Chapter 7
Aspen
Heat.
So much heat suffused my body as I woke up.
All was quiet in the house except for the clicking of claws on the floor.
I was comfortable, and didn’t want to move from my little bubble, except my bladder chose that very moment to make its demands known, and it—not to mention a wet-nosed dog—forced me into action.
It wasn’t until I started to get up that I realized why I was so warm. A large and heavy arm lay across my waist, holding me back against a hard surface.
Cade.
“Hmm?” he grumbled, then buried his nose into the hair at the back of my head.
Oh…that’s real…nice.I smiled at this larger-than-life teddy bear, biting my lip so as not to let the moan of enjoyment escape me, then whispered, “Let go,” even if it was the last thing I wanted.
“Don’t wanna,” he mumbled, sighing. Apparently, his sense of enjoyment matched mine.
“The dogs want out,” I argued, albeit not very forcibly.
“They can wait,” he said. He was right. “I barely slept a wink last night. You were right, sweetheart; you flop around like a fish.”
I could feel the blood rush to my face, and my body froze at his words, the peace of the morning vanishing in their wake.
“But you’re definitely not fucking cold,” he finished with another nuzzle to emphasize his point, and I forced my body to relax.
Oh God!
“Cade, I really do have to get up,” I gently tried to pry off his grip.
This wasn’t happening. On a loud groan, then a squeeze that made my bladder scream, he released me.
Grabbing some clothes on the way to the bathroom, I threw the man a cursory glance and said, “I’ll check on the laundry after I’m done and get you your clothes back.”
Looking at him had been a huge mistake.
The man was a tatted-out God of the Woods of some sort, with only my side of the blankets covering his jewels and some of his legs.
Damn!
I slammed the bathroom door, leaned against it, closed my eyes, and took a series of deep breaths.
The man certainly didn’t just look good…he gave good cuddle too.
And my mind wandered off, conjuring all sorts of scenarios he’d been inspiring since I’d rescued him in the forest of my past.
Cade
As soon as the door slammed behind her, I rolled to my back, not believing what had just happened.
I might as well have mauled her with the way she skittered away from me. First, a morning wood. Nothing new there and completely natural—and I hoped she understood that—but I had to cuddle up to her as if she was my most-prized possession, and what’s more, I’d refused her freedom at first because spooning her felt so damn natural.
“You idiot,” I cursed under my breath. There’d been a reason for those pillows after all. She didn’t want anything to do with a strange man in her house, let alone in her bed. That much had been evident since she’d taken me in. She clearly wasn’t keen on having anyone around, considering where she chose to live. Hell, I couldn’t blame her for resisting and wanting to sleep on the couch, or even that godforsaken lounge chair that I could only describe as dating back to the late seventies. That thing deserved to be shredded and its guts used as firewood. Hell, whenever I got out of here, maybe I’d buy her a new one as a thank-you.
“Here.” I felt the clothes being deposited at the foot of the bed by my feet, knocking me from my thoughts. “The dogs are outside. I’ll get started on breakfast.” Then she gestured wildly, motioning toward my naked torso. “You should cover up.”
I didn’t miss the lingering look of appreciation, combined with the profuse blush heating her cheeks, before she left the room though.
Aggressive barking followed by some shouting from Aspen and the slamming of a front door had me running—believe me, this wasn’t easy, especially with subtle hints of my concussion remaining—to see what kind of hell had broken loose.
“Leave or I’ll shoot!” my rescuer shouted.
“Ma’am, we’re not here to hurt you,” a voice I recognized said. “We just need you to take a look at this picture and tell us if you’ve seen this man.”
“Don’t come closer!” Then I heard Renegade’s growl.
Oh shit!
“Ren, off!” That was Dalton’s voice.
More growling.
“Shit, D, he’s not listening.” That was Rex. “What the fuck?”
“I don’t know, man,” he said. “Maybe it’s not him.”
“He’s wearing the same getup Cade puts on him when he’s working. Of course, it’s him!” Rex said. “He was sporting it two days ago.”
“Ma’am, if you could get Cujo there to back off, I’d be grateful,” Dalton requested in that cool and controlled manner of his. “My name is Dalton Kippers. I own Nightshade Securities in the next town over. I see you have our friend’s dog here. If Renegade is around, there’s reason for us to believe that you might have seen his owner. His name is Albert Caden Summers.”
Renegade growled and a higher pitched whine—one I figured belonging to Molly—joined him.
