Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Was it too presumptuous to say welcome home to her the second they walked in the door of his place? Probably. Did he want to say that? Yes. Absolutely. But he didn’t want to scare her off. Even if it was what he wanted and how he felt.
His therapist would probably tell him to slow down and think first. He’d had two years to think about what he wanted. Her. Here. With him. Shared meals. Long talks. Movie nights. Kissing goodnight and good morning. Soft caresses and a lot of making love any way she wanted it.
Yeah, maybe he needed to slow his roll and let her settle in. She’d had a shit few days.
His phone chimed with a text.
MASON: We just hit town. Want to check on you and your girl.
MASON: How is she? We can’t wait to meet her.
Shit. He didn’t want to overwhelm Lucky with his cousin and best friend.
HAWK: Just walked in the door with her. She needs some rest.
HAWK: Give us a couple hours before you drop by.
MASON: See you then.
“Is everything okay? Do you need to go to work or something? You don’t have to keep babysitting me.”
He dropped her bag on the floor and took two steps to close the distance he hated between them. “I’m not babysitting you. I’m taking care of you. So tell me what you need right now?”
She let out a weary sigh. “It’s all been too much. I’m…so damn tired.” Her shoulders slumped and she looked ready to drop right there.
He cupped her face and stared into her sleep bruised eyes. “Okay. Here’s where things get real. Do you want to sleep alone or with me?”
“I don’t want to be alone anymore.” She’d said that before.
He liked it a lot that she said what she meant.
“Okay. You know the way to our bedroom.” He picked up her bag and followed her down the short hallway past his office to the master bedroom.
He had two spare rooms on the other side of the house, past the kitchen and dining room.
He’d hate to have her so far away, even if she was still in the same house.
This way, he could be close and they could settle into this new intimacy between them.
It wasn’t like he was going to pull any moves on her. She was hurt and in need of patience and care. He wished his body got that message, because having her here made his dick remember how long it had been since he’d been with a woman and how much he’d fantasized about being with Lucky.
She stepped into the room and stared at the rumpled sheets he’d left behind the morning he'd gone for his hike. He’d intended to make the bed after he got home and showered.
“Let me change the sheets while you put on something more comfortable to sleep in. If you want, I can give you one of my shirts.”
“Are you going to sleep with me?”
He rubbed his hand over the tight muscles at the back of his neck. “Yeah. I’m beat. Sleeping in a chair for days was not great on my back. I can’t wait to lie down with you and let everything go for a while.”
“Then leave the sheets and give me your shirt.”
He eyed her. “The one I’m wearing.”
She nodded, giving him a shy smile.
Oh, that would never do. He didn’t want her to be nervous with him at all.
And if she wanted the shirt off his back, she could have it.
So he pulled it over his head and draped it over his shoulder as he carefully took the sling off her arm and set it on the edge of the bed.
“I’ll help you get undressed like we did at the hospital.
You tell me if anything hurts and I’ll stop. Okay?”
She turned her back to him. He gently took the hem of her shirt and pulled it up her body.
She pulled her good arm out first, then he lifted the shirt sideways over her head toward her injured arm, and drew the shirt down without her having to lift it.
Next he undid her bra clasp and slid the straps down both her arms. It landed on the end of the bed.
He bunched up his t-shirt and slid it up her injured arm, then over her head, and down her body in the reverse way he’d taken hers off.
With her back to him, she kept some modesty as their relationship hadn’t gotten that intimate. Yet.
She was going to need him to help her take a shower. No way could she do that on her own.
He was both eager for it and dreading the torture it would be to have his hands on her, but not in the way he wanted or needed. Still, he loved having this chance to take care of her, for them to get closer and build trust and intimacy.
“Okay, sweetheart, let’s get the rest off.
” He slipped his hands up under his t-shirt on her and over her hips.
He tugged her soft yoga pants down her legs.
She’d kicked out of her shoes so all he had to do was pull off one leg at a time, including her socks.
