducing Avalyn to little more than her exquisite face and body … He swallowed down the bile rising in his throat.
“I was praying for strength to fight him off, but then …” She studied him for a few beats and then looked away. “He just told me to go.”
Bridger wondered if there was more to it than she was telling him. There was something in her eyes, and he didn’t like that pause. He focused on the one beautiful truth, that Ramsey hadn’t taken advantage of her. “Maybe I won’t kill him when I see him again,” he muttered darkly.
Avalyn blinked at him. “He said that I’d like tomorrow’s challenge, that I wasn’t involved.”
Bridger processed this. “Maybe he’s starting to feel guilty for putting you through all of this.”
She shrugged.
“Today’s challenge was awful because I didn’t get to you, but it wasn’t as dangerous as the last two days. I was sure you almost drowning that first day really shook him up. Maybe he’s going to alter the challenges to just involve him and me, for his publicity stunt to keep going, but not risk you anymore.”
Avalyn simply stared at him.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I’m thinking I don’t want to think about him anymore.”
Bridger pursed his lips. “Today took about ten years off my life.”
She shifted on his lap, pressing closer to his chest, and ran one hand from his neck up into his hair. Warmth rushed through him. “I’m sorry you went through that.” She leaned in and kissed the side of his mouth.
Bridger groaned and wrapped his hands tighter around her waist. “Ava,” he whispered.
She smiled slightly. “Maybe I could make it all better if you’d just shut up and kiss me.”
Avalyn bit at the side of her lower lip as Bridger’s chest rose and fell quickly. Had she been too bold? He’d told Ramsey he loved her earlier. Did he mean it, or was he just trying to protect her?
“Now that sounds like a beautiful plan.” Bridger grinned, then
lowered his head to hers. Their lips connected, and happiness soared within her. He manipulated her mouth carefully, tenderly. There was nothing demanding or insistent about the kiss. It was as if he thought she was a priceless treasure.
He pulled back and framed her face with his hands. “Ava,” he whispered. “I was so afraid.”
“Me too,” she admitted.
“I won’t let him near you again.” His deep brown eyes studied her with sincerity.
Avalyn didn’t know how Bridger could promise such a thing with all the men Ramsey had, the guns they constantly flaunted, and the awful taser they’d hit Bridger with today. She knew he was sincere and after tonight she hoped Ramsey wouldn’t do that to them again. Maybe Ramsey didn’t want her anymore. He claimed he’d let her go because she admitted she loved Bridger. Should she tell Bridger that?
Bridger didn’t wait for her response; he bent his head to hers and claimed her lips like he’d been waiting for this chance his entire life. This kiss was firm and strong, and Avalyn loved it as much as his tender kisses. Bridger’s warm hands moved confidently against the silky material of her dress. She was hot from head to toe, but she also felt such love and possessiveness. Bridger was sworn to protect and love her. The combination of sweet and fierce was overwhelming and beautiful to her.
The kisses heated with passion and swelled to a crescendo. Avalyn never wanted to come back down to reality. Bridger slowed the kisses down and held her close. His lips lingered next to hers. Their breath intermingled, and she savored the closeness.
“I love you, Ava. I’ve loved you since I was twelve,” he murmured against her lips.
Avalyn straightened and stared at his beautiful face. If that was true, what did love mean to him? She loved Bridger, but sadly she still didn’t trust him to be able to devote himself to her and only her once they returned to the real world. That was what she’d always dreamed of with Bridger, and he’d never delivered before. She couldn’t delude herself into believing he would change just because of the situation they were in.
“You’re joking,” she said.
“Why would I joke about that?” His hands still held her tight to his body as if he couldn’t stand to let her go.
Avalyn didn’t want to have this talk. She wanted to savor her escape from Ramsey, kiss Bridger all night long, and bask in Bridger saying he loved her. But she’d loved him as long as he’d claimed to love her, and he had repeatedly chosen to flit from girl to girl and break her heart. “You’ve tormented me since we were teenagers, and the one time you kissed me, you went and made out with Kelly Turner in front of the entire school the next day.” She’d been a senior and thought finally she and Bridger were going to have a chance, but he’d proven her wrong quickly.
Bridger’s brow furrowed. “You have to understand that you were two years older than me and perfect in my eyes. I kissed Kelly to make you jealous so you wouldn’t dump me. I know it was stupid now.”
Avalyn pushed off his lap and stood. She needed some distance from him and his excuses.
Bridger stood also. He looked fierce and strong. She would never be afraid of him physically, but he’d hurt her so many times emotionally as she’d longed for him from afar all these years and watched through social media as he flitted from woman to woman.
She suddenly regretted the intense kissing session they’d just had. Yes, she was relieved Ramsey hadn’t taken advantage of her, and she was touched by Bridger’s apparent devotion, but she knew better than to trust that he’d settle down to one woman. Hadn’t he proven that with Britney on Christmas Eve?
Avalyn was so out of sorts right now. She didn’t feel like a philanthropist, author, and speaker, but like a needy woman who only existed for this one man. “So all the women you’ve had clinging to you throughout the years were just to ‘make me jealous’?”
His brow furrowed.
