Chlorine and Chaos

by Jessalyn Jameson

  “You’re safe.” He whispered the words, his promise warming her heart. She believed him.

  Brand swiped a tear from her cheek, reminding her how much her face hurt.

  “Ow…my cheek is throbbing.”

  “You’ve been sleeping all day, so I haven’t been able to get anything in you.” He leaned back to grab water and a couple pills from his nightstand, then handed them to Sage. “Here. Take these. I’m out of Vicodin. This is Tylenol. They aren’t very strong. I can get you something tomorrow—”

  “No. This is fine.” Sage had promised not to take anything too strong again after Jimmy hadn’t been able to wake her that night so many months ago. Tylenol would have to do. “Is it at least extra strength?” She smiled, then cringed as the movement reminded her just how badly her cheek had been hit. Twice.

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  Sage swallowed the pills down, then gulped the water until nothing remained in the glass.

  Brand’s eyebrows rose. “Thirsty?”

  She nodded, then curled back up in the blankets, realizing that Brand lay fully clothed on top of them, while she was tucked beneath. She furrowed her brows and looked up into his eyes. “Why are you on top of the covers? What time is it?”

  He glanced past her to the alarm clock on the other nightstand. “It’s just after ten-thirty, and I’m on top of the covers because I wanted to be here for you, but didn’t know how much you’d want me—”

  “I’ll always want you.” She hadn’t meant to speak the words aloud, but didn’t regret them now that she had. She didn’t know what his response would be, but she had no energy to lie, or pretend she wasn’t still in love with Brand.

  He smiled, then leaned forward to brush a kiss across her lips. Her heart swelled with love. He leaned back, smiling widely. “You have no idea what it feels like to hear you say that.”

  She had some idea. “Will you hold me tonight?”

  “I’ll hold you forever, Sage Shepard.”

  “I’ll hold you to that.”

  Brand climbed off the bed. He stripped down to his boxer briefs and a worn blue t-shirt, then slid back in beside Sage beneath the covers. “Jimmy is with Ellie Hall tonight. She hasn’t told him about what happened. We figured it was up to you.”

  Sage nodded, thankful that Brand and Ellie had the wherewithal to shelter Jimmy from the trauma she’d experienced that morning. After seeing Artie treating her the way he had, Sage didn’t know how much more Jimmy would have been able to handle. She was so grateful that Brand had found her this time, instead of Jimmy.

  Brand wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close as she tucked her face into his chest. Their legs intertwined, and they cuddled up close—as close as two people could come without being sexual. Brand rubbed her back, and she gripped his t-shirt, closing her eyes to the sound of his heartbeat.

  Tears filled Sage’s eyes once more as she thought about what almost happened to her this morning. “I couldn’t protect myself,” she sobbed.

  Brand’s arms tightened around her. “You shouldn’t have had to. What that man did—”

  She pushed back enough to look up at him, and when his green eyes met hers, she stuttered on the words. “But it wasn’t just…just…it wasn’t just him, though. I…Artie…and—”

  “I know.” Brand leaned down and placed a delicate kiss on her lips. “Jimmy told me. I’ll deal with that piece of shit.”

  “You can’t. You’ll go to jail, or…something, I don’t know.”

  “Then I’ll kick him off the team.”

  Sage’s tears flowed faster, and she tucked her face into his chest once more, unable to look at him. How he could still side with her after everything she’d done….

  “You’ll ruin the team.”

  “Then I’ll quit. There will be other teams.”

  She sobbed, her stomach churning with the thought of Brand giving up his team, his boys, because of her. “I’ve ruined everything. I should have stayed away.”

  “No. You coming back here was the best thing that ever happened to me. I love you, Sage Marie.” He kissed the top of her head.

  “Why?” The word was muffled in his shirt.

  “Because loving you is all I’ve ever known. It’s what I’m meant to do. I don’t know how to not love you.” He chuckled. “I’ve tried.”

  She smiled, despite herself. “I know.”

  “So it’s just that simple. That complicated. I’ll never not be in love with you.”

