I swiped a tear away. “Thank you, Agent Masters. Right back at you.”
“Tell your boyfriend I admire his work,” she tacked on before hanging up.
I set the phone on the small catch-all table in the hall, slipped on my rain boots by the back door, and headed into the storm, bracing my heart for what I might get caught up in.
“Ash?” I called out into the rain. I flipped on the back porch light. He was standing in the middle of the yard, surrounded by my trees with his back to me. “Ash!”
He lifted his head, looking over his shoulder.
At the sight of the pain in his eyes, I took a step outside. The rain instantly soaked me, plastering my hair to my cheeks. “Ash?”
His chest heaved as he turned to face me, his arms heavy at his sides. He looked like a wounded soldier; a man lost in a time with rivers of blood and endless violence. I wrapped my arms around myself and crossed the deck, my footfalls heavy and hurried. I was halfway down the few steps when his voice stretched out through the rain, ordering me to stop, but I couldn’t. There was no going back now. The truth was bleeding out all around us now, tainting us forever.
The second my rain boot sank into the soft, soaked ground, he moved. “What did I tell you?” he growled.
“Agent Masters just told me,” I shouted over the thunder. Tears mixed in with the rain. “I’m so sorry. I am so sorry, Ash. She told me she sent backup to get you. She said that I was her priority. You weren’t supposed to be there. She was on her way. You just got to me first.”
He kept his head bent, staring down at me as if I was a stranger, not the woman he cared for. Droplets were sliding down all angles of his face. They were still sharp; he was still beautiful, but in the light, as the skies cracked and howled above us, he looked like the angel of death.
I raised my hand, ready to place it over his heart, to feel the most beautiful beat in the world.
But his hand caught my wrist in a tight grip.
Then he yanked me to him. His other arm snapped around me, locking me against his hard body. His upper lips curled as he leaned down, getting into my space. “Where did Agent Masters take you?”
Lightning scattered above the trees and thunder rolled close behind. The sound scared the hell out of me. I flinched in his arms. “Please, let’s go back inside and we can talk about this.”
“Were you safe?” he pressed, squeezing me. I could hardly hear him over the storm.
“What?” I shook my head.
In a flash, my jaw was in his hand, his lips brushing mine, his eyes branding his name onto my soul.
Ash.
Ash.
Ash.
All at once, the storm, the rain, the wind, the thunder ceased. A haunting quiet followed. He backed us up to the porch, caging me against the house.
“Were you safe?” he uttered, his voice guttural.
“Ash, let’s go inside. We can talk about it—”
“I can’t set foot back into that house without knowing the truth,” he clipped. “I need to know the fucking truth!”
I nodded. “Okay,” I cooed. “Okay, I’ll tell you everything.”
“Were you safe?”
My hands went to his sides, taking hold of his wet shirt. “Yes.”
He dropped his forehead against mine, inhaling an unsteady breath. He closed his eyes, and suddenly I knew.
He was afraid.
“You weren’t in any danger after I freed you from that prison,” he rasped. “You didn’t—there was no more pain for you after…” He trailed off, and as he did, his hand dropped from my jaw to my neck, caressing me. “No one touched you or forced you to do anything…” He looked pained and forced himself to stop.
