by Devney Perry
She came back?
“Thank fuck,” I muttered, running past the barn and into my loft. “Felicity, I’m sor—” My feet ground to a stop when I hit the end of the hallway. “What’s going on?”
Standing by the couch, she blushed and tucked her hands in her jeans pocket. “Will you come sit down?”
I gave her a sideways glance, then walked to the couch. It wasn’t in its normal spot but pushed too close to the TV. The coffee table was now by the kitchen and my armchair was by the stairs. She’d rearranged my entire living area to make room for my mattress, which was now on the floor instead of on its platform upstairs.
As soon as I sat down, Felicity came to me and straddled my thighs. My hands immediately went to her hips as she settled on my lap.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
My shoulders sagged in relief that she wasn’t mad. “It’s my fault, not yours. I shouldn’t have gotten so pissed.”
“Regardless, I shouldn’t have left. Sometimes we might need space, but Silas, I promise I’ll never leave you again.”
I pushed out a breath that I’d been holding in for years. I hadn’t realized just how much I’d needed to hear that promise.
She leaned back, and I pushed the hair out of her face. “Is my punishment for being an ass that I have to sleep upstairs without a mattress?”
She laughed and I closed my eyes, blocking out everything else except that musical sound. When her hands framed my face, I opened them back up. Her beautiful blue eyes sparkled in the dim light.
“I wish we could go back in time,” she said. “That we would have spent these last sixteen years together, not apart, but since that isn’t possible, I thought maybe we could recreate our first night. This time, have it end a little differently.”
She dropped her hands as I glanced around. Then it clicked. How could I have not noticed when I came in? Our first night together had been one of the best in my life.
When my eyes came back to Felicity, she was studying my face. “What are you thinking?”
Easy answer. “That I love you.”
This time she bit her lip so her chin wouldn’t quiver. It didn’t work. Those blue eyes filled and her breath hitched. Her chest heaved before she said, “I love you too.”
I was just about to kiss her when she lost hold and tears poured down her face. She fell into my chest and cried against my neck as my arms hugged her tightly.
Shit. I had pictured this going much differently.
“Don’t cry.” I stroked her hair. “I know it’s hard to hear. I know you’ve only ever loved Wes and he’ll always be the love of your life, but can you make some room for me too? Please? We could be happy. Please? Please give me a chance to make you happy.”
I was begging. I didn’t beg. Ever. But the more she cried, the more desperate I became. The pleas kept popping into my nervous mind and flowing out of my mouth without pause.
Felicity’s chest started shaking even harder and I was starting to panic, but then I realized she wasn’t crying anymore. She was laughing.
Full-out belly laughing.
She leaned back and tipped her head to the ceiling, filling the entire room while I sat dumbfounded and openmouthed. Dragging in a couple of deep breaths, she managed to pull it together, and though her laughter stopped, the beautiful, beaming smile on her face remained.
This was better. I could work with the smile. The tears had almost wrecked me.
Her hands came back to my face and she pulled me forward for a hard, short kiss. “You’re an idiot.”
What?
“Do you actually think Wes was the love of my life?”
“Well . . . yeah.”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I have been in love with one man for what feels like my entire life.” Her forehead pressed against mine as her lips whispered, “You.”
I sucked in a short breath when my heart skipped.
“After our first night together, I knew I didn’t love Wes. Not really. I couldn’t love him because I loved you. Even when you were just my friend. Even when I lived in Seattle. Even when you were across the world, fighting for our country. You always had this.” She took my hand and pressed it against her heart.
My fingers warmed against the thin cotton of her shirt.
“And I was crying, because I’ve been waiting a really, really long time to hear you say you loved me too.”
My nose was burning and my throat closed. Fuck. Before my eyes could water, I took Felicity’s mouth. With one hand still pressed between us, I used the other to slide her hips closer. She ground down on my cock and I groaned into her mouth. My dick strained against my zipper to be free.
Just like our first night all those years ago, I carried her to my mattress and laid her down gently, peeling off her clothes, then mine. I stroked my cock and lined it up with her slick entrance, savoring her sweet moan when I slid inside. When her arms wrapped around my back, I pressed my chest to hers.
Heart to heart.
I made love to my Lis slowly, deliberately, using every stroke to remind her that my soul was hers. She owned me completely. When she came, crying out my name, I fought to restrain my own orgasm but her tight, wet heat clenched around me like a fist. I poured into her as white stars consumed my vision and her sweet voice whispered, “I love you, Silas.”
I didn’t know what her top five times were, but this one had just skyrocketed to my number one.
Collapsing on top of her, I let myself take three full breaths before pulling myself free and rolling to the side.
Felicity curled into my side and kissed my nipple. More of that, and I’d be ready for round two in three minutes instead of ten. “Now what?” She smiled against my skin as she asked the familiar question.
“Whatever you want.”
“I want babies,” she declared.
I chuckled at her bluntness. “Then stop taking those pills and I’ll give you babies.”
“Really?” She pushed off my chest and looked at me in surprise. “We should probably get married first.”
