Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Emotion clots in my throat as I kiss her. “I was so close to losing you yesterday.”
“But you came for me.”
“I don’t want to wait any longer to love you.” I tug her closer.
“Can we start tonight?” she asks, laughing through her tears.
I caress down her back and kiss her softly. “We can start right now.”
She draws in a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry I left after that night.”
“You had every right to protect yourself.”
“But it hurt you.” She presses her forehead to mine.
“It’s woven into our story,” I say. “But it’s just one thread, Ava. We have the rest of our lives to add in so many good things.”
“Like this,” she says as another quiet sob shudders through her. She kisses me, her lips lingering for a fraction of a second. “I love you so much.”
I return the kiss, sweeping my tongue past her lips. She rocks her hips against me, making me groan. Our tongues swirl as a fire sparks deep in my belly, urgent and hungry .
Ava caresses beneath my shirt, her fingertips so soft. In one quick tug, I yank my shirt free and drop it to the floor. A zip of electricity jolts through me as she strokes up my chest and across my shoulders. I love the caring way she touches me.
I gather the hem of her sweatshirt and the T-shirt underneath, my fingertips brushing her warm skin. She breaks from our kiss to let me slide both layers off. With my gaze locked to hers, I caress over the fabric of her bra. She gives a soft sigh, her face tensing with need. I stroke and caress while I kiss her. In a quick flick of her fingers, she unfastens the clasp in the back, allowing me to slip it off.
The brush of her soft breasts against my chest makes me groan. I kiss down her neck, pausing to tease the tender place behind her ear. She rocks against me, making my cock jolt inside my jeans. I lean down to take her into my mouth, circling with my tongue.
Ava gives a soft sigh, her fingernails slicing through my hair as she arches closer, adding more friction to the growing heat between us.
The thirst for her flashes hot inside me. I rise, taking her with me, and toe off my shoes, then climb onto the bed. I lay her down in the center of the comforter, taking a moment to drink in the yearning in her eyes and the way her soft smile stretches the corners of my heart, forcing it open. It’s painful, but beautiful, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I kiss her, our tongues swirling in a slow, sensual duet, then break away to kiss my way down her body, savoring her little sighs and the softness of her skin. Her warmth and the eager way she squirms, trying to get me closer. I pop the button of her jeans and tug them down, revealing a scrap of pale pink cotton dotted with tiny strawberries.
Fuck. Me.
I peel her jeans and socks off, then ditch mine and climb back on, planting kisses up her inner thigh, taking my time while she trembles and her breaths quicken. I flutter my thumb over the little damp patch in the fabric while the scent of her arousal sends my craving into overdrive. I kiss to the apex of her thighs while I tease her clit .
“Hutch,” she groans.
“Tell me what you need, sweetheart.”
“Your mouth. Please.”
I brush my lips over the fabric, making her shudder. “Please, huh?”
“It’s so good.”
Slipping my fingers under the seam, I tug her panties down and drop them to the floor.
Her honey brown eyes lock with mine. “I love you.”
I caress her hip and up the curve of her waist, then lower my lips to her navel. “I love every part of you, Ava.”
She winds her fingers through my hair. “Even my stubborn parts?”
I brush my lips lower. “Especially your stubborn parts.”
“Even when I’m not brave?”
I glance up. Does she know that I love the vulnerable parts of her best of all? “I want you to share those moments with me, so I can show you how much I love them, too.”
That edge of yearning fills her eyes again. “What about when I make mistakes?”
“I love that part too.” I urge her thighs apart and give her a slow, firm caress with my tongue. “There’s no part of you I’m not crazy about.”
She releases a shuddering sigh. “I told myself I could live without you. That I would be okay when you left. But I don’t want to ever have to.”
I savor another caress, my hunger like an urgent ache inside me. “The only way I can get on that plane is knowing you’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” she whispers.
My heart stretches inside my chest. Mine .
I stroke and tease, savoring her quickening breaths and the way her core draws tighter as she gives herself so beautifully to me. Her cries sharpen as she comes, rocking against me, her fingers tight in my hair.
“Please,” she whimpers, tremors rattling down her thighs as she catches her breath. “I need all of you. Now, please.”
I slip off my briefs and reach for a condom from her bedside drawer.
“No,” she says, her eyes tense with yearning. “All of you.”
I force a steadying exhale through my teeth. “You sure?”
“Yes.”
She’s on birth control and we’ve covered the safety topic already, but this is still a big step. I set the condom aside and press a soft kiss to her lips. “You trust me.”
“With my whole heart.” She cups the back of my neck and draws me closer.
