Page 72 of Battle Scars

That explosion was not my fault but that of a psychopath.

I feel incredibly cold and turn to find the covers. Maybe if I hide underneath them, the world can’t find me. But instead of the blankets, I find Gabe asleep beside me. I could let this moment go. I could grab the covers from the foot of the bed and go back to sleep, or I can act. I can take what I want and revel in the victory of not only falling asleep beside the man who has come to mean so much to me but also waking up beside him to make love all over again.

He sleeps flat on his back. His strong legs are spread, and his cock is hard and heavy, resting up against his taut belly. I carefully crawl down the bed between his legs and trace my fingertips up and down his long length before I wrap my hand around him. I dip down and touch my tongue to the tip of his cock. I take him deep into my mouth and bob up and down, sliding him in and out of my mouth.

His hips shift, and I hear him groan. I look up and can’t help but smile around him as he settles back against the pillows with his arms folded behind his head, watching me work him with a smile playing on his full lips.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asks, but I don’t answer. I just lick and kiss and tease him. When his breathing hitches, I let go and sit up between his thighs to watch him. “So you’re done then?”

I just smile and shake my head.

“I didn’t think so,” he says with a smile just before he knifes up and lunges at me.

Gabe takes me in his arms and rolls me to my back, covering me with his body and settling between my thighs. He presses his mouth to mine, and I open underneath him, welcoming him, and then he plunges deep inside.

He leisurely drives in and out as he makes love to me. The first whisps of early morning light flicker through the curtains as we come together. I will never regret reaching for what I wanted last night, and again this morning, when it was Gabe. This moment is everything I could have hoped for, and last night was everything I needed.

“Gabe,” I gasp into his mouth as I come, and he plants himself deep.

He groans as he follows me over the edge.

Gabe rolls us again, and I cling to him as he pulls the blankets up to keep me warm.

“Tell me about how you met Manny and Eli,” I murmur minutes later when we catch our breath, the room still mostly dark.

“Manny and I grew up together,” he says. “Went to high school together, joined the marines together.”

“And Eli?”

“Eli was in the army,” he explains. “Our units crossed paths on an op, and he saved my life.”

“Gabe—”

“It’s not dramatic or anything like that, fresa. We bonded. When he got out, I offered him a job.”

I drift back to sleep, safely ensconced in his strong arms, and when I wake up in the morning, I’m all alone again.

Gabe is gone.

TWENTY-SIX

A LONG GODDAMN TIME

Adrienne

Three weeks later

Central Texas

“Today was a great victory,” my dad says from the stage. “Thank you for letting me leave on a high note.”

The crowd goes wild. Fans cheer and cry. Today was his last race on the circuit before he retires. He had planned it all out, ending with a race in the Texas Hill Country—the one that was the first race he won all those years ago.

Candy stayed home. She claims this pregnancy is rough.

Bobby and I accompanied him as representatives of DHR. He called us the future of racing, and even though I wasn’t racing today, it was fun to be part of the entourage for the great Adrian Malone one last time.

And he did it… he won.