Page 62 of One Quick Obsession

“Hudson—”

I shook my head. “I came back, and I found out she was with somebody else. While she was with me, well, albeit while I was overseas, she was with Jefferson. A man I thought was my friend.”

“That’s terrible. I’m sorry. No wonder you don’t want to date anyone else.”

“If that was merely what had happened, maybe I’d find a way through it. Without being the asshole that I’ve become. But no, it turns out that it was worse.”

“You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to.”

I wasn’t going to tell her everything. I couldn’t. Not when I could barely even speak the words.

“I came back again and met up with her. She had bruises on her body.” Just like Scarlett had when I had seen her in the mirror. When I’d walked into her office, and our worlds had shifted.

“Oh, that poor woman.”

“I beat the shit out of Jefferson, I had so much anger, and nowhere to put it. Josh, one of my friends who I’d been deployed with, pulled me back, was the only reason that Jefferson didn’t die.” That day. “And so when I got deployed again, I thought she was safe. But she wasn’t.”

Tears filled her eyes, and I wiped away the single tear. “He killed her. He killed her and he got away with it.”

Thunder thrashed above us, and I cursed. “We should head back.” The storm I had a feeling was coming in had finally made it.

“Hudson. I don’t have any words.”

“I don’t either. I don’t really know what to say. Other than she died and I wasn’t there. So that’s why I am who I am. Why I’m that asshole.”

“It’s not the same you know. With Ronin? It’s not the same, Hudson. That much I can promise you.

“I can handle that promise.” I leaned down and took her lips as snow began to fall. Because of course it would be thunder snow in the mountains in spring in Colorado.

“And let’s get back before we both freeze to death?”

“And I think I promised you a little reward for that painting, didn’t I?” she asked, and I knew she was trying to lighten the mood.

So I grinned like she wanted me to, and we ran down the trail as snow fell, and the tension in my shoulders began to ease. Not forever, I knew that would never happen.

But it was something.

After all these years, it was something.

Chapter Fourteen

Scarlett

Water slipped down my back as I slid my finger over Hudson’s jaw. He looked down at me, the steam rising between us, and grinned.

It was so weird to see a smile or any form of emotion other than a snarl on his face. There had been so many months where looking at him would anger me, and not because he had truly done anything cruel. No, that was not Hudson Cage. Instead his presence had just annoyed me. Or perhaps annoyed me because of how he could affect me. There was probably something wrong with me when it came to that, but there was no turning back now.

Not when his hand moved between us, cupping my pussy.

“You were already wet before we got in the shower, and now look at you. Soaked.” He speared me with two fingers before I could even say a word, and my mouth parted.

“That’s it. Look how you take my fingers.” I looked between us, and watched his fingers disappear deep inside me. I clenched my inner muscles, and he smirked.

“Good girl.”

“Giving me praise? I didn’t realize that was our kink.”

“We can make it our kink.” He licked my lips, before parting them, and I moaned into his mouth, unable to focus on anything but him.