Chapter 33
Knox
Colton loaded the last duffel into the back of the rental truck while Archer checked their route on his phone. My mother’s driveway felt too small for this goodbye.
“You sure you don’t want to stay a few more days?” Sloane asked from the porch. Her voice still carried that rasp from the bruising on her throat. “There’s plenty of room.”
“We’ve got to get back to base,” Archer said. “Already pushed our leave as far as we could.”
Maggie descended the porch steps, carrying a cooler. “At least take this. Sandwiches for the road. And cookies. I made way too many.”
“You didn’t have to do that.” Colton took the cooler from her hands, their fingers brushing. Lingering a beat too long.
I caught it. The way Maggie’s cheeks flushed. The way Colton’s expression softened when he looked at her.
Not good.
Nash appeared beside me, arms crossed. “Your guys ready?”
“Almost.”
I watched Colton set the cooler in the truck cab, watched Maggie hover nearby like she had more to say.
“They’ve been a huge help this week.”
“That’s an understatement.” Nash nodded toward my team. “Without them, this whole thing could’ve gone a lot differently.”
Archer joined us, extending his hand to Nash. “Appreciate you letting us assist. Not every sheriff would’ve welcomed outside help.”
“Not every outside help is worth welcoming.” Nash shook his hand. “But you two? You’re good men. This island’s lucky you were here.”
“We were glad to help.” Archer glanced at me.
Colton approached, and Nash offered his hand. “Stay out of trouble, Marine.”
“Yes, sir.” Colton grinned, but his eyes drifted past Nash to where Maggie stood on the porch steps.
I cleared my throat. “My offer still stands. Both of you. When your enlistments are up, come back here. Help me get my mom’s shop running again. Or just figure out what comes next. You’ve got a place to stay and work if you want it.”
“Might take you up on that,” Archer said. “The island’s growing on me.”
“Same.” Colton’s gaze hadn’t left Maggie. “Definitely growing on me.”
Nash stiffened beside me, finally seeming to see the problem right before our eyes.
I stepped between them and Colton’s line of sight. Probably saving my brother one more time. “We’ll talk before you make any decisions.”
Colton met my eyes, understanding passing between us. “Roger that.”
“Before you go,” Nash said, pulling out his phone. “Got news this morning. Thought you’d all want to hear.”
Sloane moved down from the porch, standing close to my side. I wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against me.
“They found her,” Nash said. “The woman Walter Junior took. She was in an abandoned fish house near Wanchese. Dehydrated, hypothermic from the cold nights, but alive.”
“Thank God.” Sloane sagged against me.
“She’s in critical condition at the mainland hospital, but doctors say she’ll recover.” Nash pocketed his phone. “Junior’s lawyer confirmed the plea deal. Life without parole. He’ll never see daylight again.”
Relief washed through the group. Tangible and heavy.
“All those women,” Archer said quietly. “At least their families have answers now.”
“And one woman has her life back.” Maggie wiped her eyes.
Sloane pressed her face against my shoulder.
“What about the VW bus we were all chasing?” Archer asked.
Nash shook his head. “Registered to Junior. Right now it’s at the impound lot.
It was processed by the crime scene team after we located it on an access road in the national park.
He drove it all the way out here from Oregon.
Makes me wonder if we need to check missing women along whatever route he took. It’s a long way across this country.”
I shivered.
“And Deputy Lennox?” I asked.
“Full recovery. Junior got the jump on him, Lennox never even saw him coming.”
We’d all thought the killer was in custody.
“All right.” Colton clapped his hands. “We better hit the road before this gets too emotional.”
“Too late,” Maggie said.
I embraced Colton, then Archer. “Call when you get there.”
“Will do.” Archer climbed into the passenger seat.
Colton paused at the driver’s door. “Take care of each other. All of you.”
“That’s the plan.”
The truck engine rumbled to life. Gravel crunched beneath tires as they rolled down the driveway.
We stood watching until they disappeared around the bend. Until the sound faded completely.
Nash was the first to move. “I need to get to the station. Got paperwork until midnight probably.”
I thought of Maggie’s concern over her brother’s broken heart. I wanted to mention it, let him know I was here if he ever wanted to talk. But tonight, my priority was Sloane.
“Thanks for everything,” Sloane said. “For keeping us safe. For never giving up.”
“Just doing my job.” But Nash smiled. “Though I’m glad this one’s over. And I’m glad you’re sticking around, Knox. The island needs good people.”
