Chapter 11
LUCKY
The sun hasn’t even risen yet when I have to sneak out of Liam’s bed. I reluctantly pull out of the comfort of his warm, strong arms wrapped around me and the steady rhythm of his breath against the back of my neck.
Cooler air hits my naked skin, and I shiver as I glance over to ensure I haven’t woken him or Gizmo, but they’re both sound asleep. Liam’s thick eyelashes lie softly across his cheek, his lips slightly parted as his steady breathing makes his inked chest rise and fall gently.
I want to crawl right back into his arms and stay there forever, but first, I need a drink of water. Our activities last night have drained me, in more ways than one, and I snag Liam’s t-shirt from the floor and slide it over my head before I tiptoe down the stairs and to the kitchen.
Wow…
Even though it’s my second time seeing it, I’m still stunned by how incredible his cabin really is.
Every piece of wood, every fixture, the stones laid in the two-story fireplace on the far wall, they all demonstrate how much time and attention he gave to creating this place. How much love went into it.
If Liam and his brothers decided they wanted to build luxury cabins for people up in these mountains, they could make a fortune.
Although, I’m more confident now that they already have one, they just don’t live like it.
Considering how long the mountain and the lumber yard have been in their family, and a few other things people have said about the McBrides as I’ve heard bits and pieces of conversations at the diner over the last couple weeks, they aren’t just powerful here.
They’re rich and very powerful.
So, when Liam made that promise to me, that I was safe up here, and told me that no one fucks with the McBrides, he meant it.
That, as much as what happened between us, gave me the best night of sleep I’ve ever had.
But I am feeling the not sleeping this morning throughout my body. The thirst. The glorious aches. The lingering tingle across my skin everywhere he touched.
A smile playing on my lips, I open the cabinet in the kitchen, searching for a glass, and have to go through two more before I finally find what I’m looking for in the darkness of pre-dawn.
I twist the faucet, fill the glass, and drink it down greedily, the same way Liam poured himself into me last night.
My entire body heats at the memory.
Good God…
Liam McBride might not be experienced when it comes to sex, but he is a fast learner and dedicated to becoming a fucking expert.
My thighs clench, my body throbbing again and demanding I climb those stairs, get into bed, and tangle myself back up with the man who has changed my world so suddenly and so damn fast.
I set down my glass next to the sink and start to make my way back to the stairs when dark movement outside one of the front windows of the cabin catches my eye and freezes me on the spot.
What the hell was that?
With darkness still engulfing the cabin and the world beyond it, it’s impossible to see what might be lurking outside, but none of the options are good.
My heart leaps into my throat.
My hands tremble.
A very human-looking shape moves past the window toward the front door, and I hold my breath as my blood runs cold, raising goosebumps across my skin.
Someone followed us up here.
Every nightmare I’ve had. All those worst-case-scenarios that have rattled around in my head. They’re all coming true.
All because I didn’t leave.
I’ve put Liam at risk. I’ve put all of them at risk—Killian, Willow, their baby.
The thought of anything happening to any of them makes my stomach pitch violently, and I inch forward on unsteady legs toward the end table beside the couch where I left my purse last night.
Terrified to release the air in my lungs or to draw in more, because even that sound seems loud in the utter stillness of the cabin, I dig into my bag, and my hand finally closes around the only thing that might save us right now.
Forcing myself to take another labored breath, I pull out the .22 revolver.
Its familiar heavy weight in my hand offers a modicum of comfort as I ease my way toward the window to try to peek out. Unfamiliar shapes loom in the darkness, and I strain to see through the morning mist.
Footsteps sound on the porch outside, and I hold my breath again and check the revolver to ensure it’s fully loaded and ready, no matter what comes through that door.
The knob turns, and my hand starts shaking, but I brace the weapon with the other one and level the barrel at whoever’s about to walk through.
The door swings open, and heavy boots appear on the hardwood floor, then a tall, broad-shouldered man with dark hair steps in fully, and I cock the hammer, the gentle clicking sound almost echoing in the quiet stillness.
He freezes and turns toward me slowly, barely visible without any lights on inside the cabin or the sun up yet. “Liam?”
