ALWAYS (A Wolfe Brothers Novel)

by Lita Stone

“You can have mine.” As she tore into the second chocolate bar, he said, “I’m going to wash up.”

  Cam went inside his tent and grabbed a bottle of water.

  As he strode toward the woods, she said, “I thought water was for drinking, not bathing.”

  Holy fucking shit! She was killing him, slow and easy. “God help me.” He said the words aloud, not blasphemy but a genuine cry for help.

  Chapter Eleven

  When Cam returned, he rekindled the fire. Maggie shivered and sat on the ground. With her hands up, palms toward the flames, she warmed herself.

  Laughing, Cam sat beside her.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I keep seeing you holding that branch like a sword. You got guts. I’ll give you that but I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten you into trouble before now.”

  “Who says it hasn’t?”

  He shot her a look. “I’m sure.”

  Now that they’d crossed from combatants to friends, maybe she’d have more luck striking up a conversation. The crackle of the fire and the chirping of the crickets played a symphony as she struggled for her next words.

  “So how did you get into cooking?”

  He glanced at her, skepticism evident in his small smile. Turning his attention back to the fire, he said, “I used to work at Copper Creek as a busboy before it closed. Me and Mr. Moretti became good friends. I miss the hell out of that old coot.”

  “Why didn’t you keep in touch?”

  Cam shook his head. “The man hates me.”

  Maggie poked at the fire with a stick. Leave it to her to bring up a sensitive topic. She had to keep things light. She could ask him how long he worked there, how many hours a week he worked or what some of his favorite foods were. She rolled her eyes. That was way too boring and cliché. She could do better. She wracked her brain trying to come up with something fun, something he would want to talk about, anything to keep the conversation going.

  Cam stood. “I’m turning in.”

  Maggie reached up and grasped his hand. “Why won’t you talk to me? We’re supposed to be friends, remember?”

  “I lied. I don’t need any friends?”

  “Well, I do.”

  Cam scowled. “A pretty rich girl like you needs friends? I find that hard to believe.”

  “Why are you suddenly shutting me out?” Maggie pulled on his arm. “Tell me what happened between Mr. Moretti and you. Please.”

  Cam sat down. He looked at the fire and draped his arms over his bent knees. “He found out I popped his daughter’s cherry and fired me. One of the worst days of my life. He was like a father to me.” He sighed. “I told him that I loved Carina but that only seemed to make things worse.”

  “I’m sorry.” Maggie squeezed his hand.

  He shrugged.

  “What about Carina?” she asked. “You still keep in touch with her?”

  “About a month later, I saw Carina at the movies with another guy. He was squeezing her ass and making out with her while they waited in line. One of those sickening couples you wanted to scream at to get a room.” He hesitated before continuing, “Anyway, the restaurant closed about six months later. Her family moved away.”

  So much for keeping things light, she scolded herself. At least he was talking. “Was she your first too?”

  “Yup.”

  A howl echoed in the distance. Coyote? Wild dog? Maggie shivered. “You hate talking about this, don’t you?”

  “Yup.”

  “Change of subject,” she said. “So you and Jags are close?”

  He shot her another skeptical look. “I’m close with both my brothers.”

  “You have two brothers?”

  “Ajay’s in the Army, stationed in Iraq.”

  She nudged her shoulder against his. “Tell me a crazy story.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. Anything.”

  “Alright, one story and then I’m calling it a night.”

  “Agreed.”

  He stretched his legs on the ground beside the fire, his palms braced behind him. “Well, there was the time we all went out drinking then drove home and passed a cop. I’d only had a couple beers, but I panicked. When we turned the corner, I jerked the wheel, and we crashed into the woods. Things were going pretty good until we started down a steep hill. Dumb ass that I am, the first thing I did was hit the brakes.”

  “Why is that a bad thing?”

