Crossing the line

Chapter One

July 2012

“I’m happy you’re finally home.”

“Sure.” Tabitha squeezed her mother’s hand, not recognizing the stranger who stared back at her. Thirteen years had turned her mother into an old woman, and it was jarring to see, but she tried not to let it show as she forced a smile. “I’ve been meaning to come back and visit for a while now.”

“Your brother misses you.”

Tabitha visibly cringed.

She might be able to pretend it was no big deal to come home, when the reality was it required her to face over a decade of raging fear to do it, but she couldn’t hide the loathing she felt for her older brother, even for her chronically ill mother.

“I wish you two would make up.” Her voice was pleading, her gaze needy. “Once I’m gone—”

“Come on, Mom.” Tabitha smoothed the bedsheets with her free hand rather than meet her gaze. “Let’s change the subject.”

“I know you’re making a lot of money, and you’ve been sending me checks all this time like it ain’t nothing,” her mother went on as if she hadn’t heard her. “I want you to keep sending the money after I die. Send it to Brett. You won’t miss it, and he needs it.”

Tabitha made a choked sound of shock. Her mother expected her to send Brett three thousand dollars a month. Hell would freeze over first. Deathbed or not, there was no way that promise would leave Tabitha’s lips, let alone come into actual fruition.

“You’re not dying, and besides, Brett’s a big boy.” Tabitha used every ounce of strength she had to hide the anger. “If he wants three thousand dollars a month, he probably ought to get off his ass and make it.”

“Things are harder for him. He ain’t smart like you.”

“I think you need to rest.” Tabitha smoothed out her mother’s sheet once more. “Tomorrow we’ll go see that new specialist I lined up for you in Mercy. He’s supposed to be amazing.”

“Shoot.” Her mother snorted. “There ain’t no point in driving all the way out to Mercy. You and me both know I’m dying, fancy doctor or not.”

“You gotta stay hopeful,” Tabitha argued. “All the books say a positive attitude is the key to recovery. There’s a surgery for this sort of heart condition.”

“Once the heart’s gone, it’s all over. Might as well save your money.”

Tabitha sighed, knowing this conversation was pointless. Her mother was not one to look on the bright side.

Rather than harp on a sick woman, Tabitha looked around the bedroom, taking in the peeling wallpaper and cracked plaster on the walls and ceiling. The house had been old and crumpling before she left; now it was a literal hazard.

Her gaze rested on a pot in the corner, currently being used to catch the water dripping from the leak in the ceiling. The entire house was decorated with cookware to combat the nasty bout of summer storms hitting her small hometown of Garnet. The steady drip, drip, drip echoing through the decaying house was like nails on a chalkboard.

“Are you gonna be okay if I leave?” Tabitha finally asked in a tiny voice, because being back in the house was making her feel young and vulnerable in a way she hadn’t in a long time. “It was a long drive from Key West, and I have to make some phone calls. I’m gonna see if I can line up a home health aid to come stay here with you and—”

“Go do your thing,” her mother said dismissively. “I ain’t an invalid yet, and Brett’s here.”

Tabitha reached over to the portable phone charging on the nightstand and placed it next to her mother’s hand. “Call me if you need anything. I’m just five minutes away. Terry rented me that big cabin on the lake.”

“Terry.” Her mother huffed indignantly. “There’s something wrong with a man who ain’t never had a wife in thirty-some years of living. I don’t think he’s dated since y’all stopped going together. He owns half of Garnet; boy should’ve been able to find himself a wife.”

Tabitha stood up, sadly accustomed to her mother’s abrasive attitude. “Well, Terry’s my friend, and he was nice enough to rent me one of his properties on short notice. So we’ll just have to butt out of his personal life and be grateful for the charity. Brett doesn’t have a wife either.”

“If you pay for it, it ain’t charity,” her mother snapped, obviously deciding to ignore the rest.

“Very good point,” Tabitha agreed passively as she leaned down to brush her mother’s graying hair away from her forehead and press a tender kiss there. “I’ll be here at noon to pick you up for your appointment. Call me if you need anything before then.”

Her mother patted her hand affectionately, which seemed like a small gesture, but from a woman as callous as her mother, it was a huge improvement. Maybe thirteen years changed more than the physical, and for just a moment Tabitha felt guilty for being gone so long. Then she looked around the house once more and felt that shiver of fear that had nausea bubbling up in the back of her throat since she arrived tired and shaky after a long road trip. All things considered, Tabitha thought she was doing pretty darn good.