“Keep the underwear or ditch them? Do you prefer to sleep naked or…” He let that hang.
“I’m good like this. For now.”
He rubbed her arms. “Okay. Do you want the sling on while you sleep?”
“No. I don’t think so. Um, is it okay if I take the left side of the bed? I like to sleep on my side and I’d rather be facing you. Plus that will mean I’m not on my hurt side.”
“Whatever you want, sweetheart. Do you need the bathroom before you crawl in?” He went to the drapes and closed them, so they’d sleep better.
“Um. I’m okay.”
He checked the time on the clock by the bed. “Do you want something to eat or drink before you crash?”
“No. I’m good. Thank you. But could you get my meds and a glass of water?”
He dug through her bag and pulled out the meds. He popped the top on one, poured out a pill, then did the same with the other, closing the bottles and leaving them on the nightstand. He handed her the pills, then went into the bathroom and came back with a glass of water.
Lucky popped the pills and downed half the glass of water.
He pulled back the covers. “Come on, then. Crawl in.” He waited for her to settle, then tucked the sheets around her. “You good?”
“Yes.” She inhaled, then sighed. “It smells like you.” A soft smile tilted her pink lips as her eyes drooped closed.
He couldn’t help but kiss her on the forehead. “Is that why you wanted my shirt?”
“Yes.” The grin made his stomach feel like it was floating.
His heart felt too big for his chest. How did she do this to him in such a short time? He was absolutely falling hard and fast for her.
He used the bathroom, brushed his teeth, washed his face, then pulled off his shoes, socks, and jeans and climbed in beside her in nothing but his black boxer briefs.
She lay facing him, her eyes closed, face soft.
He gently brushed a strand of her golden hair away from her face, thinking of how he’d done the same when he’d found her lying face down in the woods. He couldn’t believe she was here with him in his bed.
It had been too close a call. Another hour without help and she’d have been dead.
I saved her.
And she saved me.
He scooted as close to her as possible without disturbing her, then slipped his hand beneath the covers and over her side where he knew she didn’t have any scrapes or bruises. He wanted her to know he was there with her.
She let out a dreamy little sigh and shifted another couple inches closer to him before she settled back into sleep.
He drifted off without having to use any of his relaxation techniques or meditations to clear his mind. He was too damn happy to have her here to think of anything else and too exhausted not to fall into a deep sleep.
Three hours later, he woke to the doorbell ringing. He pulled on his jeans and a clean tee, reluctantly left Lucky sleeping in his bed where he wanted to stay, then opened the front door to his cousin and his wife.
Lyric was round with their first child and looking positively radiant. She wrapped him in a hug and held on. “Are you okay? It had to be traumatic to find someone you know under such terrible circumstances.”
Mason stepped in behind Lyric and closed the door, grinning indulgently at his wife hugging another man—his cousin knew Hawk adored Lyric like he would a sister. “Sorry if we woke you.”
“It’s all good. Lucky’s still sleeping.”
Lyric stepped back, but kept one hand on his shoulder. “Tell us. Is she really okay?”
“She will be. There’s a lot we don’t know. Things we can’t know for sure because she was drugged and can’t remember.”
Mason had his FBI face on. “What do the cops suspect?”
“She was drugged at the bar. My bar. Right in front of everyone.” He couldn’t help the rage in his voice.
Mason’s eyes went wide. “So they saw who did it?”
“No. She was with a friend. It happened after they had a chat with Lincoln at the bar about Lucky working for Linc. Desiree, her friend, said Lucky got really drunk, so they left early. The odd thing is that Lucky told me she doesn’t ever overindulge, not after being drugged and waking to find her family killed. ”
“Holy shit.” Mason’s face grew even more intense.
“That was several years ago. Desiree took Lucky home and put her to bed. But based on how close Lucky was to death when I found her, she had to have been taken and…” It was hard for him to think about what happened to Lucky, let alone say it out loud.
