Butler, Vermont Series: Boxed Set, Books 1-3

by Force, Marie

  Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and released it before opening them again. “What about your husband?”

  “I don’t have a husband.”

  A strangled sound escaped his tightly clenched jaw in the second before his lips found hers with the light of the fire and years of yearning to guide them. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “I’m okay, and I really want you to kiss me.”

  He kissed her like a man possessed. His fingers dug into her hair and shaped her skull, making it impossible for her to escape, not that she had any wish to be anywhere but right there with him. She’d waited what felt like forever for him to kiss her, and the reality was a thousand times better than the fantasies had ever been.

  To call this a kiss didn’t do justice to the feelings that exploded inside her as his tongue found hers in an erotic, sensual dance that made her dizzy and weak with longing.

  “Mia…” He withdrew slowly, gently kissing the uninjured side of her face, jaw and neck. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to kiss you.”

  “Don’t stop.” She sounded desperate and wanton but couldn’t be bothered to care. Combing her fingers through his hair, she brought him back for more.

  They kissed like they were afraid this was all they’d ever have. Perhaps it was. Perhaps he wouldn’t be able to help her, and if that were the case, she’d have no choice but to leave him. For his sake, as well as hers, it would have to be all or nothing.

  One kiss became two and then three, and when they came up for air, he was pressed up against her, and she wasn’t cold anymore. Not even kind of.

  He gazed at her, the firelight turning his hair and skin to pure gold. “Who hurt you, Mia?”

  “The man I used to love.”

  “Why would he do this to you?” He ran his fingertips gently over the bruise on her left cheek.

  “That’s a very long story.”

  “You can’t go back to him,” he said fiercely. “I knew he was hurting you, but I couldn’t prove it, and you’d never talk to me about him.”

  “Because I couldn’t.”

  “How did you get here?”

  “I drove as far as I could, but my car got stuck in a drift on the way into town. I walked the rest of the way.”

  “That’s miles from here!”

  “I don’t know how far it was, but it took a long time, and then when I got here and you weren’t home… The last thing I remember is reaching for the door hoping you wouldn’t mind.”

  “I wouldn’t have. Of course you could’ve come in.”

  “I must’ve passed out before I made up my mind.”

  “My place isn’t easy to find. You’d have to know where it is to find it, especially in this weather.”

  “After you gave me your address, I looked it up on a map, and I memorized the route.”

  “Why, Mia? Why did you memorize the way to my home?”

  “Because I knew I’d come to you as soon as I could. I only hoped that I’d still be welcome after all this time.”

  “You’re always welcome with me. You know that.” He looked at her with love and joy and hope. So much hope that her heart contracted. “You still haven’t told me what happened or why you came tonight, in the middle of a blizzard.”

  “Because…” She swallowed hard, summoning the fortitude she needed to say the words. “I need you to do something for me.”

  “I’d do anything for you.”

  His fierce words made her want to weep from the relief of knowing she hadn’t misjudged him or his feelings for her.

  “Tell me what you need, Mia. There’s nothing you could ask of me that would be too much.”

  Looking up to meet his intense brown-eyed gaze, she said, “I need you to marry me.”

  Chapter 2

  “Only I discern infinite passion, and

  the pain of finite hearts that yearn.”

  —Robert Browning

  Wade stared at her, certain this couldn’t actually be happening. The woman he’d longed for was lying in his arms asking him to marry her? Where did he sign?

  “Wade?” She waved her hand in front of his face, which was when he realized he was staring at her.

  “All this time, I thought you were already married and that he was hurting you. I’ve been tortured wondering what became of you.”

  She shook her head. “I’m so sorry I put you through such an ordeal. I never intended for that to happen.”

  He absorbed the information with a soaring feeling of hope he’d never experienced quite so acutely before.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  Taking a deep breath, he said, “Um, yeah, I’m good. Better than good. I’m excellent, in fact.”

  She smiled. “I know this is totally shocking and completely out of the blue, but—”

  He kissed her. Because he could. Because he was crazy about her. Because she was here and asking for his help, and because there was absolutely nothing he wouldn’t do for her. “Yes,” he said, his lips still pressed to hers. “I’ll marry you.”

  She pulled back from him. “Don’t you want to hear why?”

  “I care very much about how you got hurt and what’s being done to punish the person who hurt you. But I don’t care why you want me to marry you. I’m in.”

  “Wade—”

  He kissed her again, losing himself in her, wanting her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life, and now she was asking him to commit to her for a lifetime? Yes, hell yes.

  Mia pulled back from the kiss but kept her hands on his face. “You need to know why.”

  “No, I don’t.” What he needed was to keep kissing her for the rest of his life. If he could do that, he wouldn’t need anything else. Ever.

  She turned away to break the kiss. “Wade. You do need to know why. When you know, you might change your mind.”

  “I believe I’ve already given you my answer, but if there’s more you want to tell me, I’m listening. And PS, I’m not going to change my mind.”