I’d barely made it out the door in time to find Aspen pointing a shotgun at my two friends and coworkers, our respective dogs flanking her sides and front on the defense.
“Easy, Xena,” I said soothingly, wrapping one arm around her waist, bringing her back into my body, then grabbing the rifle, waiting for her to let go of it so I could set it against the porch railing, before surrounding her waist with that one as well. “Off, Renegade.”
The men chuckled lowly, but I could tell Aspen wasn’t pleased with the groan she emitted.
I winced as soon as I saw Rex’s face.
“Fucking bear got me, man,” he said.
I smirked. “Uh-huh. Nice stitchwork.”
“Just another scar for the beard to cover when it grows back,” he responded, rubbing at his missing facial hair, unperturbed.
I understood why Aspen was standoffish, especially when it came to Rex. With the angry scar around his jugular, and the stitches currently covering nearly his entire cheek on the right side of his face, he surely didn’t look like a savory character.
“You alright there, Cade?” Dalton asked.
“Concussion and banged up, but still alive thanks to this lady, here,” I said, then released Aspen from my grip, coming forward toward the steps and shaking each man’s hand. “Pen, I believe we talked about these two goofs last night.”
She nodded, a little shell-shocked I was sure, but then came forward, presenting her hand. “Sorry about the firepower.”
“No worries.” Rex’s smirk looked more like a grimace. “You can never be too careful out here.”
“I’ve been greeted with worse,” Dalton chuckled, then winked at me. “Thanks for saving our guy here.”
“You’re welcome.” It sounded more like a question, then she turned to me. “I guess you’re leaving?”
She was right.
I was.
But I didn’t want to go just yet.
“What about my truck?” I asked, effectively stalling my departure, giving Aspen my answer.
“Dropped Babyface off to take it back,” Dalton explained, then he tossed me what looked like a new phone. “He told us to give you this. Same number as before. Contacts and previous information’s been migrated over. We realized yours was dead as soon as we couldn’t get a location on you.”
Right. That fucking GPS tracker. I had a new appreciation for our computer geek, no matter that his gadget hadn’t saved me this time around, or his annoying habit of gifting us with our personalized ringtones.
“So how’d you find him then?” Aspen asked.
“Our tech guy, Bryce that is, pulled a GPS map of Cade’s phone’s last pinged coordinates,” he explained. “Then again, we already knew the general vicinity once Rex told us where he was attacked, hunting down a skip.”
“And the body?” she asked.
“Handled. Our buddy, Shane, is a detective with the Jacksonville PD,” Dalton explained.
One look in Aspen’s direction and I could tell she was enthralled with all this information coming from them. A laugh broke loose from me as urged Dalton to continue with a, “Go on.”
“Well,” he began, eyeing me with curiosity. “That’s it.”
Rex shrugged at his side, confirming what D said.
“That’s it?” she asked, clearly disappointed. “That’s kind of anti-climactic.”
“Why is that?” Rex asked, brows furrowed as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.
“Well, Cade painted you guys as a bunch of G.I. Joe badasses, running around saving people for a price. I’ve always been fascinated about that whole computer, techie, hacking kind of thing. In fact, I’ve been thinking about writing?—”
The confused looks from both Rex and Dalton had me covering Aspen’s mouth with a chuckle.
“Rex, this’ll most likely fly ten feet over your head, but D, I believe you’ll recognize the name Penny Sexton?” I said, then gently let my hand fall away from Aspen’s mouth.
It took a moment for the name to register with the man, but when it did, his eyes widened.
“The writer?” Rex blurted before my part-time boss had a chance to say anything.
Say what?
“The fuck?” Dalton asked, then turned to our partner.
He shrugged. “Her motorcycle club series kicks ass. And don’t get me started on the sex scenes.”
The blush on her face flew straight past her cheeks, flourishing up to her hairline, which had me laughing once more.
“Wait until I tell Dev about this,” Dalton grinned. “She’s gonna flip her lid.”
“She’ll set her hacker ways to work and hunt the poor woman down. Don’t do it,” Rex said with a vehement shake of the head, his eyes having gone wide.
Aspen perked up. “Did you say, hacker?”
“Guys, I think you’re flipping her out,” I said, looking to the woman in question out of concern.
“Not at all,” she said, shaking her head vehemently. “Do you think I could get in touch with her? Strictly for educational purposes of course.”
Right.
And one day pigs would fly.
Call me crazy, but I had a feeling once I left Aspen’s cottage, it wouldn’t be the last I saw of her.
I sure as fuck hoped it wouldn’t be.