Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
G emma watched the clock tick toward three, the second hand dragging like it resented every loop it had to make. Around her, her fourth-grade students were fidgeting in their seats, backpacks half-zipped, pencils already tucked away in cubbies. Their excitement was contagious, but it barely penetrated the haze in her head.
She’d been distracted all day.
No matter how hard she tried to focus on multiplication tables and reading logs, her mind kept drifting to the man she knew would be waiting outside the school when the final bell rang. Just like he had every day this week.
Five days of this quiet routine. Five days of Case Savage sitting in his truck like some stoic sentinel, watching, waiting. Protecting. Never demanding. Never questioning. Just being there. Steady. Unshakeable.
Five days without a single sign of Darren.
The bell rang with a shriek, and the classroom erupted in a flurry of backpacks, chatter, and scuffed sneakers. She offered her usual reminders about weekend homework, waved off hugs, and smiled through the door-clogging chaos. But the second the last kid filtered out, the room dropped into silence. A vacuum that made her throat tighten.
She gathered her things slowly, her heart heavy beneath the layers of relief and guilt. She knew—knew—that Case had been sleeping in his truck at night. She hadn’t seen him, but the exhaustion in his eyes, the stiffness in his gait when he thought she wasn’t watching… it told her everything. He was keeping watch, putting himself between her and a threat that hadn’t even made itself visible. And she hadn’t invited him in.
Couldn’t.
She needed the space.
Because Case… Case was so much. He didn’t just fill a room—he filled her head, her heart, her lungs. And after years of being hunted, of having her autonomy stripped away one horrifying piece at a time, the idea of that kind of intensity scared her. Even if it came wrapped in safety. Even if he meant well. Even if part of her was starting to realize she might want it.
The halls had emptied by the time she made it to the parking lot, her shoes clicking softly on the polished floors. The sun had dipped lower in the sky, casting long shadows across the sidewalk, but she spotted him immediately.
Case was leaning against the hood of his truck, arms crossed over his broad chest, every line of his body at ease—but only on the surface. His eyes scanned everything. The school. The trees. The cars pulling out of the lot. And then he saw her, and something subtle shifted. His eyes softened, the corners of his mouth lifting just a little.
Not quite a smile. But it was warm. And it was just for her.
“Hey,” he said, his voice low and gravelly in the best kind of way.
“Hey yourself,” she replied, and let him take her bag without protest.
It was one of the small things she’d started to let him do—not because she couldn’t carry it, but because she could feel how much it meant to him to help. Like he was quietly staking a claim. One she hadn’t exactly said no to.
They drove in silence at first, the kind that didn’t feel awkward anymore. Case wasn’t the kind of man who needed to fill quiet spaces with words. And she’d learned to value that—how his presence spoke volumes all by itself.
But today, her thoughts were too heavy to keep inside.
“I’ve been thinking,” she said, watching his profile.
“Dangerous pastime,” he replied, his lips twitching just slightly.
“I owe you an apology.”
His hands tensed slightly on the steering wheel. “You don’t owe me anything, Gemma.”
“I do,” she said softly. “What I said before—about you trying to control me. That wasn’t fair.”
He didn’t answer right away. She could see his jaw working, his eyes fixed on the road like it was the only thing holding him together.
“It was fair,” he said eventually. “Your experience is yours. I don’t get to tell you how to feel about it.”
Her breath caught. Most men she knew would’ve used her apology like a ticket to reclaim moral ground. Not Case.
“Maybe,” she said after a moment. “But I’ve been thinking about what you said… about protection versus control. And I realized something.”
She swallowed hard.
“I’m still letting him control me. Darren. By living in fear. By shutting people out. By flinching at kindness and expecting the worst. I’ve been giving him everything he wanted without even realizing it.”
Case glanced at her, his expression unreadable but present. Focused. “What do you want, Gemma?”
Such a simple question. So dangerous.
What did she want?
She hadn’t allowed herself to want anything in so long. She’d been too busy running, surviving, staying two steps ahead of someone who refused to let her live in peace.
But now…
“I want to stop running,” she said quietly. “I want to live. I want to stop watching my back every time I step outside. I want…” She exhaled shakily. “I want to see where this thing between us might go. Without Darren’s shadow over it.”
The truck slowed as they approached a red light, and Case turned to look at her fully. His gaze didn’t waver.
“I want that too,” he said. “But you need to know something. Protecting people—it’s instinct for me. It’s in my bones. I’ll always go there first. I can try not to smother you, but I can’t change that part of me.”
“I don’t want you to change,” she said. “I just want to stand next to you, not behind you.”