  She pressed further into him and sighed. She thought she repeated the words back to him, but couldn’t be sure as sleep overcame her once more. She loved Brandon Tiggs with every cell in her body—that much she knew. She wouldn’t let him get away from her again.

  Three days passed before Sage mustered up the strength to return to her apartment. She knew her attacker wasn’t there, knew he’d been arrested—she’d officially pressed charges against Leonard Maynard Wills yesterday—but still…she couldn’t shake the fear that he’d be there waiting for her, eager to finish what he’d started.

  Fingers clasped, she rubbed her thumb over her opposite palm and the scar that stretched from pinky to thumb, looking up the stairs at her apartment’s front door. Unassuming and non-threatening as that worn brown door was, she couldn’t force her feet to move forward, couldn’t bring herself to ascend the stairs.

  “You don’t have to go back in there, Sage.”

  She turned to Brand and smiled. “It’s where I live, silly. Where else can I go?”

  He reached for her hands, stilling her nervous tick, then rubbing her scar absently—the way he always used to. “Then don’t live there anymore. Move in with me. I’ll get a bigger apartment, or we can find a condo, with a yard…we can get a dog for Jimmy, or a turtle, something. I think he’d really like that. And Pudge would love—”

  She tilted her head. “Brand, we talked about this. You know I’m moving to Albuquerque. I’m only here for another week.”

  “Don’t.”

  Sage sighed. “Don’t? Just, don’t?”

  Tig shrugged. “It’s easy, Sage. Just don’t.”

  “Brand, I—”

  “Fine. Then I’m coming with you.” His mouth closed over hers, the first time he’d really kissed her since the assault. His lips gingerly moved against hers with softness and precision, careful not to hurt her swollen cheek, careful not to push her too fast. She fisted her hands at her sides, trying to fight the pull to him, yet…unable to remember why she fought.

  She opened her mouth to him, then slid her hands up his arms, squeezing his biceps, then his shoulders, then pressing her fingers into his wavy hair. Brand’s hands moved from her back to her waist, pulling her toward him as he deepened the kiss. His tongue toyed with hers, circling it, teasing her mouth. He drew her bottom lip into his mouth, then released, pulling back to look down into her eyes.

  “Don’t say no, Sage. Please.”

  She nodded, unsure of why she’d ever thought she could leave him.

  Brand grinned, then leaned down to play with her bottom lip once more.

  When he released her lip, she smiled up at him. “We’ll need a bigger place.”

  With Brand’s help, Sage cleared her things out of the apartment that afternoon. Once she’d mustered the courage to step back inside, her fear of Leonard Wills had dissipated considerably, and she set forth on her task of moving in with Brandon Tiggs.

  Finally, after all these years, she was home. The fact that they would soon relocate was irrelevant. Home was Brand. Home was Jimmy. As long as they were together, home wasn’t a place, but a feeling. Safety. Love.

  The living room of Brand’s apartment was now stacked floor to ceiling with boxes—some hers, some Jimmy’s, and now some of Brand’s—and Sage and Jimmy’s furniture currently resided in Ellie Hall’s garage, but they were happy in their layover at Brand’s apartment, excited in their search for a larger place in Albuquerque.

  Something suitable for a family of three
, and, if Sage had anything to do with it, hopefully one day…more.

  Sunday night, the eve of the last week of school, Sage and Brand curled up on his brown microfiber couch, a bottle of wine open on the table, and Jimmy sprawled out on the floor in front of the television, his favorite show echoing through the room. Sage snuggled closer to Brand, then looked up at him and stretched her neck to kiss his lips.

  He smiled against her mouth, and the subtle movement of his lips made her fingers ache to touch him.

  “Thank you.”

  Brand leaned back just an inch or two so he could look into her eyes. “For what?”

  Everything. Sage sighed. “For saving me. For loving me. For loving Jimmy”—she glanced at her brother and her heart swelled further—“for giving us a home.”

  Brand kissed her nose, and Sage felt the rush of butterflies flittering in her stomach. He squeezed her shoulder, pulling her more tightly against him. Clearly, neither one of them could get close enough to the other. “I’m glad you’re here,” he murmured against her hair.

  “Me, too.”