“We’re getting married.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
I smiled. “Nope.” There was no way my Lis was getting a casual proposal. She deserved the big show and I knew exactly what I was going to do.
“So you want to get married and have kids?”
“Yep.”
“But you’re not asking me to marry you.”
“Right.”
“I’m confused.”
I lifted my head and kissed her soft, pink lips. “Just go with it.”
She grinned at the familiar line from our youth. Fuck, that smile. She was stunning, so beautiful it made my heart hammer in my chest. Without a doubt, this was the happiest I’d ever been.
I kissed her gently again. “I love you.”
That smile spread even wider. “I love you too.”
Now that was a better reaction than the first time.
I came up at her in a flash, slamming our mouths together and spinning her onto her back. Then I took full advantage of the mattress being on the floor.
Felicity
Someone was knocking on the front door.
“Go away,” Silas muttered.
I blinked away sleep and pushed up onto an elbow, twisting to grab Silas’s T-shirt from the floor.
We had been asleep for maybe an hour. By the time Silas was done with me, it had been well after midnight, and I’d passed out, completely satisfied and deliriously happy. Squinting, I tried to read the clock on the microwave.
Silas got up first, yanking on a pair of jeans and zipping them up. He skipped the top button so they rode loosely on his hips. Please don’t be his mother at the door.
I stepped into my panties and tugged the hem of Silas’s shirt down over my rear. Walking quickly to catch up to Silas, I slipped a hand into his back jeans pocket and followed him down the hall.
He looked over his shoulder at me and
grinned. When he opened the door, I forced my eyes away from his sculpted back to see who was here.
I gasped and slapped my free hand over my mouth.
For the second time in as many months, I was staring at a friend who looked like she’d just gone one extremely unsuccessful round with Mike Tyson.
Khloe Olson stood at Silas’s front door, bloody, bruised and battered.
“Oh my god.” I pushed around Silas and threw an arm over Khloe’s shoulders, steering her inside. I didn’t need to ask her what had happened.
This was all Derrick.
“I’m sorry for bothering you,” she whispered. “I didn’t know where else to go.”
“Don’t apologize. Let’s sit down.”
Silas followed us inside, then swiped his phone from the kitchen counter and mouthed, “Jess?” When I nodded, he started dialing while I sat with Khloe on the couch.
“Silas is calling the cops.” She flinched and her eyes widened, but I didn’t let her protest. “It’s time to stop this, Khloe.”
“I know.” Her frame slumped in defeat. “I’m just scared. Derrick won’t like that I involved the police.”
“We’ll think of something,” I promised.
“Jess is on his way,” Silas said. He came to the couch and smiled at Khloe, giving her some space. “Don’t worry.” He gave me a sad smile before jogging upstairs to put on a shirt.
“I really believed that he had changed,” Khloe whispered before starting to cry. I let her lean against my shoulder while I stroked her hair and let her talk.
“Things were going great.” She sniffled. “He’s been a different man lately. Loving and sweet. Just like he was after we got married. And he quit drinking.”
“Was he drunk tonight?”
“Yeah. We were supposed to go to a dinner party tonight but I’ve been sick so I stayed home. He told me he’d be fast, that he’d make his appearances and then come home to take care of me. And he promised me that he wouldn’t drink.”
Obviously, he’d broken that promise along with a whole slew of others.
“He came home late. Drunk. He wanted to have sex, but I told him no because I was sick. It sent him into a drunken rage. He told me that if he couldn’t get off one way, he’d find another. And then he hit me.”
Derrick must have focused all his blows on her face because there wasn’t an inch of it that wasn’t red, swollen or cut.
“You have to press charges this time.”
She started crying harder, but nodded. “How could I have let it come this far? I’m a stupid, pathetic woman.”
“Don’t say that, Khloe. This isn’t your fault. It’s his.” In addition to the physical abuse, I was sure that prick Derrick had convinced Khloe that she was to blame. I fought to keep my calm and not storm out of here with my stun gun. That guy deserved more than a few jolts.
“Here.” Silas was standing over us with a glass of water and three painkillers.
I left Khloe to take her medicine while I pulled on my jeans. “Damn it,” I muttered to myself. I should have gotten Jess involved sooner. I should have pressed harder with Khloe. Maybe all of this could have been prevented.
Before I could go back to the couch, Silas came to my side and pulled me in for a hug. “Are you okay?”
I shrugged. “I should have done more.”
“You’re a good friend, babe. There’s nothing else you could have done.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“I am,” he said. “She’s here because you gave her a safe place to go. Your friend trusts you. If she didn’t, she’d still be at home with that fucker and not here with you.”
“Thanks.” I melted into his side. Silas always knew what I needed to hear to chase the doubts away. We broke apart, and I went back to Khloe while he pulled the mattress upstairs.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your night,” she said.
“Don’t be.”
“I didn’t know where else to go.” Her voice broke. “He’d find me at the motel and I don’t have any other friends. No one wants to hang around with a woman who’s too dumb to leave her abusive husband.”