  “I need to sit up for this, and I need you to not touch me and scuttle my brain cells so badly I forget what I need to say.”

  He flashed a smug smile as he helped her sit up, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. “Do I scuttle your brain cells?”

  She took a long, hungry look at his bare chest that only added fuel to the fire simmering in his groin. Did she have any idea how beautiful she was to him? And when she looked at him like that, it took all his willpower to keep his hands to himself. “You’ve scuttled my brain cells from the minute we first met, and you know it.”

  “No, I didn’t know that until right now. For a long time, I wondered if it was just me.”

  “It wasn’t just you.”

  Her face lost all expression as she seemed to withdraw into herself.

  Because he couldn’t be this close to her and not touch her now that he was allowed to, Wade took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together. Now that you’re here, I’ll never let you go.”

  “You need to know what you’d be getting into before you decide anything.” The dull, flat tone of her voice made him wary.

  “Tell me what you think I need to know, and we’ll go from there. But I’ve already decided.”

  She looked up at him, and the sadness in her gaze made him hurt for her. “Did you hear about the big drug bust in Caledonia County a few months ago?”

  “I remember reading something about that.” And he recalled his grandfather, Elmer, asking him if he knew anything about it a month or so ago. He sat up straighter, wondering what the connection could possibly be. “What about it?”

  “The ringleader was a guy named Brody Dennison. He… He’s the one I was involved with for the last three years, and the one I’ve been trying to get free of for almost that long, but he…”

  Suddenly, Elmer’s fishing expedition made sense. He’d known this and wanted to know if Wade knew, too. How in the hell had he known? “What
, honey?” Wade tried to contain the rage he felt growing with every word she said. “What did he do?”

  “He told me if I ever left him, he’d find me and he’d kill me.”

  Wade released a pained sigh.

  “I… I was afraid he’d kill you if he ever found out about our… our friendship. That’s why I stopped returning your calls. I was afraid for you.”

  “I can take care of myself. I don’t want you to ever worry about me.”

  “I was worried. You have no idea what he’s capable of. I’ve only recently learned the full extent of what he was doing when he was bullshitting me about his ‘successful contracting business’ that was actually a front for a huge heroin operation. So many people were hurt by him, lives destroyed… It makes me sick.”

  Wade reached out to stroke her bruised cheek. “Did he do this to you?”

  She nodded. “It turns out I know just enough to be a threat to him in the criminal case. He’s out on bail and has been pressuring me to marry him so I won’t have to testify against him. When I refused to marry him, he…” She took a deep breath and released it. “He beat me, and he said there’d be more where that came from unless I changed my tune—quickly.” Lowering the blanket, she raised the hem of her tank to display a badly bruised abdomen and ribs.

  Wade gasped. “Mia, oh my God. You need to be in the hospital! What if you have internal injuries?”

  “It happened a couple of days ago. I think I’m okay.”

  “I know you said you didn’t want me touching you while we’re talking, but I really need to. Can I, please?”

  Her chin quivered. “I wish you would.”

  He scooped her up off the floor, blanket and all, and moved them to the sofa, arranging them so they were facing each other with the blanket pulled over their shoulders so she wouldn’t get cold again. “How did you get away?”

  “He had a mandatory court appearance today, and I left while he was gone. He said when he got back, he was bringing someone to marry us so I’d have no choice but to keep my fat mouth shut. I’d been preparing to run for weeks, but after he beat me, I knew he wouldn’t give up until I was shackled to him for life. I figured the only way I can get him to stop pressuring me is if I’m legally not able to marry him, because I’m married to someone else. And the only person I’d ever want to be married to is this gorgeous, sweet guy I met at a yoga retreat a couple of years ago who’s been giving me a reason to live just by being out there somewhere.”

  Wade brushed away a tear that rolled down her cheek. He couldn’t bear to see her cry. “He’s been hurting you for a while now, hasn’t he?”

  “Not like this, but in other ways. Grabbing my arms or handfuls of my hair… Things that wouldn’t show to the outside world but would keep me terrorized enough to toe the line. I kept asking myself how the nice guy I’d fallen for had turned into such a monster. It took me a while to realize he’s always been a monster. He’d just hidden it well when we were first together, back when I thought I’d finally found a good guy. It wasn’t until I met you, a truly good guy, that I could see just how far off I’d been with him.”

  “I’m wondering how you were able to go to the yoga retreat in the first place.”

  “He went on a weekend fishing trip to Maine with his brothers. I left after he did and was back before him. He never even knew I was gone. I worked as a waitress, and he never asked where my money went, probably because he was so flush with drug money, he didn’t need my pitiful contribution. I squirreled away as much as I could, so I’d be ready when I got the chance to run. I’m not without resources, if you’re wondering about that.”

  “I’m not wondering about that. In fact, that’s the last thing on my mind. Not only will I marry you so you can’t marry him or anyone else, but I’ll protect you from him and anyone who’d try to harm you. You’ll have me and my entire, formidable family behind you. We’ll have your back, sweetheart, and I’ll get my cousin Grayson to represent you in any legal matters. Everything will be okay. I promise.”

