Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Keira
Dean didn’t make me get up to train the next morning. He’d kept me up far too late for that.
We made love in the shower in the middle of the night, with Dean holding me up against the tile. Then later, before sunrise, I straddled his cock while we were on the couch with a blanket wrapped around us both.
In between orgasms, I reheated the chai and we got to sip mugs and cuddle and talk some more. Dean shared memories of his grandmother from growing up. We reminisced about the early days of our friendship and discovered all the moments that I’d secretly wanted him and he’d wanted me.
We finally passed out in bed, snuggled beneath the covers. The sun was bright in the windows by the time we woke.
Dean reached for his phone to check the time. “Two in the afternoon. Damn. You wore me out.”
I burrowed against him. “You wore me out.”
We stayed bundled a while longer until our other physical needs won out. Such as bathroom visits, food, and caffeine.
After getting dressed in the bare minimum of clothing and checking our phones for messages, Dean and I made a huge breakfast spread. Or make that lunch. Eggs and sausage, pancakes with sliced bananas and maple syrup, and huge mugs of coffee.
Then we took our meal outside to the back deck and sat close together at the table. He’d insisted on putting all our food on one plate so we could share, which I thought was ridiculous, but also cute.
I loved Dean like this. Cuddly and affectionate, cracking bad jokes and smiling with his dimples on constant display.
I loved him. So, so much.
He speared a piece of sausage with his fork. “Suppose it’s time for me to get a job again. Do you think Marco’s hiring?”
Marco ran the Hartley Tap & Saloon on Main Street. “I can text him and ask. What about Last Refuge? You could bartend there.”
“That would be a serious drive from here.”
“So? When I’m back on duty, I’ll be driving all over the county on my patrols.”
His mouth twitched as he chewed. “Don’t remind me. It’s been nice having you here all to myself. I’m going to miss that.”
So would I. But at the same time, I looked forward to starting a real life together. Something I’d always dreamed of having with Dean. Sharing a bed with him at night. A home. Even a family.
I took a bite of pancake. “We can work on the house too. I’d like to invite Mom and Stephie soon, and when there’s a second bedroom ready to go, they can stay a night or two. Would that be okay?”
“Of course. We owe them a visit.” He hooked my chin with his finger, tilting my head to kiss me. His lips were sweet with maple syrup and salty with breakfast sausage. Then he pulled back to fix his blue gaze on me. “You want to keep living here? Instead of going back to your place?”
Heat prickled the back of my neck. “Oh. I just assumed. If you’d rather, I could—”
“I would much rather you stay here with me. If that’s what you want too.”
I nodded, emotion choking me for a moment.
His forehead rested against mine. “Never thought I could really have this. A home with you. A life with you. But this is what I want, Keira. It’s all I want.”
Dean didn’t go out on the obstacle course that day. We didn’t talk about continuing our training either. It was important to me to bolster my recovery and get fully back into shape for duty, but that could wait until later.
Maybe I would head back to desk duty soon, and we could both start making some money again instead of relying on our respective savings. We’d been living cheaply, but fixing up this house for real would take funds.
And if Dean no longer wanted to train me to shoot like a sniper, I would be okay with that too. What mattered was that he’d chosen me over vengeance against Ryan Garrett. Nothing mattered more than that.
We’d chosen each other. We’d chosen love.
That night after dinner, we watched a movie together on my tablet and then made love, slow and deep. We were both on our sides in bed, facing each other with my leg hooked over his hip as he thrust lazily into me. Kissing. Touching. Just enjoying each other.
I fell asleep with Dean spooned behind me, his even breaths warm against my ear.
Something pulled me out of sleep. Dean was already sitting up, rubbing his face. “Think it’s your phone,” he said gruffly. “It’s buzzing.”
I reached for my device on the nightstand. I’d left it on silent but still able to receive notifications.
Stephie was calling.
“It’s my sister.” Adrenaline pulled me to awareness. It was one in the morning. She wouldn’t be calling unless something was wrong. “Hello? Stephie?”
“Kiki.” Her voice was a rough, agonized whisper, and it wrenched my heart.
“What’s going on?” I asked, trying to stay calm. This was not a time to panic.
Dean’s hand rested on my thigh.