The light turned green. He drove forward, and something in the air between them shifted—loosened. The tension that had stretched taut between them for days finally began to unravel.
As her apartment building came into view, Gemma made a decision on impulse. “Let’s go to your cabin tonight.”
Case’s eyebrow lifted. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I need a break from these walls. From being watched.” She smiled, a little wild, a little fierce. “But first, I want dinner at Earl’s.”
He frowned. “Earl’s? In town? Everyone will see us. Word could get back to Darren.”
“Let him see us,” she said, her voice sharp and clear. “Fuck him.”
Case blinked at her, then slowly, a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. This time it was a smile. A real one. It lit up his face, softened the hard edges, made her chest ache.
“Gemma Van Buren, are you using me to make a public statement?”
“Maybe,” she teased. “You okay with that?”
He reached across the console and took her hand, rough and warm and steady. “More than okay. I want people to know.”
Twenty minutes later, they were sliding into a booth at Earl’s, the din of conversation rising around them. People noticed, of course. Heads turned. Conversations dipped, then picked back up. Case Savage in public was a rare sight. Case Savage with a woman?
It was practically a headline.
But for once, Gemma didn’t care. She felt… light. Like she’d set down a bag she’d been carrying for years without knowing how heavy it was.
“What?” she asked when she caught him watching her.
“Nothing,” he said. “Just… you look different. Lighter.”
“I feel it,” she admitted. “I don’t know how long it’ll last, but… it’s something.”
They talked about her students, about his beehives, about nothing and everything. It was easy. Normal. Something she hadn’t had in so long, she’d forgotten how to enjoy it.
“I’ve been thinking about that night,” she said softly.
Case’s eyes darkened. “So have I.”
“I’ve been keeping you at arm’s length,” she said.
“You needed space.”
“No,” she said, leaning forward. “I’ve been afraid. That Darren would hurt you. That being near me would put you in danger.”
His jaw clenched. “Let me be clear. I’m not afraid of him. I’ve seen worse. I’ve survived worse. And I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”
She believed him. In her bones. In the deepest part of herself that had stopped trusting a long time ago.
“Partners,” she said softly.
He nodded. “Always.”
When they stepped out into the parking lot, the air had cooled, the sky darkening. Case opened the truck door for her—but then stopped cold.
Gemma followed his gaze.
A folded piece of paper was tucked under the windshield wiper.
Case moved instantly, shielding her with his body. “Get back,” he ordered.
“No,” she said, her voice shaking but firm. “Together, remember?”
He gave her a hard look, then nodded. He reached for the note, careful, precise. Unfolded it. His breath hissed between his teeth.
He turned it so she could read.
I’ll always find you, Gemma.
Her blood went cold.
“He’s here,” she whispered. “In town.”
Case scanned the area, his body coiled tight. “Probably. But he’s not getting near you.”
She felt the fear trying to claw its way back in—but beneath it was something new. Anger. Hot and pulsing.
“Take me home,” she said.
He looked at her, confused. “Your apartment?”
“No,” she said. “Your cabin. Your mountain. Let him try and find me there.”
Something dark and fierce flickered in Case’s eyes. Pride. Approval.
He helped her into the truck, then circled around and climbed in, never once letting down his guard.
As they pulled away from the diner, Gemma placed her hand on his thigh. Solid. Steady. Real.
“We’ll figure this out,” she said.
He covered her hand with his.
“Yes,” he replied. “We will.”
And for the first time in years, Gemma truly believed it.
C ase kept his eyes on the rearview mirror as they wound up the mountain road, the headlights of his truck cutting through the gathering darkness. Every shadow between the trees looked like a potential threat. Every curve in the road could be hiding something—someone—waiting to pounce. The weight of his sidearm pressed against his lower back, a reassuring presence he hadn’t needed since coming home from Afghanistan.
Until now.
Gemma sat beside him, her overnight bag at her feet, staring straight ahead. The brief stop at her apartment had been tense, his body alert to every sound while she quickly packed a few necessities. He’d insisted on checking each room, his military training kicking in as he cleared corners and checked closets. No signs of intrusion, but that didn’t mean they were safe. The note on his windshield proved that Darren was watching, waiting.
“Almost there,” he said, reaching across to squeeze her hand briefly before returning his to the wheel.
She nodded, offering him a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I feel safer already.”
The simple statement hit him square in the chest. She trusted him. After everything she’d been through, after all the men who had failed her, she trusted him to keep her safe. Case would die before betraying that trust.
His phone buzzed, and he pulled it from his pocket at the next straight stretch of road, glancing at the screen.
“Ty?” Gemma asked.
“Yeah.” Case glanced at the screen.