  “Me, three!” Jimmy called from the floor. Sage smiled; that kid had ears like a bat.

  Brand winked at Sage. “Man, would you look at the time? I’m beat.” He yawned, stretching his lean arms into the air.

  Sage glanced at the clock on the microwave in the kitchen—seven thirty—then up at Brand, confusion pulling her eyebrows down over her eyes.

  She met his gaze, and her heart stopped, his desire nearly palpable. She swallowed, composed herself, then turned to Jimmy. “Yeah, um”—she threw a stretch in for good measure—“I’m exhausted from all this packing. I think I’ll hit the sack, too.” Sage stood, Brand right behind her, almost knocking her over in his haste to get up. Sage giggled, feeling the same impatience. “You okay going to bed on your own tonight, Jimbo?”

  Jimmy waved, never taking his eyes off the screen. “I’m fine, Sagey, I’m not a baby.”

  “No, you’re not, big brother.” She walked to him and bent to rub his head. “I love you.”

  He looked up at her then, smiling. “I love you, too. I’m glad Brand is coming with us to Mexico.”

  Sage grinned. “Me too, Jimmy. Me, too.”

  Brand waited at the doorway to his bedroom, one arm bracing the weight of his body against the door jamb. Holy hell, he’s beautiful. Walking down the hallway suddenly felt like torture, but breaking into a sprint and jumping into his arms might alert her brother that something more than sleeping was about to go down.

  Speaking of going down….

  Sage rounded on him as soon as she heard him lock the door behind them. She knew the hunger in his eyes mimicked the raw urgency she felt when looking at him now. She held his gaze as she stripped her shirt off, then began to unbutton her pants. Her breath hitched when he followed suit, exposing his beautifully sculpted chest. She paused in her efforts of undressing to watch his nimble fingers unbutton his button-fly, one button at a time, painfully and deliciously slowly. She took two steps toward him, then reached out to run her fingers through the small patch of blond hair on his tanned chest, following it down to the now-exposed hair below.

  His breath caught in his throat; she liked the sound.

  “I’ve missed you.” Her voice was hoarse, throaty…the voice of a woman who wouldn’t be able to wait for him much longer. Good grief, she wanted him right then and there, standing against the door. She glanced back at the bed, which suddenly felt too far away.

  He reached up, slid his hand around the base of her neck, then pulled her to him, consuming her mouth with his and plunging his tongue inside. Sage’s knees grew weak as his tongue caressed hers and his fingers kneaded the nape of her neck. Brand gripped her ass, pulling her closer to him, pressing his hard length against her. Sage whimpered as heat flooded her, her body begging for his.

  “Take me to the bed, Brand.”

  His eyes widened for the briefest of seconds, and then she was cradled in his arms.

  Tig pounded into her hard and fast and unforgiving, riding each wave of her passion until they came together violently, their bodies convulsing around one another. He claimed her, body and soul.

  And she claimed him. Holy fuck did she ever.

  He’d never reached orgasm so fast in his life, but something about the way she’d tasted, the deep, lustful sound of her voice when she’d asked him to take her to bed, the god-awful long time it had been since he’d last been with her…she undid him, and he knew that this was makeup sex.

  There was no time wasted on foreplay or exploring because what he needed, what they both needed, was to reclaim the other as their own.

  Possession—raw and carnal—swept through them now, and Tig fought the need to growl as he pounded into Sage one last time, filling her with his fullness.

  He collapsed on top of her, a sweaty mess of limbs, dripping with sex, their bodies sated and worn, and so perfectly stuck together that Tig wondered not for the first time how he’d ever been without her.

  They’d have to address the issue with Artemis Langford, and whether or not Tig let him stay on the team, or kicked him off as his final act before quitting.

  He’d have to acknowledge the betrayal from Rosie.

  Together, they’d need to find a way to make up for all the years lost, all the pain inflicted, the mistakes made.

  But right now, in this moment, with his body wrapped around the only thing that mattered to him in the world, the only woman who ever mattered to him, comfortably inside her and warm to his core…right now he just wanted to hold her. He wanted to kiss her swollen lips, caress each inch of her skin, trace each scar, the map of her life, her story…he wanted to live in this moment with the woman he loved.