“Call me,” she reminded her mother, knowing it was almost a sure bet she wouldn’t, because accepting help was never her nature. Maybe if her mother’s pride hadn’t been such a huge obstacle, Tabitha’s childhood wouldn’t have sucked quite so intensely. She turned to leave on that thought, suddenly needing to get out of the house before she lost what little lunch she’d managed to choke down past her nerves. “I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

Tabitha tripped over one of the pots in the hallway, splashing water on the creaking wood floor. She swatted at her hair when she felt moisture on her scalp. She shuddered and scrubbed harder at her head, not knowing what sort of rat-infested attic nightmare that rainwater had traveled through to get to the leaks in the ceiling.

“What the hell happened to the money I gave Mama to fix the roof?” she snapped as she walked into the living room. “I gave her four thousand dollars to get it done. I wanna know what happened to it.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know?”

Tabitha actually growled out loud as she stared at the back of Brett’s head, knowing he’d taken that money and probably most of everything Tabitha had sent their mother. Looking unremorseful, Brett sat on the couch that had once been a flowered print, but now was so threadbare it looked like a swirl of the worst colors from the seventies.

Brett was playing one of those violent video games, completely uncaring that Tabitha continued to stand there fuming at him. He didn’t even have the decency to look uncomfortable in her presence. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected when she came back home. Some sort of guilt, some semblance of humanity, some indication that he’d grown up and found a conscience, but it shouldn’t be shocking that he was the same heartless bastard. She, more than anyone, knew Brett only cared about himself.

Maybe she was surprised by his juvenile attitude, because like their mother, Brett had aged horribly since the last time she’d seen him. He might act the same, but he certainly didn’t look it. He was thinner than before, more wasted away by life and the abuse he put on his body. His skin was sallow and dry. Dark circles lingered under his eyes that were still the same coldhearted brown she remembered.

The fact that Brett looked so much older than his thirty-six years was a small consolation when Tabitha felt her stomach lurch. Unbidden the memories surfaced, causing a sickening hot rush of fear to wash over her.

She was going to puke, and her consciousness clawed for some way to keep her mind off the inevitable. Her mother needed her to be strong. That thought had carried her all the way from Key West to Garnet when every instinct she had demanded she turn the car around and head back to the safety of her tiny house on the island, her laptop, and the stories that let her hide the demons long enough to feel normal.

The money, the leaking roof, her mother slowly wasting away, it all faded to the background as the reality of standing in this house again really hit her. It was a physical incarnation of the nightmares that had plagued her the past thirteen years, and no amount of levelheadedness was going to help her move past the panic attack now.

Tabitha turned on her heel and dashed for the front door. Even if throwing up on that hideous couch would probably improve it, she couldn’t let Brett see the weakness. She’d rather die than let him know the scars still ran bone deep.

She kicked the front door closed behind her and rushed down the steps. She leaped past the bottom stair that was broken thirteen years ago and like the rest of the house had only gotten worse with time. The second her sandals hit the mud, she lost her footing and fell backward before she even had a chance to shout in surprise. There was no grass for treading in their open, barren yard, and she knew that. Why hadn’t she worn her sneakers? Who cared if they weren’t as comfortable for cross-country travel?

Her head hit the bottom stair; the wood crumpled on impact. Her leg must have hit the rake on the way down, and she could feel the sting of torn skin along the back of her calf. Worst of all, her shoulder connected with the edge of a cinderblock that was the last support for a dying porch.

Tabitha would have screamed if she could breathe. The fall stole every ounce of air she had. She lay there in the mud, the rain hitting her face as she fought a battle for oxygen and sanity. For that one moment, the pain was everywhere, tingeing her vision gray from the force of it. Her head throbbed, her leg stung, and her shoulder hurt so intensely it made her forget everything but the agony of it. When she did find the ability to breathe again, she was almost grateful for the physical pain because it gave her a brief reprieve from the emotional hurt that was a thousand times worse.

The only thing more horrifying than having Brett see her puke all over that hideous couch would be for him to find her flat on her back in the rain. She’d never been one of those graceful, athletic females Garnet produced so easily. Her hometown probably had more pretty cheerleaders, dance team members, soccer and softball players per capita than any town in the country. Her graduating high school class had eighty-one students but still managed a full athletic program that never ran into spacing issues. She was a sore thumb, a redheaded stepchild who wasn’t just born into the wrong family, but to the wrong goddamn town as well.

