“You’re okay,” he rasped. “Honey, I got you.”
The zip ties snapped loose, and Summer launched herself at him so fast she nearly knocked him backward.
Pope caught her hard against his chest and held on like he’d never let go again. Her entire body trembled against him.Fingers twisted desperately into the back of his shirt and uneven breaths hit his neck.
“I’m here,” he murmured roughly into her hair. “I’m here now.”
She buried her face deeper against him.
“He said…” Her voice shook badly. “He said you wouldn’t find me.”
Pure rage flashed white hot through Pope’s senses.
“He was wrong.”
She pulled back just enough to look at him, her eyes glassy.
For one terrible second, Pope saw exactly how close he’d come to losing her. Another person gone under his protection. Another failure ‘to carry forever.
But not this time.
He brushed shaking fingers across her cheek and pressed his forehead against hers.
“You came for me,” she whispered.
Emotion tightened his throat, making it hard to force in air. “Nothing on this earth would’ve stopped me from reaching you.”
“I knew you’d come. I knew you would.”
He stared at her for one suspended heartbeat before he crushed his mouth to hers.
The kiss turned messy as every emotion he’d been holding back since she disappeared slammed into it hard enough to shake him. She clutched at his shirt, kissing him back like she needed the proof he was real.
Outside the truck, sirens and shouting still rang through the weigh station. Inside the sleeper compartment, none of it mattered.
She was alive.
And for the first time in years, Pope didn’t feel helpless.
* * * * *
Summer didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep until she woke in Vander’s arms with panic still trapped halfway up her throat.
For one wild moment, she didn’t register the dark room and only saw the inside of Gary Crowe’s truck. The nightmare held her in its clutches for several heartbeats before the smell of diesel was washed away with Vander’s clean, fresh scent.
It took longer for the sound of her kidnapper’s voice to fade—she kept hearing those names.
Sarah never saw her family again.
Summer jerked hard, and Vander tightened his arm around her waist.
His lips were at her temple. “You okay?” His voice was rough with sleep, but it also crackled with alertness, as if even unconscious, part of him still guarded her.
Pulling in a slow breath, she centered herself in the here and now. Moonlight poured through the bedroom windows across the bedding, covering her and the man she loved. The duplex was quiet, and Ben was still safe with her parents, far away from all this.
No wheels on the highway vibrated in her bones. She was safe. But her heart ‘refused to slow down.
She twisted in Vander’s arms and found him watching her, his arm anchoring her. ‘
