Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
LETTY
Back at the safe house, the storm rolled in just after sunset, not a hurricane, not even close.
A fast-moving coastal squall that swept across Tidehaven with low thunder and sheets of warm rain that rattled against the safe house windows.
Letty stood near the dining table, the glow of her laptop lighting her face while the wind pressed against the shutters.
The power flickered once, twice. She didn’t look up. Behind her, something sizzled.
Wyatt swore under his breath in the kitchen.
“Language,” she called absently.
“You’re not my commanding officer,” he replied.
“No, but I’m still correct.”
He grunted something unintelligible as the lights flickered again.
Letty zoomed in on one of the marina photos again.
The smaller boat alongside the Palmetto Royale.
She stared at the shadowed figure near the lower deck railing Her fingers moved instinctively across the keyboard, adjusting brightness, contrast, and angle in a quiet attempt to force the pixels to reveal something they had missed.
“You’ve looked at that twenty times,” Wyatt said from behind her.
“Twenty-three,” she corrected.
“You’re not going to find a confession in the pixels.”
“I might find a mistake.”
He stepped closer, setting a plate down beside her laptop. The smell hit her first: garlic, butter, something roasted. She blinked and finally looked up. “You cooked?”
“I can cook,” he said defensively.
“I didn’t say you couldn’t.”
“You were thinking it.”
“I absolutely was not.”
He crossed his arms. “You were.”
She smiled at him as he tried not to smile back.
The storm cracked overhead, thunder rolling across the marsh. The lights flickered again as Letty closed her laptop this time. “Fine, temporary pause.”
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said all day.”
She moved her computer to the side. She looked over the meal and saw something green she suspected he didn’t actually like but had included for her. She took a bite. “You do realize this is extremely domestic.”
His fork paused in midair. “Don’t start.”
“I’m just observing.”
“You observe everything.”
“Yes, it’s my job.”
He looked at her over the rim of his glass. “Is that what you’re doing with me?” He ate the first bite. “Observing and cataloging?”
She tilted her head as she licked the fork. “Maybe.”
Thunder cracked again. The lights blinked out completely this time. Darkness swallowed the room as Letty chuckled. “Romantic.”
Wyatt stood without a word and moved toward the breaker panel on the side of the wall by the pantry, and a second later, an emergency lantern light clicked on. He returned, setting one on the table as he sat down.
Letty smiled. The room had shifted into something softer, the lantern light and the storm outside pressing the world smaller around them. Her mind explored what they had learned about the men on the whiteboard as she chewed. Wyatt’s eyes stared at her as she stopped chewing. “What?”
He shrugged. “This is nice.”
She nodded. “It is. It’s normal.”
Wyatt scoffed. “What’s normal?”
Letty ate another bite. “You made dinner, you fixed the lighting issue, you’re good at this domestic stuff.”
He snorted. “Sure.”
She grinned before her fork went back into her food. “You were good with that kid,” she said finally.
His fork stilled.
“At the casino,” Letty clarified.
He shrugged. “Basic rescue.”
“Not the dive,” she said. “After. When you talked to her.”
He didn’t answer.
“You dropped your voice,” she continued. “You slowed your breathing, so she’d match it.”
He glanced up. “You noticed.”
“I notice patterns.”
He leaned back in his chair. “My mom used to do that.”
Her chest softened, listening, willing him to share.
“She was steady,” he added.
“I called you that once,” Letty said.
“I remember.” Lightning caught their attention out the window as the storm rumbled. “I liked it.”
The words electrified the air between them. She felt it in her ribs. “You liked being called steady?”
“I liked you saying it.”
Her breath caught as the lantern caught in his eyes. “You are steady.”
He held her gaze. “Does that matter?”
“Yes.” Silence waited patiently in the room, charging for something she wasn’t ready to believe.
Love? Her mind spun. The word hovered just behind her teeth, but she knew it was too soon and they were too fragile.
The wind pressed against the house again.
She broke eye contact first. “What would happen if I chose Dallas?”
He held his breath as the air in the room shifted. The fork rested against his plate with a soft clink.
The storm outside suddenly sounded louder as he blew out a breath. “I don’t know.” He wasn’t angry or cold with his words, but they held in the air as she waited. He didn’t elaborate, and that silence hurt more than a sharp answer would have.
“Okay.” She pretended it hadn’t bothered her.
He stared at her. “You thinking about it?”
She shrugged. “Livvy would like me to.”
“Dallas isn’t you.”
She smiled. “You don’t get to define that.”
He didn’t argue, he didn’t push, he just looked at her like he was memorizing something he might lose.
Why does staying here feel like a risk? The image of her drug-addict mother popped into her mind.
WYATT
He knew the second she said Dallas that something inside him shifted. His appetite drifted away, and it wasn’t anger. It was fear, and he didn’t like that. No woman had ever had that kind of leverage over him.
The storm softened outside, rain tapering to a steady rhythm against the roof. She stood and moved toward the window, watching as lightning flickered in the distance. Her silhouette glowed in lantern light. He got up and walked to her without thinking. “You don’t belong inland,” he said.
She didn’t turn. “You’ve said that before.”
“It’s still true.”
“And you belong here?”
“Yes.” There was no hesitation.
She looked over her shoulder at him.
“And if I don’t?”
He swallowed instead of saying it. Stay, please stay.
She walked back toward him, close enough that the warmth of her reached him. “You go quiet when you’re thinking too much,” she observed.
“I go quiet when I don’t have the answer.”
“Is that what this is?”
“Yes.”
She reached up and touched his chest, right over his heart. “It’s not necessary to solve everything.”
“I do when it’s you.” That slipped out before he could stop it.
Her breath hitched as the lantern light flickered. The storm rolled farther away, and the lightning looked less powerful.