She rolled onto her hands and knees, uncaring of the mud because it was already everywhere, and struggled to get to her feet. The pain might have temporarily hidden the anxiety, but it was still there, rolling dangerously under the surface. She made it to her car and got in, trying not to think about the grime dripping off her clothes.

She peeled out of the long driveway, hoping to get to her newly rented cabin before she came undone. The roads were wet and slick. The winding drive through the hills was more treacherous than anticipated. She drove slowly despite the need to put distance between herself and the horrible memories. She was too stubborn to die in a fiery car crash. She surely wouldn’t give her kin the satisfaction. They’d all be killing each other for the fortune she’d earned doing the very thing they’d mocked through the length of a truly terrible childhood.

Little did they know—uncles, brother, even her mother—they all had the right to jack shit if she bit the bullet. It would almost be worth dying to see the looks on their faces when they found out. She might’ve considered it if she knew God would give her the satisfaction of a peek.

And with that morbid thought, Tabitha realized she wasn’t going to make it back to the cabin. She pulled off to the side of the road and opened the car door. She fell onto the embankment on her knees. Hidden in the wildflowers that grew everywhere this time of year in Garnet, she puked her guts up.

She retched so hard and for so long, she felt like she was ripping all the pain of her soul out through her stomach, and even then it wasn’t enough. The rain fell harder, soaking her hair as the thunder rolled. Lightning cracked in the distance, illuminating the gray sky. It’d be just her luck to get struck. She certainly didn’t see how things could get much worse than they were at that moment.

As soon as she formed the thought, it was shattered with the short, impatient sound of a police siren. The flash of red and blue colored the pretty lavender and white flowers around her. The groan of a big police vehicle pulling up behind her car made it obvious she wasn’t going to be left to wallow in her misery. Welcome back to Garnet, where nothing was private and everything was up for public entertainment.

This was truly unbelievable, and Tabitha found herself saying a prayer, out loud, just to make sure any celestial being in the near vicinity heard her, because the situation was that desperate.

“Please don’t let it be him,” she whispered frantically, her voice hoarse from all the throwing up. “Please, please, please. Anyone but him. If there is a God, you will not do this to me.”

She sat there on her knees, shaking in exhaustion and pain as the sound of a car door being opened and shut actually made her jump. She kept her back to the intruder on her private meltdown, because she just couldn’t bear to look. Life could not be this cruel. It just couldn’t, even to someone born with the last name McMillen.

Her stomach rolled once more, and she fought to hold back the urge to be sick again. The sound of boots squishing in mud and grass had her silently wishing for the earth to open up and just swallow her whole.

“Tab?”

Tabitha stiffened when she heard the low, stunned voice of Wyatt Conner, the man who was impossible to get over.

It was official—there was no God.

She squeezed her eyes shut and hung her head. She was sitting there, covered in mud, throwing up in the grass after driving nonstop from Key West to Garnet. If there was a worse way to see him again after thirteen years, she couldn’t think of what it could be.

“Are you okay?”

Tabitha answered his question by leaning over and retching again. Her stomach was empty. She hadn’t eaten all that much in the past twenty-four hours due to nerves. Now she was actually shaking, though if it was the exhaustion, the low blood sugar, or the trauma of coming back home again, she didn’t know. Wyatt fell down on his knees behind her as her stomach continued to rebel, and she didn’t have the strength to argue.

“I’m gonna call Tommy. He and Frank Duffy take turns running the ambulance up to Mercy General.” Wyatt stroked her hair, his other hand resting over the small of her back as if she’d never left.

“God, no,” she choked out, because that was the very last thing she needed, to get hauled to Mercy General in an ambulance driven by the former quarterback from her graduating class. “I’m fine. Just nerves.”

“I ain’t buying it. You’re hurt.”

“No.” She shook her head frantically and wiped her mouth as she struggled to pull herself together. “I’m fine, Wy.”

“You’re bleeding.”

“Just the dumb bottom step back at my old place. I slipped. It’s nothing. I’m okay. I just need a moment. You don’t have to—”

“I do have to,” Wyatt said firmly. “Is your stomach better?”

She nodded silently, still refusing to look at him. This just felt too hard. It made the loss of innocence a little too much to bear if she actually had to look eye to eye at what she’d lost.

“Stay here. I got some water back in the car.”

Wyatt didn’t really give her a choice in the matter, just jumped to his feet and turned to go back to his squad car. She wiped at her mouth once more and pushed at her hair, tucking the wet strands behind her ears. As ridiculous as it was, she was trying to pull herself together.