  And maybe, just maybe they’d go another round. But this time, he’d take his damn time. Because Sage Shepard was a woman you made love to.

  The End

  Read on for a sneak peek at book two of the Flawed Heroes series, WHISKEY BURNED.

  Jake wiped the sweat from his brow and shook his muddy-brown hair out of his eyes, squinting into the sun to admire the old sign his dad hung above the doorway thirty-some-odd years ago. The paint had chipped in too many places and the brass “B” hung upside down, swishing back and forth with the breeze; Jake wasn’t too proud to admit the thing was weathered.

  But, neon? He eyed the new sign, wary of taking the final step and hanging the “upgrade”.

  Wary of moving forward without his old man.

  He sighed. “Sorry, Pop, but I’ve been told we need to change with the times.” He spat a wad of tobacco from his cheek and inhaled, swiping his rolled-up shirtsleeve across his mouth. Lifting the hefty sign, he tilted his head toward the heavens and sighed as he stepped up onto the ladder.

  “And if I break my neck doing this, I’ll know it’s you, ya ornery old coot.”

  Silence answered him as usual, but he knew his father watched from above, a smile on his weathered face and a shot of whiskey in his hand. Always house whiskey, never the good stuff.

  “Jake? Are you out here?” TB’s voice carried to him up on the roof.

  “Up here, kiddo.”

  “I wish you’d stop calling me that.”

  She’d mumbled under her breath, but Jake heard the words. He always heard them, which was mostly why he still called her kiddo, even though she’d turned twenty-one a good six months ago. He’d taken over as the annoying older brother when—

  “Randy’s drunk again.”

  Jake looked down to meet her blue eyes. “Tell me something I don’t know, TB.”

  “Something you don’t know, huh?” She crossed her arms and glared up at him. “Well, for starters, my name is Tamryn.”

  Jake raised an eyebrow. “Your name is TB, kiddo.”

  “My name is not tuberculosis. And I’m not your kiddo, old man.”

  “Your name is TB. Always has been. There’s really no sense in fighting it.” Jake smirked; arguing with her was his favorite part
of the day.

  “Tamryn.”

  “TB.”

  “Tamryn,” she growled, eyes narrowing further.

  “TB.” He twirled the hammer in his hands as he stared down at her.

  “Tamryn.”

  “Tamryn.” Jake grinned.

  “TB.” She slammed her mouth shut.

  Jake laughed. “Gotcha.”

  “Damn it all.”

  “Aw, don’t be sore, TB.”

  “You’re an ass. Your friend is an ass. I’m surrounded by asses.”

  “It’s a good thing we’re cute asses, then, ain’t it?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “That’s debatable.”

  “What? I didn’t hear you. Can you speak up, kid?”

  She dropped her hands to her sides, fists clenched. “I said, that’s debatable!”

  Jake grinned, winking at her. “I think your ponytail might be a bit snug today. You’re wound so tight.”

  Her lip twitched, but she remained stoic.

  “I’ll handle Randy. Gimme five.”

  “Fine.” TB stomped back inside, but Jake knew she wore that trademark Baker smile on her face, the one that shined like a hundred-watt bulb and never ceased to remind him of the best friend he’d lost to a war he didn’t believe in.

  “She’s a real pain in the ass sometimes, Colby.”

  Jake finished hanging the new sign, god-awful as it was, careful to cradle the old version in his arms as he stepped down the ladder. He knew exactly where he’d hang it inside in homage to his old man, right above Pop’s favorite table, broken “B” and all.

  Crossing the covered wooden porch, he stepped into the dark cocoon of The Bar, Jacob Johnson senior’s tribute to a bygone era of cowboys and gunslingers, of saloons and the wild, wild west. Inhaling a lungful of old leather and cigar smoke, the only scent he’d ever call home, Jake strolled over to the half-moon corner booth, stepped onto the worn wooden bench and positioned the weathered old sign beside Colby’s Purple Heart and dog tags. His friend’s boots rested on a shelf immediately to the right, still caked in the reddish dirt from war-torn Afghanistan.