The unfamiliar voice calls out, his plea booming through the lofted second floor.
Gizmo barks and the sound of him racing down the stairs mixes with the slight creak of the mattress upstairs. Stopping at the intruder’s feet, Giz snarls and gnashes his teeth in warning, his deep growl filling the room as hurried footsteps sound upstairs.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Liam look down over the railing as the first hints of daylight start to seep in through the window and wide open door, revealing the man who walked in.
“Lucky, no!” Liam’s voice carries through the cabin as my eyes adjust more and more, allowing me to see the man standing in front of me. “Don’t!”
Frantic footsteps pound down the steps, setting Giz off again as he snaps at the man’s feet.
The man’s eyes drop down to Gizmo, then dart back up at me before sweeping toward Liam as he reaches the bottom of the stairs. “I didn’t realize you had such friendly guests.”
Liam reaches me and takes my trembling hands in his, pulling the gun from me. “Lucky, it’s just Connor.”
“Connor?”
The name registers, but not the face looking back at me with raised dark brows.
I only saw him once, that day in the diner. Barely long enough that I would have recognized him on the street in broad daylight. Certainly not enough that I could in the dark when I’m already jumpy and on edge, worried about bringing Liam into my mess.
“Oh, my God…”
What did I do?
I stumble backward, embarrassment and absolute mind-bending horror at what I almost did racing through me.
Oh, my God.
I could have shot him…
Liam wraps an arm around me, catching me, preventing me from falling to the floorboards. I try to pull out of his hold, but he keeps it on me and hands the gun off to Connor carefully. “Unload that.”
Connor nods and empties all the bullets then releases the hammer.
“Oh, God.” I bury my face in my shaking hands, my whole body shaking so badly that only Liam’s arm around me keeps me upright. “I’m so sorry, I…I don’t know what I was thinking. I…”
I scramble for an explanation, for a way to truly apologize for what could have been a crushing mistake that would have destroyed the McBrides.
Liam holds me tightly and nods at Connor. “Put it over there.”
Connor sets the gun and bullets on the end table next to the couch and looks at us for a few minutes before he releases a long sigh.
“I came to see why you weren’t at breakfast yet, but now I know.
” He releases a little humorless laugh. “I’ll let Willow know to expect you in a few minutes, once you get things settled. ”
Get me under control is what he’s really saying.
I could have killed him.
One more step into the cabin and I would have fired. I would have ended the perceived threat without even realizing who he was because in my mind, all I saw was the threat I know is coming.
A different dark-haired, broad shouldered man…
Liam walks us over to the couch and drops down onto it, pulling me into his lap as Gizmo follows Connor to the door with a low growl. Once it’s shut behind Liam’s brother, Giz jumps up on the couch, nuzzling against me.
One of Liam’s hands slides into my hair, cradling my head to his chest. “It’s all right, Lucky. Everything’s fine. Nobody got hurt.”
“But…I-I could have shot him.”
He shushes me, gently rubbing his other hand up and down my back in the quiet stillness of the emerging morning.
We sit with me wrapped up in him for several moments as sunlight continues to trickle in more and more through the front windows of the cabin, and Liam finally pulls his head back, taking my face in his hands, tilting it until I’m forced to look at him, even though I don’t want to.
How can I after what I just did?
He searches my face, his gaze soft but laced with concern. “Why do you have a gun, Lucky?”
Those green eyes watch me carefully as I try to come up with a response, anything that could explain my reaction short of telling him the truth, but I can’t think of anything.
Nothing that would justify almost shooting his brother, who had every right to come into Liam’s house, who has probably done it a thousand times without even thinking about it, who certainly didn’t anticipate starting his morning staring down the barrel of a gun.
The longer I refuse to answer, the longer Liam stares at me with so much compassion and worry, the more I want to come clean.
I want him to understand why I just did that, that I was trying to protect myself and him from the ramifications of my actions.
But each time I try to open my mouth to say the words, they get choked on the reality of what telling him would mean.
Danger.
Unlike anything he’s ever faced here on McBride Mountain.