She looked down to her navy-blue tank top and khaki shorts, now both covered in mud. Then she brought her leg up, finally acknowledging the cut from the rake when she fell. It ran nearly the full length of her calf, which was just perfect. She couldn’t imagine what her shoulder looked like.

Wyatt made it back in record time and silently offered her the bottle of water. She took it without looking up and rinsed her mouth out. She spit the water into the grass a few times, knowing her dignity was already in tatters. Then she took several long gulps of water. She was still working on washing the taste of fear out of her mouth when Wyatt dropped a blanket over her shoulders—one of those trusty police-issue brown blankets that were thick and scratchy but served their purpose.

Then, without further ado, certainly without asking or even warning her, Wyatt bent down and picked her up. She gasped from the shock of it. The water bottle slipped out of her hand and dropped to the ground as she flung her arms around his neck out of instinct. She blinked past the rain and finally stared up at him simply because she had nowhere else to look.

Tabitha had the same crushing breathlessness she’d experienced in the yard after falling on her ass, because she’d forgotten how good-looking Wyatt was in person. She’d seen him plenty over the years on television. His best friend, Clay Powers, was a UFC heavyweight champion. Since Wyatt was his right-hand man and training partner, he’d always been featured heavily in those pay-per-view fights. Tabitha had watched every single one. She enjoyed watching Clay fight. They’d been friends a long time, and she was beyond thrilled to see him become so successful. No one deserved it more. But the reason she saved those fights for years afterward was to play back the parts with Wyatt in them—like a lovesick fool. No mixed-martial-arts fan had mourned Clay Powers’s retirement quite as much as Tabitha. It’d cut off her lifeline to a time and a dream that was long dead but impossible to let go of.

Now here Wyatt was, all six feet five inches of him. He was much bigger at thirty-four than he was at twenty-one, stronger, more powerful and intimidating. His blond hair was longer, curling at his nape. Despite the rain, it still held the unnatural impression from his hat, which he must’ve recently abandoned. Without thought, she reached up and ran her fingers through golden strands, a habit thirteen years dormant rising to the surface as if she’d never left. His hair was as silky as she remembered, flowing through her fingers easily as she flattened it out.

Wyatt stopped his trek and stared down at her for one stunned second. She looked into his eyes that were the lightest shade of blue, like sun hitting the ocean on a clear day. They were haunted, filled with pain that was stark and cutting when she realized she was the one who’d caused it. She wanted to touch the fine lines at the corners of those beautiful eyes, and the worry creases on his forehead just to smooth them out and give his innocence back. He was still stunningly handsome, far more so than she remembered, because Wyatt was one of those men who just got better-looking with time, but she could still tell life was taking its toll.

“You shouldn’t have stopped.” She sighed. “It wasn’t necessary. I was just having a moment, and I know I don’t deserve—”

“I’m your husband,” Wyatt interrupted, his low voice filled with pain. “Taking care of you was supposed to be my job.”

Chapter Two

There was a quiet moment between them because Wyatt said out loud what neither of them had forgotten. Despite the long separation, they were still married, and not a single paper had been filed by either of them to change that fact.

Quite the opposite—Tabitha had gone out of her way to make sure everything had Wyatt’s name firmly in place. If something happened to her, Wyatt would get every dime, and there wasn’t a damn thing anyone in her family could do about it.

There had been papers and letters from Wyatt’s side of things over the years too, all business related. It’d been obvious early on that Wyatt knew exactly where she was and what she was doing. When his father had died, she’d gotten letters from Wyatt’s attorney listing her as his sole beneficiary. He never made a secret of tracking her from Garnet, to New York, then Portland and finally to Key West. In every new city, she could count on getting mail from Wyatt’s mutual funds and a sea of other investments that listed her as his wife.

It’d been odd, a way for them to reach across the country and touch each other. For her part, leaving everything to Wyatt was a no-brainer. His reasons were more of a mystery, considering he had a sister he actually liked and a best friend who was more a brother to him than anything. Why would he leave everything to the woman who left him?

Tabitha found herself lost in thought as Wyatt resumed his trek back to his car, which was actually a big white SUV with the words Sheriff, Garnet County written across the side of it. It was a very nice vehicle, certainly much better than the old jeep Big Fred, Wyatt’s father, used to patrol in.

“I guess Garnet is moving up in the world,” she observed. “Nice car.”