Noted. Cabin clear. Road clear. Jake and I will take turns patrolling the lower trails tonight. Caesar on high alert.
Case texted back a thumbs up and tossed the phone aside. “Ty and Jake have it handled. Caesar will be roaming too. Best early warning system there is.” Case took the final turn that led to his cabin. “No one gets within half a mile without Caesar knowing about it.”
Gemma nodded, some of the tension visibly easing from her shoulders. Case felt a surge of gratitude toward his friend. Ty understood what was at stake here. They all did—the small brotherhood of damaged men who’d found peace on this mountain, who protected their own.
And Gemma was one of their own now. Whether she fully realized it or not.
The cabin came into view, dark and solid against the night sky. Case had built it himself after coming to Granite Junction, needing the physical labor to quiet his mind, to give his hands something to do besides hold a weapon. Every beam, every nail had been a step away from the war and toward something like peace.
He pulled up close to the porch and cut the engine, plunging them into silence broken only by the natural sounds of the mountain—the wind in the trees, the distant call of an owl.
“Wait here,” he said, drawing his sidearm as he slipped from the truck.
Gemma didn’t argue, which told him more about her state of mind than any words could have. He moved quickly but cautiously around the perimeter of the cabin, checking windows, doors, the small shed where he kept firewood and tools. Nothing out of place. No signs that anyone had been here since they left that morning.
When he was satisfied, he returned to the truck and opened Gemma’s door. “All clear.”
She stepped out, her bag in one hand, the other reaching for his. The simple gesture of trust made something primal and protective surge through him. He led her up the porch steps, unlocked the door, and ushered her inside before securing the deadbolt behind them.
The cabin was cool and dark. Case moved through it with practiced ease, turning on the small lamp beside the couch, stoking the banked embers in the woodstove, adding a fresh log to chase away the chill. Gemma stood in the center of the main room, looking small and fragile in the soft light.
“You okay?” he asked, setting her bag down beside the couch.
She nodded, then shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m angry. And scared. And tired of being scared.”
Case pulled out his phone, typing a quick message to Ty to let him know they’d arrived safely, then set it on the small table by the door. He crossed to where Gemma stood, stopping just short of touching her. “You’re safe here.”
“I know.” She looked up at him, her eyes dark and serious in the low light. “It’s not that. It’s...” She made a frustrated gesture. “I’m tired of him having this power over me. Over my life. Over us.”
The last word hung between them, heavy with meaning. Case had been careful since that night, giving her the space she seemed to need, respecting her boundaries. But the pull between them remained, a current of tension that never quite dissipated, no matter how much distance he tried to maintain.
“He doesn’t have power over us,” Case said, his voice low and certain. “Not unless we give it to him.”
Something shifted in Gemma’s expression, a decision being made. She stepped forward, closing the distance between them, and placed her hands on his chest. “Then let’s not give it to him.”
Her touch burned through the thin fabric of his shirt, igniting something primal inside him. Case stood perfectly still, afraid that if he moved, if he gave in to the urge to pull her against him, he might shatter this fragile moment.
“Gemma,” he said, her name a warning and a prayer.
“I’m tired of being afraid,” she whispered, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. “I want to feel something else. I want to feel you.”
The last thread of his restraint snapped. Case cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, pouring all the fear and frustration and need of the past days into it. She responded instantly, rising onto her tiptoes, arms winding around his neck, body pressing against his as if she could eliminate any space between them.
This wasn’t like their first time—that desperate, frantic joining born of fear and the need to forget. This was deliberate, a conscious choice they were making together. It made it both more terrifying and more powerful.
Case deepened the kiss, one hand sliding into her hair, the other dropping to her waist to pull her more firmly against him. He could feel her heart racing, matching the wild tempo of his own. When she made a small, needy sound in the back of her throat, he nearly lost his mind.
“Tell me what you want,” he murmured against her lips, needing to hear her say it, needing to know this was truly what she wanted.
“You,” she replied simply. “Just you.”
That single word unleashed something in him. Case lifted her, his hands gripping the backs of her thighs as her legs wrapped around his waist. He carried her across the room, mindful of the low ceiling beams, to the bedroom door. He’d made the bed that morning, a habit ingrained from his military days, and now he was grateful for it as he laid her down on the quilt, following her down to recapture her mouth.
Her hands were everywhere—in his hair, sliding under his shirt, pulling him closer. He couldn’t get enough of the taste of her, the soft sounds she made when he kissed his way down her neck to the sensitive spot where it met her shoulder.
“Too many clothes,” she gasped, tugging at his shirt.
