Chapter Twenty-two – Fall #2
“I appreciate the sacrifice,” he said with dry sarcasm.
“If someone had come along and told me Sadie couldn’t be mine, I would have pounded them into the ground.
But you, letting Fallon experience life and have a normal college experience, giving her a chance to grow into a strong, vibrant woman without the intensity of a soulmate kind of love blindfolding her and limiting her options…
that tells me more than anything just how much you care about her. ”
Love. Soulmates. The words hung in the air and sent a chill up my back. Not because they felt wrong but because they felt so damn right.
It was everything I’d told myself for twenty-nine years I didn’t want.
But it had never been true. I just hadn’t wanted it without her.
Now, I wanted a chance at forever. I wanted to be one of the few couples whose relationship stood the test of time. The ones others looked to with envy, wishing they had the same.
But for Fallon, being with me meant dealing with my career and being apart for months while I was deployed and knee-deep in dangerous missions. It now came with a beautiful little boy who’d lost everything and who I’d also given promises to.
“You’ll tell me if I should come back.” It was a command, not a question, but it didn’t bother me that Rafe had issued it. I understood exactly why he had.
“I will. But right now, you showing up will only make Fallon feel worse.”
“I hate that you’re right.” We let it sit between us for a moment. “Tell her to call me when she gets home.”
We hung up, and I turned back to the series of texts that had arrived while I’d been on the phone with Rafe.
The motorcycle and its rider had been long gone by the time Lance and the team had hit the fire road.
But Sheriff Wylee was collecting evidence, and the team was scanning the video footage we did have for any clues.
I wanted the new cameras the team was bringing today to be installed as covertly as possible so this asshole couldn’t avoid them.
Cranky had sent me a list of footage he thought had been messed with, as well as a list of cameras that had been shifted in ways Mother Nature couldn’t have caused.
He’d promised to dive further into the altered video to see if we could recover a digital footprint that might lead us to the attacker.
I shoved my phone in my pocket and returned to Fallon’s room.
My heart sank when I saw her cheeks were wet with tears.
Fallon didn’t cry. Not often. I wasn’t sure who’d taught her it was a weakness, but she held her tears back with a ferocity that would have made her a formidable contender for a SEAL team if she’d chosen that route.
The doctor wouldn’t tell me the truth when I demanded it, but I’d get it out of Fallon. She was upset about something besides the shooting and her injuries. I’d take her home, tuck her up in bed, and use any means to get the truth out of her.
My body tensed once more, thinking of the new and glorious ways I might be able to torture her with pleasure until she told me the truth—ways I’d always stopped myself from even considering but now laid before me like a prize.
I’d let her heal, I’d make sure she was okay, and then I wouldn’t hold back.
After the doctor returned with a printed list of instructions and the signed release orders, I was tempted to sweep Fallon into my arms and storm out of the hospital. Instead, I took her hand and walked her to my truck.
I opened the passenger door and assessed her as she eased into the seat. She was hurting from more than just the kick in the head. Maybe it was from the fall, but I thought it went beyond even that. She was moving differently. Awkward. As if she didn’t know what to think about her own body anymore.
She was silent on the ride back to the ranch, and as much as I wanted to push her, I let her be. We had time for me to get to the bottom of things.
When we pulled onto the road leading to her house rather than the resort, she frowned at me. “Where are you going? ”
“Home. To put you to bed like the good doctor ordered.”
“I have staff to meet with and plans to make.”
“You pay all those people a shit ton of money to handle things. They’ll live without you for a day,” I told her.
“Goddamnit, Parker, this isn’t some band deciding not to show up. We had a major attack take place on my ranch. My guests experienced the worst thing many of them have ever experienced. They deserve my time and attention. Their families deserve it. My employees deserve it.”
“And what do you deserve? Exhaustion? Burnout? Irreversible brain damage because you don’t allow yourself to heal?
” I growled. “Fuck that. I’ll take you back to the hospital and have them handcuff you to the bed before I’ll let you destroy yourself.
Nothing is worth that happening. Not even this goddamn ranch. ”
Fury burned in her eyes as I parked the pickup in front of her house. “Everything I’ve done my entire life has been for this legacy, so don’t you dare tell me what it’s worth.”
She jumped out of the vehicle and most likely would have headed to the path leading to the resort if her legs hadn’t buckled.
Surprise crossed her face when she landed on her hands and knees.
I swore, slammed the truck door, and sprinted around the front.
She struggled to get to her feet, and I simply scooped her into my arms and carried her up the steps.
When she didn’t scream at me to put her down, worry coasted through me all over again.
I punched in the code she’d given me, opened the door, and then scanned the open space for signs of a threat. I put her down gently on the couch.
“Stay here while I clear the house,” I ordered.
I silently checked both suites and returned to find her with her eyes closed, head resting on the back of the couch. She was deathly pale once more.
I moved to her, drawn as I’d always been but denied. I let myself touch her, gently brushing my fingers through her messy hair. Her eyes popped open. What I saw there—the desolation and fear—speared me in the heart. A brutal stab I was sure would bleed out.
“You need sleep,” I told her softly .
Her throat bobbed, and for a moment, I thought she was going to cry again. “I do. But I also need to see my team. I’ll have them come here for a quick meeting, then I’ll rest.”
My teeth slid together, and the force of the grinding shot pain through my jaw.
“I need my phone, Parker.”
I debated, but having her agree to stay here was better than her running down the hill. I withdrew it from my pocket and handed it over.