“We’re doing all right.” Wyatt bent his knees as if Tabitha weighed nothing. “Open the door.”

Tabitha reached out and opened the passenger side door. She made an effort to look like she was crawling out of Wyatt’s arms and into the car herself in an attempt to preserve some dignity. She pulled the blanket tighter around her, finding it a nice shield from reality as Wyatt closed the door and turned to walk back to her car.

She saw him stop and pick up the water bottle she’d dropped, which was predictable enough to make her smile. Then he leaned into her car, retrieved her purse and keys. He looked to the backseat, obviously searching for luggage.

Tabitha’s heart was beating the hell out of her chest. If she hadn’t already done the puking thing, her stomach would be churning. She couldn’t believe she was sitting in Wyatt’s car. Her life was too surreal to deal with, and she looked around the vehicle that had the scary police glass separating the backseat from the front. It was tricked out with all the latest police tools, which was also different and sort of impressive when she considered the backwoods town she’d left behind.

Garnet really was moving up in the world. They had a new, fancy sheriff’s department and a new, handsome sheriff to match.

She glanced to the floorboard, and her heart dropped for a different reason. A hardback book peeked out from underneath the seat, and she reached down and picked it up, staring at the familiar cover.

The Vigilante, A Heroes of Sapphire County Novel by T.C. Rennoc

She opened the book that was heavily earmarked and well read to the point that the binding was weak. She flipped to the dedication page, and the first real tears of the day rolled down her cheeks because she was simply too overwhelmed to fight them. The dedication was deliberately cryptic. All of them were, and more than a few fans and reporters had attempted to decipher them.

Between pain and regret, the sweetness still lingers, and in that ray of light I cry out to you—Why.

The car door opened, and Tabitha looked up guiltily. Wyatt paused for a moment, staring at the book on her lap before he climbed into the car and handed over her purse. “I didn’t find any luggage.”

“I dropped it off already. Terry’s renting me that cabin of his on Winding Ridge.”

Wyatt stared at her, his gaze intense. “I heard.”

“Oh.”

Tabitha felt her cheeks heat as she absorbed that information, having the brief thought to kick Terry very hard in an uncomfortable place for meddling. Was it built into the genetic makeup of every Garnet resident to stick their nose in everyone else’s business?

“That one’s my favorite.”

Tabitha looked up at him curiously. “What?”

“That book.” Wyatt pointed to the book still in her lap, open to the dedication page that was as well-worn as every other page in the book. “It’s my favorite of the series.”

Tabitha set her purse next to her and then closed the book self-consciously. Her hands were less than clean, and she was worried she’d gotten it dirty, which was bizarre for her. Coveting something she had boxes and boxes of back home.

“I think it’s my favorite too,” she agreed, giving him a wan smile as she leaned down and tucked his book back where she’d found it. “It has, uh…a special place in my heart. I hope I didn’t get it dirty.”

Wyatt shrugged. “If you did, you could probably replace it.”

“I could,” she said quickly. “I will if you want me to. Replace it, I mean. Get you a better copy. An autographed copy.”

Tabitha winced at that last part, knowing it probably sounded uppity and presumptuous.

“I sort of like my old copy.” Wyatt pulled the car door closed and sat there with his hands on the steering wheel, staring ahead as rain splashed against the windshield. The silence was deafening, the tension pulsing off him nearly choking the air out of the car before he finally asked, “Why’d you come back?”

Tabitha wished she had a different answer for him, one he wanted to hear. Instead she just admitted, “My mom has a blockage in her heart. She needs surgery, and you know Brett’s not gonna take care of it. She’s got diabetes too, and a whole host of other medical problems that have to be handled.”

Wyatt flinched. The pain showed on his face for one brief moment before he turned his head to look out the side window and take a long, cooling breath. “I’m sorry ’bout your mom.”

Tabitha nodded and considered him. He was so big in person, so overwhelmingly broad and muscular. His wide shoulders were tight, the tension was still bleeding off him to the point that she wanted to reach out and comfort him somehow, but there was nothing to be done. She finally whispered, “I’m sorry too…for everything.”

Wyatt didn’t respond. He just sat there quietly for a few moments and then started the car as if there was nothing else to say. Tabitha hadn’t really expected him to say it was fine that she’d walked out on him less than a week after they’d gotten married, but the deafening silence wasn’t any easier to bear for being predictable.

Tabitha stared out the window as they drove. She tried to worry about her mother, her abandoned car, or even her fear and resentment over being forced back to Garnet. Even the hatred for Brett seemed better to focus on than the pulsing sorrow that was welling up inside her chest and making the rural scenery grow blurry in a way that had nothing to do with the rain.