“I…” She sniffled. “I snuck out to meet Colby.”
That was his name. The ranch hand she’d been seeing. Disappointment made my shoulders sag.
“What happened? Where are you?”
What had Stephie been thinking? But lectures would wait until later. Whatever this guy Colby had done, I would deal with him.
Dean got up, grabbing clothes. Seemed like he’d heard enough to start thinking ahead. I stood as well, still holding the phone to my ear.
“We went to a party at a house. His…his friend.” She could barely speak for crying. I heard faint music in the background, but it was muffled. Like she was in a bathroom or bedroom.
“Is Vivian with you?” Stephie’s best friend, who’d been dating the other ranch hand. Vivian was also Trace Novo’s daughter, and if Vivian had snuck out too, I’d have to tell him.
“No. Vivian didn’t know about it. People are drinking and…I want to leave, but Colby wants to stay. Please…please come get me.”
Oh, I was gonna make this Colby very sorry for messing with my sister. I just hoped nothing worse had happened. “I’m coming, okay? Dean and I are coming. But maybe I should call dispatch and have them send someone to—”
“No. No, Kiki, you can’t. Don’t tell anyone else.” She cried harder, struggling to breathe before she calmed again. “I’m texting the address. Please hurry.”
“Okay. I will. I’ll get there as soon as I can. Just lock yourself in a bathroom or something and don’t come out till I arrive.”
The line went dead.
“Do you have the address?” Dean asked. I handed him my phone as I threw clothes on.
“She said she would text it.”
“Got it,” he said. “I’ll plug it into Maps and check the directions. It’s forty minutes away. Out in the middle of nowhere.”
Forty minutes. A whole lot of bad could happen in that time. “We need to get there faster.”
“Then I’ll drive. My engine’s a V-8.”
I’d been about to suggest the same. I’d seen his high-speed driving skills.
But before we left the house, I grabbed my service weapon and holster. We headed outside. Dean eyed me as I got in the truck. “You’re not going to shoot the boyfriend, are you?”
“Planning to? No. But I’ll sure as hell put the fear of God into Colby for messing with my little sister.” I put the holster on over my shirt.
Dean got us to the address in twenty-five minutes instead of forty. We pulled up to a rundown cabin with trees closing in on almost every side. Four trucks parked haphazardly in the grass out front.
Lights were on inside, but all the curtains were closed.
“I’ll tell her to come out.” But my call to Stephie’s phone went unanswered. Her voicemail picked up, the automated message garbled from the shoddy connection.
I unbuckled my seatbelt. “I’ll get her.”
“Want me to come in with you?”
“Nah. If you come in, Colby and his friends will just focus on the big, strong man. They’ll get territorial, and that could escalate this. Colby needs to learn to fear me.” I touched my weapon.
“You just said you didn’t want to escalate this.”
“I won’t. I’ll just calmly explain he will lose his balls if he comes near my sister again.”
I pushed open the truck door and jumped down. As I started toward the house, Dean opened his door and leaned out.
“Keira, wait. Try calling her phone again.”
“I’m not waiting. My sister’s in that house, and I’m going to get her.”
Loud music thumped inside the cabin, and shadows moved behind the curtains. Marching up to the entrance, I rapped on the metal screen door. It rattled.
The hinge squeaked as I yanked it open and knocked hard on the wood. “Hey!” I shouted so they’d hear me over the music.
The door wasn’t latched, so the pressure of my knocking pushed it inward. I took a step forward across the threshold, and my breath caught.
My sister sat on a sagging couch facing the front door. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying. A scowling man I’d never seen before stood behind her, a thick-knuckled hand on her shoulder.
“Kiki, run!” she screamed, trying to get up, but the man held her.
Shit.
My hand had already gone to my weapon, but a strong grip landed on my wrist that same moment, twisting my arm.
I lashed out with my elbow, catching the person in the torso.
He’d been hiding just behind the door. The guy let out an oomph of pain and shoved me hard.
I fell to my knees on the carpet, and the front door slammed closed behind me.
The weight of my gun in the holster was gone.
The music kept thumping.
“I’m sorry, Keira,” my sister sobbed. “I’m so sorry.”
Another person walked into the room. A neatly trimmed beard, ice-blue eyes.
Ryan Garrett.