He stepped closer, taking up the space between them. “I don’t like the idea of you choosing somewhere else.”
“Because you don’t like losing?”
“Because I don’t like pretending I don’t care.”
Her fingers tightened in his shirt, and he could feel her tremble. “You care.”
“Yes.”
She swallowed, and he could see the word forming on her lips. He knew what it was, but he couldn’t voice it. He wasn’t ready to promise something he didn’t know how to protect yet.
Instead, he leaned down, closing the distance. The kiss wasn’t desperate or urgent. It was steady as her hands slid around his waist, and he felt her relax into him.
The storm passed fully then, leaving only distant thunder and the smell of rain.
She pulled back first. “I’m not choosing anything tonight,” she whispered.
“Good.” He brushed his thumb along her jaw.
Stay. He almost said, but he stopped. Because if she asked him what would happen if she left, he didn’t have the answer.
LETTY
Letty reached for his shirt, wrapping her hand around the material to kiss him harder. His kiss delighted her senses as his hands found her skin. Instead of rushing to his own pleasure, he lavished her with the warmth of his mouth, the tenderness of his touch.
Each time Wyatt’s teeth grazed her lip, another piece of her resistance crumbled. His fingers trailed down her spine as he held Letty.
She whimpered, and the sound surprised her, sounding needier than she intended.
But she couldn’t bring herself to care as his hands explored her.
She wound her arms around his neck while he held her tighter, their tongues meeting as soft sounds escaped.
When she tried to restrain herself, he wouldn’t allow it, claiming her completely.
They shed their clothes in what seemed like seconds as he laid her on the bed, settling beside her to cup her breasts, teasing one nipple before his hand ventured lower. When his finger brushed her center before slipping inside, the sensation tore a cry from Letty’s throat. “God, yes.”
His teeth grazed her neck as he chuckled, the vibration adding to the pleasure his hand was creating. She smiled, lost in sensation as his mouth found her breast, arching as he scraped his teeth across her nipple.
Wyatt’s fingers moved in a slow rhythm that pushed her toward the edge.
The climax that had been building crashed over her suddenly, lights bursting behind her eyelids as electricity raced through her veins.
As she floated back to earth, he was already rolling on a condom she hadn’t noticed before, then easing himself inside her, holding her close.
Letty ran her hand around his neck as her mouth pressed against his. Their tongues matched his rhythm as she met him for each thrust.
Wyatt slowed his movements and broke the kiss. “I don’t want you to go to Dallas.”
Letty stroked her hand down his cheek as she nodded. “Thank you for telling me.”
He thrust his cock back in deeper, sucking her nipple between his lips as she moaned. “God, you feel so good.”
“I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered. He picked up his pace, leaning up as he caressed her breast with his hand. “I’m gonna make you come again.”
Letty’s mind wrapped around his words as his length hit the spot again in her pussy; pleasure ricocheted through her body as his thumb found her clit.
Grazing back and forth, the sensations of his touch and penetration brought her to the edge of ecstasy.
She hummed in anticipation, waiting as her legs tensed around his hips, holding him tighter.
She grabbed at the bedding, desperate to anchor herself against the storm building.
Her lips parted in a silent gasp as the friction built her orgasm.
Wyatt’s body shuddered, and he cried out as Letty met his climax with her own.
Both panted and held one another until the spasms eased and Wyatt rested his head next to hers.
“Wow,” she moaned in his ear.
He nuzzled her neck before he rolled off her, then peeled off the condom and walked into the bathroom.
Letty dozed as he got back into bed, pulling her body to his and whispering. “Sleep. We need sleep.”
She woke before she opened her eyes, inhaling his scent. Her heart clenched. He smells like home. She smiled, snuggling down. Normally she woke alert, mind already planning the day. I’m too warm and comfortable to think.
Her cheek rested against solid muscle. One of Wyatt’s arms was heavy across her waist, his palm splayed low against her stomach like he’d fallen asleep protecting her.
Memory rushed back, slow and deliberate heat with his voice low, the way he’d just stopped to tell her I don’t want you to go to Dallas. She shifted her body as his grip tightened.
“Don’t,” he muttered, still half asleep.
Her lips curved. “I’m not going anywhere.”
His eyes opened as he blinked twice, orienting. Then he remembered she saw it happen as his jaw softened and his gaze warmed. “You’re still here.”
“I am.”
He studied her as his eyes adjusted to the light. “You okay?”
She nodded. “More than okay, you?”
His thumb brushed over her hip, taking his time.
“You meant it,” she whispered.
He didn’t pretend not to understand, which surprised her. “Yes.”
“You didn’t want me to move,” she said.
“No.” He held her gaze when he said it. “That scared you.”
“Yes.”
He leaned over to kiss her. “I think we’re building something, and I don’t want to watch it leave.”
Her throat tightened. “Me either, and I don’t regret last night.”
Wyatt’s hand moved. “Good, because I don’t regret it either.” He readjusted. “Can you tell me why staying here scares you?”
Letty swallowed and then bit her lower lip. “My mother was an addict.”
Wyatt nodded.
“She left me and Livvy alone with our baby sister, Tessa, a lot. Sometimes she’d be gone for a month or more.
The last time, the power went out, we didn’t have any food, and it was summer, so no food from school.
” Letty exhaled. “Livvy and I relied on each other. We’ve been apart since Livvy left for college, but she was in Virginia, and I was in North Carolina. We saw each other often.”
Wyatt took her hand. “Dallas isn’t that far. We’ll go whenever you want.”
She wiped a tear that fell down her cheek. “I guess I saw myself living near her, and the thought of being away from her seemed wrong.”
He brushed more tears from her cheek. “And now?”
She ducked her head. “Now, I think I’ve found where I belong.”