  He laughed. “The front of the truck stopped, but the back kept going. We flipped three or four times. Ajay and I were fine, but Jags was beat up bad. We limped him home all four miles.” He shook his head. “I’ve never been so tired. After the second mile or so that light-ass son of a bitch got heavy.”

  Despite the illumination offered by the almost full moon, an eerie darkness closed in around her. The hairs on her arms stood up. “What do you do besides cook and hike?”

  “Nope. I’m done. Now, it’s your turn.”

  As if she were five years old, hiding under her comforter from the closet monster, fear gripped her and a chill ran down her spine. But why? “I’ve never had a guy for a friend. I’m not sure what kind of stuff I’m supposed to talk about.”

  “Why don’t you tell me about your first love? I told you about mine.”

  Love was for saps and the weak-minded. A wave of nausea overcame her. Her stomach churned and saliva filled her mouth. She swallowed. “Can’t say I’ve ever been in love.”

  “Are you telling me you’ve never had your heart broken?”

  “I always break the hearts. Not the other way around.”

  “Wow. I figured everybody’s had their heart broken at least once. Isn’t it a requirement to being human?” He looked at her. “What about the guy who took your virginity. You must’ve felt something for him?”

  Bile rose to the top of her throat. Her chest heaved. “I’m going to turn in.”

  As she stood, he grasped her wrist. “But we were getting along so well. Don’t shut me out now.” He smiled and her heart sank.

  She sat on her ass facing the flames and hugged her knees. “If I told you the story, you’d have to promise not to tell anyone.”

  “I’m not sure why I’d tell anyone.”

  “Promise.”

  “Scouts honor.”

  She cocked her head. “Were you ever a Boy Scout?”

  “Does that make a difference?”

  She shrugged. “I guess not. Okay. Here goes. I was a football cheerleader in high school.”

  “No shit? Really?”

  She smirked. “Wise-ass.”

  “Sorry, continue.”

  “Cleveland was playing against The Hornets, our rival team from Trenton, a hole-in-the-wall town about two and a half hours from here. It was the game that got us into the playoffs, and we won in overtime. People were screaming and jumping. It was craziness. I was walking through the parking lot to use the restroom in the school when I saw some players from the other team hanging out by a truck. I started shouting, calling them losers. They made like they couldn’t hear me . . . so I moved closer.”

  A hiss lurched from his clenched teeth, like he’d been stung. “Maggie.”

  She looked at him. “You seem to have figured out the rest of the story.” She drew circles in the dirt with a stick. “Two of them grabbed me and threw me in the bed of the truck. The next thing I knew the truck was peeling from the parking lot. I screamed and one of them punched me. I think I was knocked unconscious because when I woke I was in the middle of the woods.”

  The darkness squeezed tighter around her, suffocating her, imprisoning her. She blinked away the tears and heaved a sigh. “Shit. I don’t know why I just told you all that.”

  Cam squeezed his head between his hands. His forehead dripped with sweat. He moaned and muttered under his breath. He looked like she felt.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she asked.

  “Migraine,” he whispered and looked at her. “Did they ever find them?�
�

  “Find who?”

  He scrambled to his hands and knees and sat back on his haunches. Gripping her hand, he said, “The football players that raped you.”

  Maggie snatched her hand away. She picked up a stick and threw it into the flames. “I never pressed charges.”

  “Why?”

  “I didn’t want the whole town knowing what a dumb shit I was.”

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “Plus, we moved to Cleveland so my dad could run for Mayor. If the press got word of the total fuck up he had for a daughter, he never would have won the election. Not to mention, he was a well-known attorney in Houston. I couldn’t embarrass him like that.”

  “A cheerleader gets raped in a small town and no charges are filed?”

  “I refused to testify or reveal anything about my attackers. Not their names or what they looked like or even that they were from Trenton and not local boys.”

  Cam's hand palmed his forehead. That was some migraine.

  “I grew up in Trenton,” he said, “so I might have gone to school with the fuckers?” He blew out a breath. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-four.”