“Someone dumped her naked down a very steep embankment off a fire road in the middle of nowhere.”
Mason winced. “What about the surveillance footage?”
“Jase with the sheriff’s department has a copy. I haven’t seen it yet. I’ve got a meeting with him tomorrow.”
“She’s going to be okay now.” Lyric squeezed his shoulder, offering him comfort.
“What else?” Mason asked.
“Lucky has flashes of that night and she swears her ex, the guy who killed her family, was there. I don’t know if it’s real or he’s just the boogeyman in all her nightmares.
Of course you could add in her abusive asshole father who liked to slice her skin with a fucking six inch blade for shits and giggles, then maybe he’s her true nightmare, because she calls out, ‘No, Dad’ in her sleep a lot, too. ”
Lyric wrapped him in a hug. “Breathe, Hawk. Slow it down.”
He gently set her away from him and paced.
“Sorry. It’s been hell the last few days.
From finding her, to thinking she was dead, that I’d lost her and missed my chance.
” He pulled at his hair. “Fuck. She doesn’t deserve this.
Any of it. And yet some asshole is taunting her, trying to kill her.
He even tried to burn her place to the ground today. ”
“What?” Mason and Lyric said in unison.
“Someone rigged matched and a bottle of gasoline to light the place up the second Lucky walked into her bedroom.”
“What?” Mason’s concern etched lines in his forehead. “Like a booby trap?”
“Yeah. I got lucky and put the fire out with the bed quilt before it got too out of control.” Shame washed over him. “It was something her mom had hand made. Now it’s ruined.”
Lyric frowned. “She must be devastated to lose something so precious.”
He wiped his hand over his face. “I didn’t mean to destroy it.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Lyric and Mason both said in unison.
They’d been together long enough to finish each other’s sentences, too. It was adorable. And eye-roll-inducing sometimes, but it showed how close they were and how much they loved each other.
He wanted that with Lucky. Now. But he had to be patient. Even though he wanted to barrel on ahead full steam.
He raked his fingers through his hair. “I’ll make it up to her. Somehow. Some way.”
“It’s not as important as the fact that you saved her and her home,” Lyric pointed out.
He held out his hands to his sides. “Yeah. I’m kind of hoping she makes this place her home now.”
Lyric’s smile was bright and filled with mirth. “Oh yeah? So it’s like that now.”
“I told her I want a real relationship with her. One like you and this dumbass have together.”
Mason smacked him on the shoulder with the back of his hand. “Watch it, asshole. I drove all the way from Wyoming just to see how you’re doing.”
“And I appreciate it. I really do. It’s just, I’ve got a lot on my mind. I don’t know how to help her, because I don’t know exactly what happened to her. There’s a real chance that someone violated her. And I’m not talking about her being drugged.”
“Was there any evidence she was sexually assaulted?” Mason pulled Lyric close, like just the thought of that happening to her made him want to protect her.
He felt the same way. But he hadn’t been there to protect Lucky because he’d been a dumbass and kept her at arm’s length.
What if he’d stepped up sooner?
He couldn’t let his mind spiral like that.
“It wasn’t your fault.” Lyric held his gaze, hers earnest.
“I know. I just hate that this happened to her.”
“Well, with you by her side, I’m sure she’ll be feeling better soon.” Lyric was always so positive.
“As much as I think I know her, there’s still so much I don’t know about her.”
“Now you have all the time in the world to get to know her.” Lyric headed for his kitchen. “I bet she’ll be hungry when she wakes up. Let’s make something.”
“By we I hope you mean you.” Hawk got by in the kitchen, but Lyric was magic with food.
Lyric rolled her eyes. “Definitely.”
“Thank God. I’m starving.”
While Lyric rooted through his freezer and fridge, he and Mason grabbed beers and sat at the bar, catching up while he kept one ear out for any sign that Lucky was awake and needed him.