When he turned down the long driveway that led to the lake house, Tabitha was ready to leap out of the car and run away from the heartache. Wyatt must have sensed her urge to flee and grabbed her wrist gently. He gave her a look that said he expected her to stay put.

Tabitha shook her head in denial, because being with him was ripping her apart on a soul-deep level. She’d rather be back home with Brett than alone in that lake house with Wyatt. “I’m fine. Really, Wy, you don’t have to fuss over me.”

Wyatt opened the car door and stepped out as if he hadn’t heard a word of her argument against it. “Just lemme get the first-aid kit out of the back.”

Tabitha huffed in defeat, knowing how stubborn Wyatt got when he had his mind set on something. She had a ring that proved that. Only now realizing it, she looked to her left hand, seeing the golden band, and felt a sinking horror. Not for Wyatt to see she still wore it, but for Brett or her mother to notice and start asking questions. Why hadn’t she thought of it before this moment?

She pulled at the band, trying to wiggle it off her finger, but the summer heat made it hard to get off. She managed to slip it a little up and saw the deep groove left from thirteen years of wearing a ring she never took off, along with a noticeable white tan line. Too much Florida sun. On or off, it made no difference. Anyone who bothered to look would know she was married.

Her car door opened, and Tabitha dropped her hand self-consciously, hoping to God Wyatt didn’t see her fight with her wedding ring. She grabbed her purse, clutched the blanket tighter, and jumped out of the car before Wyatt could do something like try to carry her again. If he wanted to follow, she couldn’t stop him. Even if he wasn’t sheriff, which made him something akin to God of Garnet, he was still bullheaded.

She fished in her purse for the small set of keys as she walked up to the lake house, that was surrounded by woods and hidden so far off the main road few knew it was still there. It was bigger than she needed, but the only other place Terry had to rent was next door to Clay Powers, and she sure didn’t need that.

“Wow, Terry really did fix this place up, didn’t he? It’s like Better Homes and Gardens in here,” Wyatt mused behind her. “I hadn’t really paid attention to it the last time I was in this place, but I surely can’t believe he turned that old, rotting cabin into this.”

“Well, that’s what he does.” Tabitha opened the front door. “Fixes places to work off a lifetime of too much energy. He should’ve stuck to those simple little one- and two-bedroom houses. They’re easier to rent. A place this big is harder to sell and even worse to rent, too darn expensive.”

“You seem to know a lot about what Terry’s been up to,” Wyatt said suspiciously. “Have ya been keeping up with him?”

Tabitha turned to Wyatt, who stood behind her, a backpack over his shoulder, a large white first-aid kit in his hands. An explanation was on the tip of her tongue. Terry was her friend, one of her only true friends from childhood except Clay Powers, whose loyalty certainly wasn’t in her court anymore, but the words were trapped in her throat. She couldn’t make excuses for staying in touch with Terry and spilling her secrets to an old friend while keeping her husband in the dark.

She could always tell him the truth, which was the best explanation of them all, but she wouldn’t risk that. Keeping that secret from Wyatt was the reason she’d left.

“I’m gonna go take a shower.”

Tabitha turned back around and promptly tripped over her luggage still in the foyer. Wyatt dropped the first-aid kit and caught her before she could face plant on the hard European tile. It took amazingly quick reflexes to save Tabitha from herself at this point in the game. She should be impressed, but all it did was humiliate her further. She looked down to the bandages scattered over the floor and felt her cheeks heat.

“Please lemme go.” She closed her eyes, feeling Wyatt’s big hands holding her upper arms through the blanket, and whispered, “I need to go drown myself now.”

“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay alone in the shower?”

Tabitha turned to arch an eyebrow at him, misreading his intentions before she saw nothing but concern shining in his light eyes and softened her defensiveness. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not so sure ’bout that. You’re obviously still shaky. I think you ought to leave the bathroom door unlocked.”

She nodded, deciding it was a reasonable compromise given her track record over the past twenty minutes. “Fair deal.”

Wyatt let her go, and Tabitha wanted to run to the sanctuary of the master bathroom, but she didn’t. She walked—cautiously.

It’d make sense for Tabitha to toss out her clothes. It wasn’t like she couldn’t afford more, but old habits died hard, and she had a difficult time wasting things. She took them into the shower with her, using the hot water to wash the mud off before she hung them over the rack on the wall to toss in the washer later.