She spent a few moments texting and then put the phone down.
“I have an hour. I’m going to wash the dirt and hospital scent off me,” she said.
This time, when she stood, she did it slowly, giving herself time to adjust. While I didn’t argue with her, I did follow her down the hall. Inside her room, she looked over her shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure you don’t crash and burn.”
She stepped slowly into the walk-in closet and returned with a stack of clothes before heading for the bathroom. When I followed her to that door too, she turned around, and the first sign of a smile crept over her face.
“You coming inside? Going to watch me strip? Maybe get in the shower with me? Wash my hair?”
Those were all the wrong words for her to say, because I wanted to do just that. See her naked. Watch the water pour over her slopes and valleys. Push her up against the tiled wall and take what was mine. Even knowing that couldn’t happen today, it didn’t stop my body from reacting.
I stepped closer instead of away as she’d expected, and her nostrils flared. I put one hand on her waist and pulled her so our hips touched, and that same damn electricity that always found us lit me up.
For the first time in my life, I didn’t curse it. I rejoiced in it. All of it. The heat. The absolute need. My hand went to her chin, capturing it and letting my thumb glide over her lower lip.
“Showering together will have to wait for another day.” Desire leaked into every word .
She stared at me for a moment before nipping at my thumb, and my body went up in flames. “Don’t make promises you won’t keep, Frogman.”
I lowered my mouth until our lips were almost brushing.
“We will be showering together, Fallon. That isn’t a promise.
It’s a fact. Get used to it. But it won’t be when you can barely stand and have employees showing up.
It’s going to be when I can take my damn time, when I can have you up against the tile, and on the damn floor, and on all fours in the bed. ”
A tremor went through her, and her eyes slammed shut.
She inhaled and exhaled deeply. Then she pushed me away and pulled the door partially shut.
When she looked at me again, the desolation had returned to those honeyed eyes.
“Unfortunately, Park, I think that ship has sailed. You were right all along. It’s better if we’re just friends. ”
I was so stunned, so fucking knocked sideways, I simply stood there while she shut the door in my face. I stared at the wood for far too long, processing her words. After the kiss on the field, she’d insisted it wouldn’t be the last one.
What had changed?
What had happened at the hospital? What had the doctor said? Did she tell Fallon she had some goddamn disease? Something permanent? Something that would put that despair in her eyes?
I turned the handle to find she hadn’t locked it.
When I walked in, she yelped, covering her bra and panty-clad body with one hand and reaching for the sink to steady herself with the other.
It shouldn’t have been any different than seeing her in a bikini, which I’d done more times than I could count, and yet it was different, because I’d dropped the barrier I’d always held up between us.
Now, I wanted to do more than look. I wanted to touch every single inch of her.
I wanted to know, not just where she was ticklish, but every spot that turned her on.
I stalked over to her, careless with her in a way I shouldn’t have been as I cupped her neck, tipped her chin, and devoured her mouth.
This kiss wasn’t like the one on the field.
This was angry and frustrated and full of promise.
I would have her. She would be mine. She was already fucking mine.
She’d been mine for more years than I could count.
Just as I’d always been hers. I’d always known it deep inside me, even when I’d denied it. Denied her.
No more.
I plundered her mouth with an intensity that had her gasping and clinging to my arms. I held her steady and let the tidal wave consume us. Drowning in the emotions. Sweeping us into unsteady seas.
It took more willpower than I’d ever used before to stop myself. To step back.
For a brief moment, I regretted it, until I saw the desolation on her face had disappeared, and in its place desire and lust burned.
“Our ship hasn’t sailed, Ducky. And when it does, we’ll be on it. Together.”
Her mouth popped open.
“Now get in the damn shower before I call your team and tell them not to bother showing up.”
That did exactly what I wanted it to do. It brought the defiance back, straightening her back.
“Take your high-handed commands and get the hell out of my bathroom.”
I grinned at her. “I’ll be right outside the door. If you get dizzy in the shower, just holler, and I’ll come get you.”
Fallon’s huff was a twist of exasperation and laughter. “Whatever happened to flip your switch is sort of scary.”
That wiped away my humor, but I kept the smile plastered on my face because I didn’t want her to think of what had happened in the field or send her into a spiral of sadness after I’d achieved a laugh. But she was right. It had been terrifying.
“Go slow so you don’t get dizzy and fall—unless you want me to see you naked before I have a chance to shower you with romance.” She let out another frustrated huff. “And, Fallon, you better get used to it. To me. I’m not going anywhere.”
I shut the door before she could respond.
But she was likely thinking the same damn thing I was—exactly how long would I be there before command called me back to base?
It was the same question I’d been asking myself about Theo, but with Fallon, it had another layer to it because there was no way I could leave until we’d figured out who was coming after her.
I’d go AWOL before I left her unprotected.
The thoughts of my career going down the drain if I did just that reminded me of something I’d somehow forgotten.
I wasn’t alone. I had a team of men who had my back.
Screw the cop in San Diego. My teammates would gladly pay a visit to JJ and Ace for me.
They’d make sure the losers were still sitting in San Diego, waiting for JJ’s trial.
But they’d also find out if one or both of them were behind these stunts.
I yanked my phone from my pocket, opening a group chat. I could count on my team. They’d have my back.
And if this wasn’t JJ or Ace, we’d go down the list of suspects, one by one, until we figured out exactly who’d pulled the trigger today.
Then I’d end them.