I set the kit on the coffee table and sink back to my knees beside him. He tracks my movement, clear despite the late hour and the medication.
When I lean forward, he meets me halfway. The kiss starts soft, a tentative brush of lips, mindful of his injuries. His hand slides into my hair, cradling the back of my head, spreading warmth down my spine.
The gentleness breaks open the walls of self-preservation inside me. I’ve spent so long being strong, holding myself together with stubborn pride, and the care in his touch undoes me in ways raw passion never could.
His mouth moves over mine, and I respond, thekiss deepening. His lips part mine, his tongue carrying the faint bitterness of his pain medication and beneath it, the distinctive warmth I’ve come to recognize as his alone. The desire between us ignites, weeks of restraint giving way.
His hand finds my hip, work-roughened fingers digging into the curve of bone, dragging me closer to the worn leather couch with an urgency that sends my pulse into a hard, pounding rhythm. My lungs forget how to work as his thumb blazes a trail across the exposed skin where my shirt has ridden up, the contact searing through me like wildfire, leaving my skin prickling with electricity and want.
Then he shifts, his body angling toward mine, and he freezes with a hiss of pain.
I pull back, hands hovering around him. “Easy,” I scold, though I can’t stop the laugh that escapes. “You’re bruised to hell.”
Jared groans, dropping his head back onto the cushion. “Something’s always stopping us.”
His frustrated pout tugs at my heart, and my fingers brush along his jaw, careful to avoid the worst of the bruising. “Then we’ll wait. I’m not going anywhere.”
His eyes search mine for the truth in the promise, and I let him see my certainty.
“Neither am I,” he replies, and for the first time since everything fell apart at the market, we both believe it.
He shifts on the couch, making room beside him, and pats the cushion. “Let me at least hold you while I sleep.”
I rise long enough to turn off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness broken only by the faint glow of streetlights filtering through the curtains. Mixie protests as she’s moved again, and then the couch cushions dip beneath my weight as I settle beside him, my back to him, his arm draped over my waist.
His breath warms the nape of my neck, slowing as sleep begins to claim him.
Outside, the rain has stopped, leaving the air thick and washed clean, as if the world is offering a clean slate for morning. There will be explanations to give and fears to face, but not tonight.
Tonight is for peace and togetherness.
Tentative, trembling, but ours.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Jared
As I tighten the last screw on the screen door hinge, pain shoots up my side, and the screwdriver slips in my hand.
I bite back a curse, shifting my weight to ease the pressure. A week of Emily’s careful ministrations has turned the worst of the bruises from angry purple to sickly yellow-green, yet I’m still not recovered enough to move without feeling it.
Emily watches me through the kitchen window, her presence a quiet warmth at my back. The morning light filters through the trees, dappling the porch boards with shifting patterns. Birds call back and forth in the branches overhead, their voices mixing with the distant rush of waves hitting the shore.
The hinge moves smoothly now, no longer catching when the door swings open.
Small victories.
Emily’s cottage has a never-ending list of repairs, each one giving my restless hands purpose during recovery. With every fixed leak and tightened screw, it’s like I’m carving out a place here, even though Emily never implies I need to.
My phone buzzes in my back pocket, and I wipe my hands on my jeans before fishing it out, the screen lighting up with a local number I don’t recognize.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Masterson? This is Detective Merrin with Pinecrest PD.”
My spine stiffens, sending a twinge of pain across my ribs. A police call is never good news in my experience. “What can I do for you, Detective?”
“I’m calling to inform you that we’ve arrested three men in connection with your assault last week.”
