A refuge formed as he pulled her close again. Scowled at Rowe. “Go check it out. Don’t mention her.” He turned her toward the path. “C’mon.” With an arm around her, he herded her up the path toward his cabin. Inside, he guided her to a chair and started to turn away.
“No!” Panic stabbed her common sense as she dug her nails into his biceps. “No. Pleasedon’tleaveme.”
“Brighton.” Calm reason filled his clear blue eyes as he spoke in a soothing voice. Warm hands cupped her face. “Hear me?—you’re safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
She gulped the protection he offered, shocked. “Really?”
“On my word,” he said, thumbing away a rogue tear. “And Grief is here. If I can’t stop trouble, he will.” He waited for that meaning to register, for her to nod. Her grip to ease. “I’m going to close the curtains.”
“Oh. S–sorry.”
“Don’t be.” There was a tenderness in his voice she hadn’t heard in a very long time. And it broke her. Sobs vaulted out as if a dam had broken, unleashing tidal floods of grief and emotion she’d long ago buried combined with the adrenaline dump. She shoved back her hair and tried to get herself together. But the more she did, the more her control slipped.
He was there again, easing onto the couch next her, gathering her into his arms. Holding her. His deep rumbling voice offering a promise she’d never thought to hear from anyone, let alone him. “I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”
She believed he meant it. Believed he’d try. But … she’d learned Ladomer’s reach was iron and unstoppable. Freedom wasn’t an illusion?—it was a delusion. “He’ll find me. Always does.” Cheek against his chest, she heard the drumming of his heart. “I never should’ve come. What if he hurts someone in the lodge???—or your mom! Or you! He won’t stop looking for me. Ladomer never gives up what’s his.”
Stone’s strength pulsed around her. His arm ensconced her as his hand caressed her head. “Neither do I.”
Brighton stilled. You misheard him. He wouldn’t have said that, not about her. She looked up at him, searching for the meaning behind his words. For him to confirm that wasn’t what he meant. That it wasn’t what she thought. His gaze was as steady as the rising sun, scattering darkness. When his expression remained the same, hope dared shoot between the cracks in the cement vault in which her heart hid.
Was it possible? Did he … did he think of her as his?
He’d said the words. And cursed himself, but refused to recant them. Because they were true. Sure, she was beautiful on the outside with her auburn hair and brown eyes, but her strength had always drawn him. Something twisted inside him at the vulnerability clouding her features. The watery eyes swimming in hope and desperation, half expecting him to take back the words. Stone cupped her face. “I won’t let anyone take you back to that life if you don’t want to go.”
She jerked, a scowl scraping at her vulnerability. “Of course I don’t. How could you??—”
“Wait.” You’re a piece of work. “I worded that wrong.”
But he had to admit … there was still a big chunk of anger blocking his path to freely taking her back. She’d been with other men?—a lot of them. She’d known what her captor was going to do to him, and she didn’t stop it. She’d chosen her brother over Stone. There was more to it, yeah, but … it knocked his feet out from under him in more ways than one.
Yet, seeing her terrified, watching that wild, fight-or-flight panic intrude on the strong, vibrant woman he’d fallen for …
And that’s just it. He had fallen for her. When she was beautiful, intelligent, unassuming. Seeing that destroyed and her vulnerability explode had undone the knots he’d used to hold all that anger in.
And ultimately, he hated that his words just now hurt her. They’d both been through more than enough.
Several raps at the door had her leaping to her feet and whirling in that direction, her face white as flour.
“It’s probably Rowe.” Stone stood and moved between her and the front entry.
Unconvinced, she stared at the door, her eyes wide, her complexion blanched. She looked ready to run.
He couldn’t stand it. Framed her face and brought those rich eyes to his. “I promise. Nobody’s going to hurt you again or force you to do something you don’t want to do.”
Her bright eyes searched his, flushed with hope. He could see the struggle to believe what he said??—in fact, he questioned himself about it. But … he wouldn’t go back on his word. With a smirk, he added, “Besides, I doubt someone coming after you is going to knock.” When a smile wavered on those lips rosied from her crying, he resisted the urge to hug her. “Wait in the guest room. I’ll see who it is.”
Relief rippled through her, that tangle between her eyes loosened, and somehow it loosened something in him, too. With a quick nod, Brighton disappeared into the bedroom.
As the sound of her locking herself in reached him, Stone opened the front door.
Rowe stood there, annoyed, irritated.
“What’d you find out?”
“All that racket?” Rowe stepped back as Stone joined him on the front porch. “It was Mr. Blanton from one-two-seven. Apparently, he has flashbacks and thought he was in ’Nam or something searching for his buddies.”
War took no prisoners, did it? Everyone came back affected, altered. His brothers, his father … Me.