Maggie said her goodbyes, and Nash headed for his cruiser, leaving me and Sloane alone with the afternoon sun warming the driveway.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Getting there.” She turned wrapping her arms around my waist. “It helps. Being here with you.”
“You can stay as long as you want.” I tucked hair behind her ear. “Forever, if that’s what you need.”
“Forever’s a long time.”
“Not long enough.”
She smiled. Actually smiled. The first real one I’d seen since the attack.
“Come on.” I took her hand and led her toward the house. “Let’s get inside. I’ll make dinner.”
“You cook?”
“I’m a grown man. How do you think I eat?”
Her brows tented, and I was sure she assumed most of my meals came from Sullivan’s Seafood. She wasn’t completely wrong.
Inside, the house welcomed us. Quiet. Safe. Ours.
Later, when the day was done and night settled over the island, I found Sloane standing at the window overlooking the ocean. She was pale in the moonlight, the bruises on her throat appeared especially gruesome, and the exhaustion in her posture told me something else was wrong.
“Hey,” I said softly. “You okay?”
Sloane turned, and I saw tears streaming down her face. Silent. Devastating.
“It’s been a really long couple of weeks,” she whispered. A small laugh bubbled from her chest.
“You could say that.” I crossed to her, pulling her into my arms. Holding her as she trembled against me. “Let it out. It’s okay to feel everything you need to feel to get past the pain. You’re safe here.”
“I was so scared.” Sloane’s voice was barely audible. “I thought I would die. And I’d never see you again.”
“Now you get to see me every day.” I cupped her face. “You might not think that’s such a good thing when you learn what a pain in the ass I can be.”
Sloane laughed. I stroked her hair.
“Are you sure you want to stay in Carolina Bay?” she asked. “For you, not me.”
I pulled back to meet her eyes. “I’m staying because I can’t imagine being anywhere you’re not. Because when I think about my future, you’re in every version of it. I am in love with you, Sloane Mercer, and I want to build something real and lasting with you.”
Tears welled in Sloane’s eyes again. “I want that too,” she said. “So much.”
I kissed her slowly and with meaning.
Then I swept her off her feet and carried her to our bed.
We undressed one another with care and lingering kisses. Moonlight glowed silver against her skin, highlighting the curve of her hip, the hollow of her throat, the swell of her breasts. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, and she was mine.
I took a long moment to appreciate my blessings.
“Knox,” she whispered, reaching for me.
I covered her body with mine, kissing her deeply. Pouring everything I felt into each touch.
Sloane’s hands slid up my back, nails dragging lightly across my skin, and I shuddered. Twelve years of military discipline, training and maintaining control in the most extreme circumstances, yet this woman undid me with a single touch.
I took my time with every inch of her. Memorizing the delicate bones of her wrists.
The sensitive spot behind her ear. The freckles scattered across her collarbone like constellations.
I was careful around her throat, the bruises a stark reminder of how close I’d come to losing her.
Instead, I kissed her shoulders, her sternum, the valley between her breasts.
“You’re so soft,” I murmured against her skin. “So perfect.”
My hands cupped her breasts, thumbs brushing across her nipples until they peaked. I lowered my mouth to her, sucking gently, then harder when she arched against me. Her fingers threaded through my hair, holding me to her, and she released a moan that shot straight to my core.
“Knox,” she whispered, her hands sliding down my chest, my stomach. “Let me.”
Before I could ask what she meant, Sloane pushed at my shoulders, urging me onto my back. I went willingly, curious and already aching with need. She kissed her way down my torso, her hair spilling across my skin like silk. When her lips brushed across my abs, the muscles jumped under her touch.
“Sloane—”
“Shh.” She looked up at me through thick lashes, her green eyes dark with desire. “Let me take care of you.”
My breath caught as she settled between my thighs, her small hands wrapping around my length. I was already hard, had been since the moment she’d walked into this room, and when she stroked me slowly, learning the shape and feel of me, I groaned.
“You’re so beautiful,” she murmured, and the reverence in her voice nearly undid me. “So perfect.”
“Sloane, you don’t have to—”
“I want to.” She leaned forward, pressing a kiss to my hip, then lower. “I want to taste you.”
Christ. My hands fisted in the sheets as she took me into her mouth, warm and wet and impossibly soft. She explored tentatively, and the innocence of it combined with the heat of her mouth had my hips lifting off the bed.
“God, baby. Just like that.” My hand came up to tangle in her hair, not guiding, just needing to touch her. “You’re so good. So fucking good.”
She hummed in response, the vibration sending shockwaves through my system. Then, she took me deeper.