She took just as much time on her body, scrubbing until her skin was pink with the effort. Her shoulder burned something awful, and her leg felt worse, but she welcomed the pain to distract her from a wealth of other problems.

It wasn’t until she was out of the shower, wrapped in a towel that was included in the furnishing of the house, that she realized she didn’t bring clothes with her. She had her toiletries in the bathroom because she’d freshened up before heading to her mother’s place, but not a stitch of clothing to change into.

With nothing else to do, Tabitha just brushed her teeth with the same manic enthusiasm she used on her clothes and body. Then she combed her hair, wincing at her reflection and wondering for the first time what Wyatt thought of it so short.

She rinsed off her toothbrush, put it away, and then fingered her chin-length dripping red locks and pondered putting makeup on. As crazy as it was, she found herself wanting to impress him when usually her looks were very low on her priority list. Now there was that small part of her not broken and damaged by life that wanted to be beautiful for the man who still owned her heart.

Coming back to Garnet was a disaster just waiting to happen.

She walked out of the bathroom casually before she lost her nerve. Part of her hoped Wyatt had put her suitcases in the master bedroom while she took the long shower, and she would’ve thought life was finally smiling on her when she spied all her bags in the corner if Wyatt wasn’t sitting on the bed waiting for her.

She stopped in her tracks, losing all sense of nonchalance when she saw the way Wyatt looked at her. Hot and greedy, his gaze ran over her body covered in nothing but a white towel. It made all the fine hairs on her arms stand on end. Her stomach clenched, and for the first time in a very long time she experienced something she thought had died forever.

A wild rush of sexual desire washed over her, and it left Tabitha breathless in the face of it. She’d forgotten how good it felt. For that one crazy moment, it seemed like life had been on hold for all these years, frozen in a nightmare of painful memories and even more agonizing regrets. That one look from Wyatt kick-started her into breathing again.

She actually took a choking gasp of air as she stood there shaking, feeling things that left her terrified and invigorated at the same time. Wyatt had changed out of his sheriff’s uniform and looked much more like the man she’d left behind in a pair of well-worn jeans and a blue shirt that clung to his massive biceps and stretched across his powerful chest. The color made his eyes seem lighter, his face more tan and handsome, and its effect left her standing there gawking at him.

“I, um—” Wyatt cleared his throat, recovering much easier than Tabitha was able to. He held up the first-aid kit and a blue-foiled nutrition bar. “I got ya a protein bar out of the car. I thought I’d doctor your shoulder while you eat it.”

Tabitha just stood there trying to find her voice. He wanted to play doctor with her. Is he serious?

Their past loomed between them like a malevolent dark cloud, tearing open all the painful wounds that had never healed for either of them. It was obvious Wyatt hurt just as badly as she did, which made everything a thousand times more agonizing. She’d never wanted this for him. She loved him far too much to bear the thought of the pain her life inflicted bleeding into his, but she supposed it’d been inevitable.

She’d warned him, but there’d been a time when Wyatt thought he could be her hero. That he could somehow save her from the difficult existence God saw fit to give her. All his chivalry had done was allow Wyatt to drown with her, and the guilt was almost too much to endure.

Tabitha shook her head. “Wyatt—”

“Sit down.” He gestured to the spot on the bed next to him. “We both got things to be mad at each other ’bout, but right now you’re hurting, and I don’t want you to get an infection. Have you had a tetanus shot recently?”

“Yes.” Tabitha swallowed hard and looked down at her leg that had stopped bleeding. Too stunned and shell-shocked to think of an argument, she just walked over to the bed and sat next to Wyatt. “I hurt my leg too.”

“I see.” Wyatt winced and handed her a protein bar. “It’s chocolate. It ain’t half-bad. Good fuel if you’re feeling peaked, which I figured you probably were. Got a good dose of vitamins in ’em too.”

Tabitha took it, having forgotten until just now that high-protein products like shakes and bars were a way of life for Wyatt who lived and breathed for the next workout. It was so distinctly him, she almost didn’t want to open it. She had the crazy urge to hide it in the box she filled with the mementos of all the small, perfect moments in life that were rare and cherished because of it.

“Thank you.” She opened it and tried not to wince as she destroyed the memento. She took a bite. It tasted more like cardboard than chocolate, but she smiled anyway. “It’s good.”

