My savior.
My hero.
My Ash.
My breath caught as my heart recognized him, and something hidden deep within my soul tightened. It was as if the cord between us was no longer loose. It was pulling us closer to each other. The gray sky above cracked open with a clap of thunder, and in the blur, dozens of people were scrambling to get the crime scene covered, screaming out orders as the waves crashed against the sand. It was an all-out panic as the rain pounded down from the heavens, cold and unrelenting.
My chest, heaving with a heavy ache, nearly deflated as Ash’s dark eyes landed on mine.
Someone beside me called my name, but I didn’t care to acknowledge it.
Once again, my body was moving, my sore leg muscles carrying me across the wet sand. Ash, a dark knight in a sea of despair, started to move. My breaths were ragged. I tried to call out his name, but my voice was too weak to carry it over the thunder. The pelting rain was soaking him, his dark hair hanging on his forehead, his gray T-shirt now dark, rain streaming down the sides of his face, tracing the length of his long arms.
“Angel!” he called out.
When I was close, I jumped, not thinking about the outcome. One breath, I was in the air, my eyes locked on his as I sobbed, “Ash,” and the next, I was in his arms, my front pressed against his, my legs around his waist. He took my weight with a soft grunt, his arms banding around me, caging me against his warmth. I buried my face in the curve of his neck, my cries too far gone. I felt his hand on the back of my head, his fingers gripping my ponytail, holding me in place.
“He’s gone!” I cried. “Ash! Please!” I didn’t know what I was begging for, but anything Ash gave me would be enough. It would always be enough for me, for my heart, and my soul.
“I got you, baby,” he promised gruffly, his hand at the back of my neck. “I got you. You’re safe now.”
My arms tightened around his neck in response. It was all I could give. My tears were endless and the sobs just kept coming.
“You’re okay,” he cooed. “I got you.”
Grayson’s sharp command cut through the air like a bullet. “Take her home, Doss!”
Ash turned around, and I burrowed farther into him, needing to hide in his heat, in his darkness. I was safe there. I’d always been safe there, but I had been too stubborn to see it. “Don’t let me go,” I croaked.
“Never,” he replied, opening a car door. I felt him shift, getting in the car with me in his lap. “Murphy! I need you to drive.”
Heat was all around me now, and the salt in the air vanished, replaced by a fresh hibiscus scent.
“Gotta put you in your seat,” Ash murmured in my ear, his hand dropping to my waist.
I shook my head and held on tighter. “Please, no.”
“Baby—”
“Please.”
A car door slammed and Jake asked, “We good?”
Ash sighed softly, his thumb rubbing the back of my head. “Yeah. Drive.”
“Michael is going to be over here in a bit,” Ash said behind me as we stepped into my foyer. “He needs to ask you some questions about Felix.”
I did my best not to flinch at the sound of his name. I failed. As I scanned my surroundings as if I were a stranger in this place, the painful lump in my throat burst into millions of shards of glass. My eyes were still leaking, but I’d grown used to the sensation. My house was just as I’d left it this morning. Clean, peaceful, and dead silent. The rain had let up, now gently hitting my windows in a rhythm that, on a normal day, would be perfect for a quick nap. I said nothing as I took off my workout jacket and hung it on the coat rack in the corner.
“My team tried convincing him to give you a bit, but he needs to know what you know. The sooner the better,” he continued.
My feet carried me to my entry table, my eyes lingering on the wilting flowers in the center. I’d put off watering them this morning because I was so eager to go on my hike, to disappear in nature for a while and let my mind go quiet.
How selfish of me, leaving my flowers parched. I reached up and gently stroked a petal. It fell onto the table, a punishment forme. I felt Ash’s gaze on my back, burning into me, branding me as something I didn’t have the strength to accept yet.
“Angel?”
“Yes, that will be fine,” I muttered, wrapping my arms around myself as I turned to face him. Jake was on the phone with Dominic, pacing back and forth on the front porch. Through the screen, I could hear the frustration in his tone. “Is everything all right?” I asked Ash, watching Jake.