Case sat back on his heels, watching her face as he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. Her eyes darkened as they roamed over his chest, taking in the scars that marked his skin, testaments to the life he’d lived before this mountain became his sanctuary. There was no pity in her gaze, only a hunger that matched his own.
She sat up, pulling off her own shirt to reveal a simple cotton bra, practical and somehow all the more appealing for it. Case reached out, tracing the curve of her breast with reverent fingers. “So beautiful,” he murmured.
Gemma’s hands reached for his belt, her movements sure and deliberate. “I want to see all of you this time,” she said. “No hiding in the dark.”
The memory of their first night together flashed through his mind—how they’d come together in the shadows, driven by need rather than tenderness. This was different. Better. True intimacy required light, required seeing and being seen.
He stood to remove his jeans, watching as she did the same. When they were both down to their underwear, he rejoined her on the bed, pulling her beneath him, savoring the feel of skin against skin. Her legs parted to make room for him, and he settled between them, the heat of her core burning against him even through the thin barrier of their remaining clothing.
“Case,” she breathed, arching against him. “Please.”
He kissed her deeply, his hands moving to unfasten her bra, sliding it from her shoulders to reveal her breasts. When he lowered his head to take one nipple into his mouth, she gasped, her fingers threading through his hair to hold him closer. He took his time, alternating between gentle teasing and firmer pressure until she was writhing beneath him.
“You’re killing me,” she panted, her hips lifting in a silent plea.
Case smiled against her skin. “Patience,” he murmured, kissing his way down her stomach, hooking his fingers in the waistband of her underwear and drawing them slowly down her legs. He paused to press a kiss to the inside of her knee, her thigh, moving higher with deliberate slowness until he was where she needed him most.
The first taste of her nearly undid him. She was already wet, ready for him, and the knowledge that he’d done this to her, that she wanted him this much, was intoxicating. He used his mouth and fingers to build her pleasure, learning what made her gasp and moan, what made her fingers tighten in his hair.
When she came the first time, her back arching off the bed, his name on her lips, Case felt a fierce possessive pride. He kept going, gentler now, easing her through the aftershocks, until she tugged at his hair, pulling him up for a desperate kiss.
“Inside me,” she demanded against his mouth. “Now.”
Case shed his boxers quickly, then paused, his body trembling with the effort of restraint. “Protection,” he managed to say.
Gemma nodded, and he reached for the bedside drawer, finding what he needed. Her hands took over, rolling the condom on with sure movements that made him grit his teeth against the surge of pleasure.
When he finally pushed into her, they both gasped. Case held still for a moment, overwhelmed by the sensation, by the rightness of being joined with her like this. Then Gemma shifted beneath him, urging him on, and he began to move.
They found their rhythm quickly, bodies moving together as if they’d been lovers for years instead of days. Case watched her face, memorizing every expression, storing away the knowledge of what made her breath catch, what made her clutch at his shoulders. When she wrapped her legs around his waist, changing the angle, they both moaned at the deeper penetration.
“God, Gemma,” he breathed, fighting for control. “You feel incredible.”
Her answer was a kiss, deep and hungry, her body meeting his thrust for thrust. Case felt his control slipping, the pressure building at the base of his spine, but he was determined to make her come again before he lost himself completely.
He slipped a hand between them, finding the spot where she was most sensitive, circling with his thumb in time with his thrusts. She broke the kiss on a gasp, her head falling back, exposing the long line of her throat. Case couldn’t resist tasting her there, his teeth grazing lightly over her pulse point.
“Case,” she panted, her inner muscles beginning to tighten around him. “I’m close.”
“Let go,” he urged, increasing the pace of his thrusts, the pressure of his thumb. “Let go for me, Gemma.”
When she came, it was with a cry that he caught with his mouth, feeling her body clench around him, pulling him deeper. The sight of her pleasure, the sound of his name on her lips, pushed him over the edge. His release hit him like a physical blow, pleasure radiating outward from where they were joined, blanking his mind to everything but the feel of her beneath him, around him.
They stayed like that for long moments, bodies still connected, breath mingling, heartbeats gradually slowing. Case pressed his forehead to hers, unwilling to break the connection, to shatter the perfect bubble of peace that surrounded them.
“Stay with me,” he whispered, the words escaping before he could stop them. He didn’t just mean tonight, and they both knew it.
Gemma’s hands came up to frame his face, her eyes serious and tender. “I’m not going anywhere,” she promised. “Not anymore.”
It wasn’t a solution to the danger that still lurked out there. It wasn’t an end to the threat Darren posed. But it was a beginning—a commitment to face whatever came next together, as partners, as equals.
For now, that was enough.