“It’s their loss and you’re not dumb. You’re just going through a rough patch. We’ve all had them. Anyone who would abandon you to go through it alone isn’t much of a friend at all.”
She rested her head against my shoulder. “Thank you, Felicity.”
“You’re welcome.”
Over the next hour, Silas, Jess and I listened to Khloe recount tonight’s events in detail. She also told us about numerous other times that Derrick had hurt her, and Jess promised that with her official statement and hospital records, Derrick stood no chance of avoiding jail time.
While Khloe went to the bathroom to clean her face, I stood with Silas and Jess in the kitchen. “You two look murderous.”
“Just praying that fucker tries to resist arrest,” Jess said.
“How long will Derrick be in jail?”
He shrugged. “I’ll do my best to keep him as long as I can, but he’ll probably get out on bail before too long. The judge will put him under a restraining order but that might not keep him from trying to talk to her.”
“I don’t think she should stay at home. I don’t trust Derrick.”
“I agree,” Silas said. “He’s a stupid fuck up and always has been. I don’t see him taking this well. He’ll go after her.”
“Got any ideas where to stash her?” Jess asked.
She could stay with us but the only place for her to sleep would be the couch. Olivia would be more than willing to have a guest but I didn’t think Khloe would be comfortable around Elliot. “What about my house? She could stay there.”
“No, I won’t put you out.” All of our eyes swung toward Khloe as she emerged from the bathroom. “I’ll just go to the motel.”
I shook my head. “I think that’s too dangerous. It’s the first place he’ll look for you. My house is empty and free. I rarely go over there, and when I do, it’s for five minutes to get some clothes.”
“If Derrick knows you two are tight, he’ll find her.”
“He doesn’t,” Khloe said. “He doesn’t care about my friends. We talked about his life, not mine.” Her newfound anger was giving me hope that she’d be done with Derrick for good. “Are you sure I can’t go home?” she asked Jess.
“Until we know how Derrick is going to react to all of this, you gotta lie low.”
“Please?” I begged. “At least stay there for a few days. It would give your face a chance to heal and for your cold to go away.”
“All right,” she said reluctantly.
With that decision made, we set off from the barn. Jess went off to arrest Derrick while Silas and I got Khloe settled in my house. We hid her car in the garage and I packed myself more clothes for Silas’s closet. After handing her a bottle of cold medicine, I sent her upstairs to bed and we drove back to the ranch.
“Babe?” Silas asked as we drove home.
“Yeah?” I yawned.
“I think I need to get the full roster of your friends. That and a quick synopsis of everything they have going on in their lives.”
I giggled. “I think we’re safe after this one.”
“Life with you will never be boring, will it?”
He laced his fingers with mine and drove in silence through the darkness. Maybe one day Khloe would be lucky enough to find a man like mine.
Then again, he was one in a million.
“You’re burning up.” I pressed the back of my hand to Silas’s forehead. “I’m getting you more medicine.” He had gotten Khloe’s cold but had spent the last two days working like normal, pushing his sick body too hard, and now he was exhausted with a fever.
“No medicine.” He grunted and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Dad and I are heading up into the mountain today to deliver salt blocks. He can’t go alone and I can’t be drowsy.”
“No way, baby. You’re not going anywhere
but back to sleep.” I pushed his shoulders, surprised when he didn’t put up much of a fight. Oh, lordy. That meant he felt even worse than he was letting on.
“Can you just tell Dad that I’ll take the blocks up when I’m feeling better?”
“Yes, I’ll take care of it.” I made him take a heavy dose of cold medicine and left him sleeping as I went in search of his dad.
“Elliot?” I called into the barn.
“What?” he snapped, not bothering to look at me.
This guy was never going to give me a chance, was he? Not that I was surprised by his greeting. After the drama between us at the branding, I doubted Elliot and I would ever get along.
“Silas is sick today so he asked me to tell you that he’d take the blocks up to the mountain when he’s feeling better.”
“Figures,” he muttered, tossing a big brush onto one of the work benches. “Leaves me to do the work alone.”
“He’s really sick.” I was pissed that he’d act this way. Silas was not the type of man to fake an illness to get out of work, and his father, of all people, should know that.
“Ever since you showed up, all he’s been is distracted. Now he’s sick. It’s the end of May, and we’re weeks behind. I can’t afford to wait until he’s better, which means I’ll be making a two-man trip myself today.”
“Silas said you were behind because of the rain,” I argued. Elliot was placing unfair blame and I wasn’t going to let him do that to Silas.
“Whatever,” he muttered. “We’re still behind.”
I pushed out a long breath, dreading what was about to come out of my mouth. “Is it something I could help with?” I had no desire to spend my day with Elliot but it might make Silas’s life easier and give him an extra day to recuperate.
Elliot stared at me for a minute until he started laughing. “You couldn’t do it if you tried.”
Ass. Now I’d do it just to spite him. I’d prove to him that I did belong here and a day of hard work wasn’t going to scare me away. “I guess we’ll see about that. I’ll take Silas’s place.”