I glide against her and gently thrust inside. She sucks in a breath.
I thrust again, her plush heat gripping me so tight. She rocks her hips to take me deeper. I reach back and urge her thigh around mine, the shift giving me that final inch.
“Fuck, you feel good.” I will myself to hold on so I can give her everything she deserves.
She arches her hips to meet my thrusts. “I love you.”
“I love you.” I swallow her whimper with a soft kiss, our bodies finding that sensual, slow rhythm that feeds all my cravings. Her body tightens around me and her breaths turn sharp. We move together, sharing something precious and beautiful, something rare. Something I never believed could happen to me.
Ava comes, her soft cries filling the quiet room. I ride the wave with her, savoring the way she’s so perfectly surrendered to her desires, then roll us over so I can kiss and caress her while she rocks against me. Only after she comes again do I give in to the ache burning deep inside me.
“Nice and slow, sweetheart, so I can feel everything.” I cradle her hips as little aftershocks rattle down her thighs.
She wraps her fingers around the back of my neck and kisses me. “Everything.”
I kiss her back as the heat smoldering inside me catches like wildfire. “That’s it,” I praise, breaking from her lips with a groan. My love for her and the desperate thirst for release twist tighter and tighter inside me until the knot whips free, unspooling the last shred of doubt and fear. In its place rushes pleasure and joy and so much love. It’s fragile and pure and beautiful. She wraps her arms around me and holds me tight, her chest heaving.
“I love you…I love you…” she whispers between breaths.
I hug her close, savoring everything I’m feeling. The perfect way her body fits with mine. Her warmth. The vanilla scent lingering on her skin. The promises we’ve shared. The tenderness in my heart.
I’m in love with my best friend, and she loves me back.
I carry Ava’s coffee to her bedside. She’s fallen asleep again, her gorgeous face so peaceful. I’m not surprised, given how little I’ve let her rest these past two days. My heart warms so fast inside my chest it hurts, like my rib cage is suddenly too small. But I relish the ache. Because it drives the love I’m feeling for her deeper into my heart.
I didn’t know I could love her any more than I did yesterday, or the day before that, but I do. Is this what it means to fall head-over-heels in love? Every day, it gets bigger, stronger, more powerful? Because that’s exactly how it feels.
Easing onto the mattress so I don’t jostle her, I caress her bare shoulder. Her eyes flutter open and she gives me a sleepy smile.
“Hi,” she says. I love the way she looks at me. Like she can see every part of me, even the secret, broken places, and loves those too.
“Morning.” I comb her long hair from her face and brush my lips to hers in a soft kiss.
“Are you coming back to bed?” A tender need fills her eyes.
“This morning wasn’t enough, hmm? Or last night?”
She smiles. “I’m never going to get enough of you.”
I caress her bottom lip with my thumb, savoring the heat in her gaze .
A knock sounds from the front of the house.
Ava’s face tenses with apprehension. “I’m not expecting anyone.”
“I’ll go see who it is.” I slip from her bed and pull on my jeans and T-shirt, then hurry through the house.
I peer through the blinds. Standing on Ava’s stoop are Kirilee, Sofie, Zach, Sawyer, and Jesse, with Skye on his shoulders. What the heck?
“Surprise!” our friends cheer when I open the door.
“I wanted to come yesterday but Zach made us wait,” Kirilee says, arching an eyebrow. Her coat is unbuttoned from the middle down, exposing her watermelon of a belly.
Sofie jumps into my arms, gripping me like a koala bear. “I’m so freaking happy! But if you ever break her heart, I will kill you.”
Before I can defend myself, she slips past me to call for Ava.
Sawyer wraps me in a manly hug. “We heard the good news.”
Zach is next, shooting me a knowing grin before he pulls me into a tight hug. “Congrats. Proud of you guys.”
I laugh. “Proud of us for what?”
He grips my shoulders, his eyes glassy with emotion. “For taking the risk.”
My mind reels as Jesse hugs me next, slapping me on the back. Skye pokes me in the side. “Why are you crying? I thought getting married is supposed to be happy?”
I lift her up while she squeals in delight. “I am happy.”
Ava joins us, making Sofie and Kirilee shriek.
“We brought donuts and champagne!” someone shouts as the entourage migrates toward the kitchen. I’m about to follow when a vehicle turns down the driveway. It’s the unmarked sedan Luke’s been driving.
I glance at the kitchen, but the party is in full swing. Ava must have texted her friends, and I’m glad they’re here to share the good news. I’m grateful she has them, so when I leave for my final duty, she won’t be alone.