  His lips tightened into a grimace. “I didn’t go to school with them, but Ajay did. He’ll be home on leave in a few weeks. When he tells me who they are I’m going to—.”

  Maggie gripped his wrist. “No!”

  He shrugged her hand off and glared at her. “You should have pressed charges.”

  “Keep your condescending higher-than-though attitude to yourself.” She’d kept her secret for over a decade so why did she reveal her darkest secret to a man she’d known for only a few days?

  “What’s there to know?” he said. “Rape is rape. It’s pretty cut and dry. No gray.”

  “It was a long time ago. I’m fine.”

  “How many raped you?”

  A shiver slithered down her spine. “Stop saying that word.”

  Cam brought his face in front of hers. “How many?”

  Maggie glared at him until he grunted and turned his attention back toward the fire. “Four,” she murmured.

  “Did you ever see any of them again?”

  “Two of them I see all the time.”

  “Shit.” He ran a hand over his head. “You were a virgin?”

  Maggie shot to her feet, her hands on her hips. “What are you doing?”

  Cam stood. “What do you mean?”

  Her anger flared, either from her own stupidity of revealing her secret or from his condescending interrogation. “You really want to know the details?” She jabbed a finger into his chest. “Do you?”

  “Yup.”

  “You want me to cry like a girl and tell you how awful it was.” She shoved him and he stumbled, a gesture he must have conceded. She could never move his—she guessed—two hundred and fifty pounds without his cooperation. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I was unconscious for a good part of it.”

  He gripped her shoulders. “What are you saying?”

  She shrugged out of his grip. “When I came to they were sticking objects in me. I think the first was a flashlight, but I can’t say for sure because my eyes were swollen shut. But the second felt like a stick. And it hurt bad. Is this doing it for you?” She shoved him, but his feet remained planted. “If you’re waiting for hysterics and ‘oh please save me, knight in shining armor’, it’s so not going to happen.”

  Cam’s hands framed her face.

  “Fuck you!” She swatted him away. “The bad ass image you try to pull off is so not working for you right now.” Holding her arms wide, she waggled her fingers toward the sky. “Come on. Come at me.”

  Lines creased his forehead, his brows lowered. “That’s why you wanted me to take you hiking. You want me to end it for you?”

  “When you told me that you would flatten me I wanted to shoot you in the head.”

  “And now?”

  She took his hand and curled his fingers around her throat. “Do it.”

  When he squeezed, calling her bluff, she covered his hand with hers and forced him to squeeze harder. “Do it.” Her voice cracked and he released her.

  “That’s what I thought.” Maggie stepped toward the fire. “Pussy.”

  He grabbed her by the elbow and flipped her around. “If you don’t want a knight in shining armor then why did you tell me?”

  Maggie hesitated. “You were interrogating me.”

  One corner of Cam’s mouth lifted in a sarcastic grin. “For the tough girl you try to pull off, you caved pretty quickly.”

  The slap of her hand across his face echoed through the hollow forest. “Let’s be clear about one thing.” She wagged her finger. “All I want from you is your cock. Nothing more.”

  He palmed her face, and her body—against her will—shuddered. “Why do you talk like that?”

  “Because I’m a slut, in case you haven’t figured that out on your own.”

  He wrenched her against him, his cheek pressed against the top of her head, his body cocooning hers. “Just because they treated you like a slut, doesn’t make you one.”

  Maggie’s words blurred against his sweaty T-shirt. “Why do you think they picked me?” She wrapped her hands around his back and gave herself to him, a man who threatened to squash her like a bug.

  Cam pushed her to arm’s length. His hands slid to her hips. “You were a virgin. I don’t know what your definition of a slut is but as I understand it, virgins are not usually classified as sluts.” He shook his head. “You’re so much better than that.”

  Ever since that day over a decade ago, Maggie had distanced herself from everyone. She’d not met one guy who sparked anything in her except her hormones.

