Page 160 of Burning For You

No matter how many times she washed her hands, changed her clothes, or scrubbed at her skin, it clung to her. The smoke, ash, melted plastic, scorched metal. Fire. It lived in her hair, in her lungs, in the back of her throat where fear still burned.

She sat on the edge of the bed and stared at her hands.

They wouldn’t stop shaking.

Everyone kept telling her she was lucky. That it could have been worse. That Sara was alive. That Sean was in custody. That it was over.

But her body didn’t believe any of it.

Ash had brought her back home after she’d been looked over by the EMTs. The cut didn’t need stitches. Or if it did, she wasn’t going to the ER.

Ash said he’d make sure Blaze stopped over to take care of it. She was too tired to argue.

Too weak to even care.

But she’d stripped with his assistance, his hands guiding her in the shower with him. Almost holding her up while he helped wash away the terror she’d just lived... again.

Yet now, as she lay on the bed, every time she closed her eyes, she saw flames licking up the walls. Felt the heat crawling across her skin. Heard Ash’s voice cutting through the chaos, sharp and furious and terrified all at once.

Skye.

She pressed her palms together, trying to ground herself, but all she could think about was the way he’d looked at her when they’d finally made it outside.

Like he’d almost lost her.

And the worst part?

She’d known he might have. If she hadn’t thought fast enough.

If she hadn’t remembered what she’d done last time to get out.

Only this time, the windows didn’t open at Sara’s. The lock wouldn’t budge.

And rather than stand there fighting it, she grabbed the first thing she could and slammed it through the glass again and again until it shattered. Until she saw freedom within her reach.

She’d walked into that house knowing something was wrong and convinced herself she could handle it. That she needed to. Because if she didn’t, then been wrong again, she’d end up accusing the wrong person. It would have destroyed another life with suspicion and fear. Another shot at a future relationship to the one person tying her to her past.

Then the realization slammed into her.

She didn’t need Sean to tie her to a past she’d been trying to break free of.

She had Ash from her past. Corbin, and Tate. Keegan, Holden, Brenna, Carrie and Jim.

They were her family.

And they were going to light into her just as much as Ash had done.

She almost died because she didn’t trust herself enough to ask for help.

The door creaked open behind her. She didn’t have to look to know it was Ash.

The bed dipped beside her. He didn’t touch her at first. Didn’t rush. Just sat there, solid and warm and close enough that she could feel him breathing.

Solid, immovable, and telling her everything she’d fought for years.

That when it mattered, when it counted, when you found the person who loved you enough, they’d never leave your side.

“Are you okay?” he asked quietly.