Chapter 23
Kayden
The sun was bleeding out across the horizon when we finally returned to the homestead. As I brought the helicopter down, Charlie, Xavier, Bella, and Declan raced toward us.
“They’ve been watching out for us,” Mitch said in our headsets.
I landed the chopper and killed the engine. The rotor blades were still winding down as we climbed out.
Charlie pulled Mitch into her arms. “Thank God. What took you all so long?”
Xavier framed Cassidy’s face in his hands. “You okay?”
“Of course. But we’re all starving. Hope you’ve been cooking up a storm, Bella.” Cassidy tried to be upbeat, but her voice still cracked, and she buried her face against Xavier’s chest.
Declan clapped Mitch and me on the back. “Any more news on Frank?” he asked.
“Not that we’ve heard,” I said.
I moved to walk beside Sapphire. She’d been silent the entire flight back, and all I’d wanted to do was hold her. Her face was pale in the sunset light, jaw set in that stubborn line I knew too well.
As we reached the homestead, Rose appeared on the back verandah, worry creasing her weathered face. “Is everyone okay? Any news about Frank?”
Mitch gave her a quick summary, skipping over a heap of details.
Rose’s eyes moved over each of us. “You’re all coming inside. There’s stew on the stove.”
“Actually ...” I kept my hand on Sapphire’s lower back. “We’re going to head to my loft first to clean up.”
Rose’s frown deepened, but then she nodded. “Of course. I’ll keep the food warm for you.”
Mitch caught my eye over Charlie’s shoulder. “You all right, bro?”
I nodded. “Nothing a hot shower and rest won’t fix.”
It wasn’t me I was worried about. It was Sapphire.
We peeled off from the others, and I guided Sapphire toward the path that led to the barn. Behind us, everyone else vanished into the main house.
We walked through the stables, and the smells of horses and straw didn’t calm me like they usually did. I put my rifle away, and before I climbed the ladder with our packs, I gripped Sapphire’s shoulders gently, making her look at me. “Have a shower, I’ll ...”
“No. No, you go first.” Her sad expression ruined me.
I’d never seen her so broken. She needs me. “Wait here. I’ll be back in a sec.” I scrambled up the ladder, tossed our packs in the loft, grabbed two towels, then climbed back down.
I cupped her chin in my hand. “Let me look after you.”
She pressed her lips together, and tears welled in her eyes.
“Oh, babe.” I pulled her to my chest and wrapped my arms around her. “It’ll work out. I promise.”
She shook her head but didn’t pull away. “You can’t make promises like that.”
“I just did.”
She nodded but didn’t move. Her hands hung at her sides, like just lifting them was a chore. Shock, probably. Or exhaustion. Or both.
“Come on.” I touched her arms, gently easing her back from me. “Shower, first. Then we’ll deal with everything else.”
Sapphire blinked and looked down at herself, at the dust and bloodstains covering her clothes. “Yeah. Okay.”
I stepped into my bathroom and turned on the shower, adjusting the temperature while Sapphire stood in the doorway. When I turned back, she was staring at nothing, eyes unfocused.
“I had to give up my badge.” The sadness in her tone nearly broke me.
“I know, but you’ll get it back.”
“Four years working for Bob Ackerman, and I had no clue he was corrupt.” Her voice cracked. “How did I miss it?”
I crossed the space between us and cupped her face in my hands. “Because he’d been hiding behind that badge for decades. He fooled everyone, not just you.”
“That doesn’t make it better.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “My career will forever be tainted by his corruption.”
“No, it won’t. You’ll take that bastard down, and they’ll know you’re the good cop.” I pressed my forehead to hers. “They already do, Sapphire. You’re too good for them to lose.”
Sapphire opened her eyes. She looked lost. Broken.
Steam filled the small bathroom, fogging the mirror. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
“I’m that much of a mess, huh?”
“You’re beautiful,” I said, kissing her forehead.
Her expression softened, not quite a smile, but close. “Can you undress me?”
I grinned. “You don’t need to ask me that twice.” I lifted the hem of her T-shirt, and she raised her arms. I peeled the grubby shirt off. Her bra was simple and practical, black cotton. Somehow, it made her look sexier than any lacey lingerie could.
She reached around her back and unhooked the clasp. Eyes locked on mine, she peeled the straps off her shoulders and let the bra fall to the floor.