Luke parks the car and steps out, a large envelope in his hands. His sharp eyes connect with mine. A tendril of unease spirals down my spine. Something tells me he’s not here for the party.
“Hey, Luke.” I slip outside.
“Morning.” He gives the extra cars in the driveway a curious glance. “What’s the occasion?”
A bubble of joy rockets through me so fast, making me laugh and feel like crying all at once, but I gulp a breath. “Ava and I got engaged.”
His eyes widen. “No shit?”
I laugh. “Nope.”
He grabs me in a tight hug. “Congrats, brother. That is awesome news.”
Gratitude washes through me. “Thanks. You want to join us?”
His face tenses. “I came to talk to you, actually, but—” From inside the house comes a muted shriek followed by cheers and more laughter “—it can wait.”
Luke wouldn’t come here if it wasn’t important. The fact that he didn’t call is also significant. “Is this about the case?”
“It’s about Jeremy Fisher.”
My chest pinches and a metallic taste tickles the back of my throat. “Okay.”
“We found these at the house,” he says, offering me the big envelope. “I think he intercepted them from Ava’s apartment.”
I peek inside, then glance at Luke. “Letters?”
“Ones Ava wrote to you. Looks like Jeremy didn’t want you to get them.”
A hard lump lodges in my throat. “I thought she stopped writing.”
His eyes fill with compassion. “Doesn’t look that way.”
“When her letters didn’t come, I quit writing her back.” I squeeze my eyes shut as the realization crystalizes in my mind. All this time, I thought I’d lost her. That the mistakes I’d made that night cost me the most precious relationship of my life.
Instead, someone stole that from me .
The tears come so fast I have to pinch the bridge of my nose to coax them back. Ava must have felt so betrayed when I didn’t reply.
If Jeremy wasn’t behind bars right now, he wouldn’t live to see another day.
“I think that was the outcome he was after,” Luke says. “I’ve covered a lot of ground since we brought him in. He’s been fixated on her since you all were in high school together. He’s photographed her, followed her, stolen her mail, invaded her privacy. When his attempts to entice her into a romantic relationship failed, he created that basement room and waited for an opportunity to apprehend her.”
“He tampered with her car,” I say, anger flaring hot inside me. How could I ever have thought of Jeremy as a friend?
Luke wipes down his chin, but it doesn’t change the sudden tension in his face. “I’m not sure that’s how it went down.”
“How else would her car mysteriously quit like that?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know. There’s still plenty of questions I haven’t got answers to.” He widens his stance and crosses his arms. “I’m having forensics check Marin’s car for signs of tampering.”
The idea is like a spark inside my mind. “That would fit, wouldn’t it? He messes with their car, then he’s there to help when they’re stranded.” And if it works like it did with Ava, the killer is already someone they know and think they can trust.
How awful for those women who fell into that trap.
“It’s one possibility, yeah.”
I think back to that map Luke showed me. “Has he talked?”
His keen eyes seem to sharpen. “He’s cooperating, but a lot of what he’s saying isn’t matching up.”
“Matching up with what?”
“Murder. Especially when you think of that room down there. Why would he go to those lengths if he just planned to kill her?”
I shake my head because this is getting too close to a place I never want to revisit .
“Sorry,” he says in a soft tone, as if reading my mind, which he likely is, given his profession. “What I know about this serial murderer is he doesn’t keep his victims for long.”
“It doesn’t mean Jeremy isn’t your guy.” Maybe the other murders were his way of satisfying some sick urge until he could get Ava under his lock and key.
Luke nods. “I’m by no means making any conclusions yet. It’s too early, and we’re still combing through evidence.”
“But you have enough to keep Jeremy, right?”
“Yeah. First degree kidnapping carries a life sentence. Add in the stalking and mail fraud and he’ll never walk free again.”
The immediate relief allows me draw the first deep breath since Luke stepped out of his car. “That’s really good to hear.”
He eyes the house behind me. “Get back to your party. And congrats. Is it safe to assume you’ll be leaving the Air Force?”
“Yeah, as soon as they’ll let me.”
“Good,” he says with a smile. “They’ve had you long enough. It’s time for you to live your own life.”
I give him a curious glance. “Sounds like you don’t miss it.”
He gives me a good-natured shrug. “A part of me always will, but there are plenty of ways to make a difference, and I love the work I do now.”
Hearing this from Luke, a person I respect and who has walked in my shoes, feels like a life ring. “I’m glad to hear that.”
We share one last hug, then he returns to his car. “I’ll be in touch,” he says, his eyes turning serious again.
With Ava’s stolen letters hugged to my chest, I give him a wave before turning away.