“Love you,” she got out between gasps just before another orgasm took her breath away.
He pushed in and stilled, his body jerking against her as he came. They were both panting as he pulled out and turned her. His lips were on her as he gently caressed her body.
"Thank you. You are the best thing that has happened to me. I love you, Ansley."
His words made her throat close with emotion, and she felt tears fill her eyes. "Link, I love you so much."
They clung to each other, holding on tight. There would be weeks spent without him in her bed, but she could deal with that. They would make the most of their time together, because what they had was special.
Chapter 29
Link didn't wantto leave the beach and head home, but they'd been here for ten days, and he needed to get back home and take care of a few things before he went back to work. Also, Ansley would be starting her job teaching online in a few days, so she needed to get settled, too.
“You all ready?” Ansley asked as she stepped out of the bathroom.
"I am. I just need to turn off the ice maker. I left it on once and came back to an ice-packed freezer."
“Oh my. It didn’t stop?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know why, but no, it didn’t. It took me hours to clear out the freezer. It was funny, in a way, but I don’t want to do that again.”
“What can I do?”
“Check the windows and make sure the locks are secure. We’re on the third floor, but I never take security lightly.”
“That’s good to know. I appreciate it. I know someone breaking into the third floor would be wild, but sometimes people do weird things.”
Ansley went up to the loft first, then headed into the bedroom, checking the windows as Link made sure the kitchen was in order. There was one frozen pizza left in the freezer, but he figured that with Ansley around, they would come back here in a month or so. Also, if any of his buddies wanted to rent it out, they would appreciate having a pizza in the freezer.
Before they left, Ansley pulled him close and lifted up on her toes for a kiss. He didn't make the kiss too deep, or they would get distracted and stay here again tonight. That's how they'd stayed for ten nights instead of seven. There was always something he wanted to explore with her, and that usually meant they ended up in bed, their bodies tangled in the sheets.
He stepped back and took her hand. "You ready?"
Ansley nodded. “Yes, let’s go.”
The drive to Fayetteville didn’t take too long, and they were home before dinner. They dropped off their bags before heading out to the grocery store to restock for a few days.
Shopping and doing normal life stuff felt brighter with Ansley by his side. He enjoyed picking out vegetables with her. She grabbed ingredients for the food she wanted to cook for dinner.
Once they were home and the groceries were put away, he checked his email, seeing something from Mick. Pete had gone on a podcast and was telling anyone who would listen that Ansley had killed three people.
“Shit.” The word slipped out before he could think.
“Something wrong?” Ansley asked as she stepped into the bedroom.
He turned, warring with his desire to keep her safe and not tell her about the podcast or reveal everything to her. Keeping her in the dark wouldn’t help.
“Got a note from Mick. Looks like Pete has captured the attention of the true crime podcast circuit. He is going on podcasts and telling people that you murdered three people.”
Her eyes went wide as shock settled in. “Fuck.”
"Yeah, apparently, he is twisting the truth. From what Mick said, Pete straight-up lied and said there is video of you on that pier pushing Craig off. That the police were against him, and that you were manipulating the cops. Apparently, he infers you were sleeping with the police officers and using your position as a Marine to force the police not to reveal the true video that he has."
“What the hell?”
“I’m going to talk to Mick. Maybe it’s not that bad.”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “No, it’s probably worse.”