“Being all over Britney Nolan at Creed’s wedding? That was just to make me jealous?”
He lifted his hands and shoulders. “In my defense, that was—”
“Last week,” she supplied, folding her arms across her chest.
“Stupid. I was going to say stupid.” He took a step closer, his broad frame overshadowing her. “Plus the fact I kissed you the day before and you shut me down with no hope of you being interested.”
“I only shut you down because you’re such a player.”
“Those other women meant nothing to me, Avalyn.” He brushed her hair back over her bare shoulder, and her skin tingled in response. “It’s always been you for me. Always.”
Avalyn wished she could believe him. “Well, those other women meant a heck of a lot to me.”
“They did?” His eyes narrowed.
“Yeah. I’ve loved you every bit as long as you’ve loved me, and those other women have gouged my heart out. They meant the man I loved was a player who would never settle down to one woman. Never settle down to me.”
Bridger caught her in his arms. He pulled her against his chest, and Avalyn couldn’t resist him. “I was wrong,” he said. “I should never have dated or kissed any of those women. I didn’t know you loved me. I thought you were out of my league and I’d never be worthy of you.”
“Honestly?” She pulled free of his embrace and took a step back. “That’s the stupidest excuse you’ve had yet. You’re Bridger Hawk. You haven’t lacked for confidence a day in your life.”
“Is it?” He arched an eyebrow. “I’ve always thought you were the most exquisitely beautiful and perfect woman in the world. You told me yourself that our paths are different, basically that I’m a selfish thrill-seeker and you’re a charitable philanthropist.”
She had said that, kind of. It sounded awful as he threw it back at her. “I’m sorry, Bridger. I didn’t mean it like that. My life isn’t glorious or glamorous like people think. Most of the time I’m sleeping on a cot, living on rice, and working long hours to make a child’s life better. We just have different paths. We’ve each chosen our lifestyles, and I don’t know how they’d ever coincide.”
“Our paths have been different, but that doesn’t mean we can’t love and complement each other’s careers and vision. You think I just jet-set around the country from party to party, but that’s not true either. At every event I’m trying to help the children too, and a lot of times we’re camping out to be in the right place for a certain challenge. It’s not extravagant or glamorous.”
Avalyn pulled in a breath. She’d never thought of complementing each other’s dreams, mostly because she’d never thought Bridger could truly love her—before these past few days. It wasn’t really about living conditions and money, though. She still wondered if he could love her like she wanted to be loved, with all the other women constantly fawning over him and seeking his attention. What if she devoted herself to him and he fell back into his old patterns? Could a player like him ever be faithful to one woman?
He studied her. “If I’d come to you at any point in our adult lives and told you what you meant to me, how deeply I love you … would you have believed me?”
Avalyn’s breath caught. She loved him, but was it enough? “Probably not,” she admitted.
“What do I have to do to get you to trust me?”
Several beats passed, and the room felt stifling. Finally, Avalyn admitted, “I don’t know, Bridge.”
He sucked in a breath.
“Our lifestyles are just so different. We’re so different.”
Bridger didn’t try to touch her. His gaze was hollow and sad.
“Let’s just get through this nightmare with Ramsey. It’s silly to worry about us as a couple when we may never escape this boat.” Ramsey could kill or rape her tomorrow. Who knew?
Bridger stared down at her, then said in a rough whisper, “We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I do know I love you, Avalyn. I don’t have all the answers for us, but I just …” He pushed a hand through his hair. “Can I keep you close tonight?”
A tremor passed
through her at his words and his tender request. Tonight might be their last night on earth. She didn’t want to spend it fighting with him or theorizing why they wouldn’t work, especially after the horror of being captive in Ramsey’s room, fearing the monster would take advantage of her.
She walked over to the bed and pulled the covers down. “You’re right,” she admitted.
Bridger walked slowly toward her, a smoldering look in his eyes that robbed her of her breath. He slipped out of his shoes and slid into the bed, reaching up for her. Avalyn couldn’t resist him any longer tonight; she lay down and cuddled close to his side.
She wished they could kiss the night away, but she’d have to content herself with being in his arms. She couldn’t afford to let her desire for him take control and deal with the regrets that would surely come. If they got back to the real world, would she feel his arms around her again or have to watch him with other women? She closed her eyes shut, inhaling his musky scent and pushing those fears away.
Chapter Seventeen
Avalyn felt groggy when she woke the next morning. She slowly blinked open her eyes and realized she was still cuddled into Bridger’s side, her cheek pressed into his muscular shoulder. She glanced up at his face. His eyes were closed, so she could simply study him. She loved the defined planes of his face, the strong jaw shadowed with dark hair, the regal nose and brow, and those intriguing lips that were the perfect fit for hers. His dark lashes rested against his upper cheek, but she could easily picture how they framed his eyes so perfectly.
She loved him. Not just because he was beautifully formed, but because of his fun, confident personality and his love and zest for life. Seeing this serious, protective side of him the past few days had only made her love him more.
His eyes slowly blinked open and he stared at her. His trademark smirk tilted his lips and he said, “You enjoying staring at perfection?”
Risking it All (A Hawk Brothers Romance) Page 10