  Until now.

  She wanted Cam to hold and protect her and the thought of needing a man so completely, made her nauseous. One good thing came from the attack. She’d learned to trust and depend on only herself. She would never be caught off guard again…or so she’d thought.

  Unfortunately, her feelings for Cam had caught her off guard.

  She shrugged from his embrace and ran for her tent.

  # # #

  Cam raked his hands through his hair and cursed. He paced beside the fire, his hands balled into fists, his face flushed with fury. He stopped pacing and drew a deep breath. Calm down. He repeated the words, attempting to cool the beast threatening to overcome his control.

  Rage boiled through him and nothing short of beating the fuck out of the four football players could douse the flame. He stormed her tent with no idea what he would say or do.

  She was seated in the corner. “Go away.”

  He crawled closer. “They raped you.”

  She tucked her knees into her chest and covered her ears with her hands. “Stop saying that word.”

  “Rape?”

  With her eyes squeezed shut, she screeched, “Yes.”

  “Rape!”

  “Stop.”

  Maggie’s whispered plea sucked the moisture from his eyes. He fought an excruciating urge to shake her. “Rape!”

  “Get out!” She pointed, tears streaming down her face. “Are you happy now?”

  Cam grasped her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Happy isn’t the word that comes to mind.” He crushed her against his body, knocking the air from her lungs.

  Maggie gasped for a breath and pounded on his back. “I hate you!” He held her firm. “I hate you!”

  “Baby.”

  “I made it all these years.” She sagged against him. “Not one tear. One night with you and you turn me into a . . . a . . .”

  Cam looked down at her, an arm wrapped around her waist, a hand cradling the nape of her neck. “A girl.”

  She collapsed and mumbled into his shirt. “I begged them to stop.” Her fists pounded on his back. “So much blood.”

  Cam lay flat, keeping her quivering body trapped in the crook of his arm. With her head on his chest, he trailed fingers down the side of her head t
hrough her long silky hair.

  Curling her fist into his shirt, Maggie burst into hysterics. Her sobs escalated to gasps of air. With every frenzied attempt at a breath her chest hiccuped in rhythm.

  Sharp pings of pain shot through his skull, giving him the mother of all migraines. His eyes stung. He closed his lids, desperate for the moisture to return. If that wasn’t enough to keep him awake, the fire coursing through his veins would undoubtedly do the job.

  Visions danced through his head. A gun would be too quick and not as much fun. Yup. Given the chance, he’d beat the fuckers to death.

  Cam opened his eyes, smiled and waited for dawn.

  Chapter Twelve

  The canvas of the tent blurred the sun’s rays and trapped its heat. Cam laid flat, his hands clasped on his stomach and his ankles crossed. He glanced toward Maggie. Her legs were tucked into her chest, her body rolled into the fetal position.

  He wanted fresh air but didn’t want her waking up alone. While he held her, she’d cried for most of the night. Ten years of pent up anger and hurt finally escaped. After being brutally raped by a gang of teenage boys, she’d buried her feelings deep and kept her secret, all because of an unwarranted shame and to save her father’s political career. What a beautiful, vibrant and strong woman.

  Maggie opened her eyes.

  “Good morning,” Cam said.

  She scooted toward him, wiggled under his arm and tucked her face against his neck.

  Her face was still swollen from her emotional breakdown. What he wouldn’t give to get his hands on those bastards.

  “You okay?” He gave her a squeeze.

  “Sorry.” She tossed a leg across his sweatpants.

  “For what?”

  “You agreed to take me hiking not . . .”

  He gave her another squeeze and kissed the top of her head, his eyes shifting to the valley between her breasts, a haven made visible by her tank top. A full erection throbbed and he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling of the tent.

  “I’m the one who should be sorry,” he said. “I’ve been tough on you these past couple of days.”

  Maggie slipped her hand under the waistband of his sweatpants and curled her cold fingers around his erection.