  “He won’t go quietly,” she said. “I have no way to predict how he’ll react to finding out that I married someone else.”

  “He won’t get near you. Not as long as I’m alive.”

  “I almost didn’t come here. I thought about heading west and disappearing.”

  “I’m so glad you didn’t do that. I would’ve missed you for the rest of my life.”

  “Wade…” Her eyes filled again. “What I’m asking of you could endanger you. I have to be sure you understand that.”

  “I get it.”

  “You need to think about this, to be sure—”

  He kissed her. “I’m sure. My aunt is the town clerk. My grandfather is a justice of the peace. We’ll get a license and get married as soon as the blizzard ends.”

  “What will your family say?”

  “I don’t care what they say.”

  “Yes, you do. I know you well enough to know you care very much what they think.”

  “Not about this.” He stared into her eyes. “There is nothing—and I do mean nothing—anyone could say or do that would keep me from offering you this protection. By helping you, I get everything I want, too. The way I see it, it’s a win-win.”

  “You say that now… I’m going to be tied up for months, if not years, in the case against Brody.”

  “We’ll take it one day at a time until it’s in the past and we never have to think about that again.”

  “I’ll understand if you want me to sign something that protects you and your assets for after.”

  “For after what?”

  “After our marriage ends, of course.”

  “Sweetheart, let’s get one thing perfectly clear. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you never want to be anywhere but with me for the rest of your life. So let’s not talk about how it’s going to end. Let’s talk about how we’re going to make it work.”

  “We’ve never even been on a date.”

  “Every time we sat across from each other in a coffee shop was better than any date I’ve ever been on with anyone else. But if you want an official date, you got it. As many as you want—after we get a ring on your finger so no one can try to take you away from me.”

  Her eyes flooded with new tears. She closed them to contain the flood.

  “What?” he asked, alarmed.

  “I was so afraid you would’ve forgotten about me,” she said in a whisper.

  “I could never, ever, ever forget about you. I never want you to be afraid again. You’ve got me now, and we’re going to face whatever comes head on, until the bad stuff is so far in the past, you can’t even remember it. We’ll make so many happy new memories that you won’t have the space in your brain to accommodate the bad stuff anymore.”

  “You make me believe that’s actually possible.”

  “It’s more than possible.” He snuggled her in close to him. “Close your eyes and get some rest. You’re safe now. I’ve got you, and I’m never letting you go.”

  Chapter 3

  “The secret of a happy marriage is finding the right person. You know they’re right if you love to be with them all the time.”

  —Julia Child

  If anyone had told Wade Abbott earlier that he would end this day with Mia Simpson sleeping in his arms, he would’ve laughed. As if that would ever happen. And now… Now they were getting married. Stranger things had happened, for sure, but never to him.

  There were details to be seen to, but not until the storm passed, probably tomorrow sometime. As soon as he could dig them out, he’d take her to town and get the ball rolling. First and foremost, they had to go to the big red barn his family called home so he could introduce her to his parents.

  Thinking about that gave him his first twinge of anxiety since Mia had asked him to marry her. His parents wouldn’t understand, and he had to find a way to make them see how badly he wanted this—how badly he wanted her. She was right about one thing—their appr
oval would matter to him.

  Not that anyone could talk him out of marrying Mia, but he expected them to push back against his plans—and they’d push back hard, because he’d never talked to his parents about her. They didn’t even know she existed.

  At the very least, they’d try to talk some sense into him. However, he didn’t need sense or anything else talked into him. His mind was made up. He would marry her as soon as he could make it happen. And then he’d do everything he could to make theirs a successful union.

  Were they starting under the best of conditions? Absolutely not. But marriages had begun under worse situations. At least there were genuine feelings between them, and Wade had to believe those feelings would grow and flourish once they were together every day.

  Together every day. With Mia, my wife.

  The thought of it made him deliriously happy. There were still so many things he didn’t know about her, like where she was from originally, if she had siblings, where her parents lived or who her friends were. He couldn’t wait to talk to her until they ran out of words, hopefully fifty or sixty years from now.

  Having her in his arms was like having every dream he’d ever had come true all at once. Before this, he’d never even gotten to hug her, even though many a time he’d desperately wanted to wrap his arms around her and beg her to come home with him. But she’d been so skittish and afraid—and he’d thought then that she was married, so he’d stuck to the platonic side of the road when he’d been drawn to her on a cellular level. To hear she wasn’t married to the man he’d known was hurting her… That was the best news he’d ever gotten.

  He breathed her in, memorizing the scent of her hair and the satiny feel of her soft skin. His mind wandered back to the first time he saw her, in a room full of people at the yoga retreat. He’d thought then that she looked like an angel with her halo of golden curls, pale white skin and big navy-blue eyes. That was the first time in his life he’d experienced instantaneous attraction to another human being, and he hadn’t yet spoken a word to her.