She stood before me, bare from the waist up. I stepped closer. My heart thundered in my chest. My cock pulsed to its own beat as I rested my hands on the curve of her waist, feeling her warm flesh, my thumbs tracing small circles. “God, I’ve missed you.”
She pressed her hand to my chest, right over my heart, like she wanted to feel it hammering. She parted her lips, and the urge to kiss her was excruciating, but I waited. I wanted her to make the first move. I’d just told her how much I’d missed her, and yet, she’d said nothing.
“Do you remember how we used to shower together?” Her voice was barely there.
I nodded. Of course, I did. I remembered everything about her.
She unbuttoned her cargo pants, pushed them down along with her underwear, and stepped out of them. She stood naked in front of me, vulnerable and strong all at once, and I couldn’t breathe.
Sapphire stepped into the shower with a soft sigh, tilting her face up into the spray. Water sluiced over her olive skin, washing away dust, sweat, and the remnants of one of the worst days of our lives. Her blonde hair clung wet to her head, water running in rivulets down her body.
I could’ve watched that show for the rest of the day. And I would have if she hadn’t turned to me and said, “Are you joining me?”
I stripped off my clothes so fast it was a wonder I didn’t faceplant.
Leaving the bandage on my upper arm in place, I stepped into the shower with her.
The cubicle was barely big enough for the two of us, and it was both annoying and absolutely perfect.
She handed me the soap and swept her hair off her neck, showing me where to start.
I slid the bar over her shoulders and across her back.
Her skin was as perfect as I’d always remembered.
Her eyes stayed closed as I ran my hands over her back, down to the dip of her spine, and over the curve of her waist. I was relearning her, remembering her curves, discovering what had changed and what had stayed the same.
When I reached her hips, she turned to face me. Water streamed between us, soap making everything slick. Her blue eyes had darkened, pupils blown wide.
I rinsed soap from her collarbone, and as the suds slid down between her breasts, my cock grew so hard it hurt. She had to know how hard I was, and yet she didn’t reach for me. I wanted her hands on me. No, I wanted more than that. I wanted all of her. Needed her.
But I needed her to want me, too.
I reached for the shampoo. “Turn around.”
She obeyed, and I worked the shampoo through her hair, massaging her scalp with gentle pressure. She seemed to melt under my touch, moaning and dropping her head back as I worked out the tension in her neck and shoulders.
“That feels amazing,” she murmured.
I rinsed her hair, and my hands slid over her shoulders, down her back, to rest on the bare flesh at the curve of her hips. She leaned back against me with a sigh, and I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding her close while the water cascaded over both of us.
For a few minutes, we just stood like that—her back to my chest, my arms around her—and the world reduced to steam and water and skin against skin.
Then Sapphire turned in my arms and looked up at me. The vulnerability in her eyes gutted me.
She studied my face, searching for something. Whatever she found there must have satisfied her because she leaned in and kissed me. Not urgently or desperately like when we’d first reunited. Just ... grounding. Real.
I kissed her back slowly, thoroughly, forcing my body to take its time. Her lips were soft and warm. When she opened her mouth, I deepened the kiss, one hand sliding into her wet hair while the other found the small of her back, pulling her closer.
She whimpered and pressed against me. The feel of her wet skin against mine, her breasts crushed against my chest, was almost too much. I was already hard, my body responding to her closeness with embarrassing urgency.
But I forced myself to slow down. To just kiss her. To let the hot water beat down on us while we stood there wrapped around each other, breathing in sync.
When we finally broke apart, we were both breathing hard.
“I need ...” She swallowed. “I need you to help me forget everything that happened today, even if just for a little while.”
I understood. God, did I understand. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” She kissed me again, her tongue gliding against mine. Her hands slid over my chest, then down to my groin. She cupped my balls. “I need you, Kayden. I need this.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I turned off the water and grabbed two towels. We were like a couple of teenagers again as we raced to dry off, smiling at each other, checking each other out.
I made her climb the ladder before me, giving me a glorious view that I’d remember forever.
She waited for me at the top, and the second I reached the loft, she gripped my cheeks and crushed her mouth to mine. With our lips together, I picked her up and carried her to my bed. I lay her down and stepped back to look at her.
The last of the sunset light filtered through the window, painting her skin gold as her wet, blonde hair spread across my pillow.
The last time I’d seen Sapphire naked, I’d been too young and stupid to know how precious she was or to understand what I’d been feeling.
I had every intention of making up for that now. “Wow. You’re incredible.”