Wyatt nodded, and then he slid off the bed with the first-aid kit, falling to his knees in front of her. Extremely aware of sitting in front of him in nothing but a towel, Tabitha squeezed her legs tighter together and then turned to present her injured calf. She tugged on the towel, making sure it covered everything.

Wyatt smirked as he opened the kit. “I’ve seen it, Tab.”

“Not for a while.” Her cheeks flamed as she looked away from him and took another bite of the protein bar as a distraction. She chewed and swallowed before she added, “A long while.”

“Trust me, it’s committed to memory.”

That didn’t help the heat in her face or the dull throb between her thighs that pulsed to the rapid rhythm of her heartbeat. The bizarre collision of the familiarity of Wyatt mixed with the unaccustomed pulse of lust left her feeling almost light-headed. She hadn’t expected being around him to be this easy after all these years, as if a part of her soul recognized the other half of itself and relaxed all her tightly honed defenses.

“This is gonna hurt.”

“Good.” Tabitha squeezed her eyes shut, hating the image of Wyatt on his knees in front of her. Guilt. Want. Loneliness. Loss. The emotions were too much, and she wanted something to wash them away, even if it hurt like hell. “Do your worst.”

If Wyatt thought her reaction was strange, she didn’t see it. Her eyes squeezed tighter from the sear of pain caused from whatever cold, horrible fluid he was pouring over her leg. “Holy shit!”

“That ain’t the kinda language you expect to hear out of a woman who’s famous for writing children’s books.”

The craziest thing happened while she sat there in a towel with her leg on fire as her husband that she hadn’t seen in the past thirteen years played doctor like she’d never left. Tabitha laughed. She had forgotten how easy it was to do around Wyatt.

She brushed the wet hair off her forehead as her giggle turned into a pained moan. “Don’t tell anyone.”

Wyatt’s big, calloused hand slipped around to the back of her calf, his thumb rubbing over it soothingly as he blotted the wound dry. “Your secret’s safe.”

“And they’re not children’s books. They’re more YA. Young adult.”

“I know what YA is. I was just distracting you. I’ve been following your career for the past ten years. I know what you write.”

The warmth started to turn to something else besides the fiery burn of embarrassment. It tore away the last remnants of the strong, almost impenetrable walls Tabitha had built up around herself to help her survive a lonely existence she had never wanted.

Without thinking about it, she reached out and stroked Wyatt’s hair away from his forehead. “I’ve followed your career too.” She wasn’t talking about his career as sheriff, though she heard things about that too. The Wyatt she’d left behind had been heavily involved in mixed-martial-arts fighting, and he’d gone nearly all the way in the sport he was so passionate about in his youth. “I was sorry you had to retire. I know you loved it.”

Wyatt shrugged. “It’s just fighting. Ain’t worth crying over, and I’m still participating in it. I’m in the cage, just not professionally.”

Tabitha took another bite of her bar. “Do you miss the circuit now that Clay’s retired?”

“We got some other fighters at the Cellar. Damn good ones. Chuito won a title last year and is set to grab himself another one soon. My brother-in-law by default’s looking pretty good too. He keeps fighting like he does, and he’ll get himself a UFC contract by next year.”

“Your brother-in-law by default?”

Wyatt snorted. “Tino is Jules’s brother-in-law, but seeing how I’m always tripping over him, it sorta feels like I inherited him too.”

“I saw on the news about Jules getting married to Romeo Wellings.” Tabitha tilted her head, watching as Wyatt worked at meticulously taping up the wound with tiny strips of clear medical tape that he was cutting from the roll with a pair of scissors from the kit. “That was something.”

“Yeah, well, it’s Jules. We ain’t all that surprised she had to go and do things over-the-top when she did decide to fall in love. She’s pregnant now, you know? It’s twins. As if that wasn’t predictable. She never does anything half-assed.”

“I didn’t know.” Tabitha raised her eyebrows, trying to imagine Wyatt’s very driven, very intimidating twin sister now married and having babies. “Are you happy about it?”

“Yeah, I suppose. I could’ve done without the mafia in-laws, the shootouts, and Jules’s life-threatening injuries. Not to mention all the media drama afterward, but Romeo and Tino got away from all that. She’s happy now, so I guess I am too. I’m excited to be an uncle.”

“I bet.” Tabitha laughed again, finding the image of Wyatt as an uncle a lot easier to accept than Jules as Betty Homemaker. “I heard Clay got a girl too. Y’all have been on the news a lot lately. I saw the footage of him and that Romeo Wellings fella taking down her ex-husband.”

“Don’t remind me.” Wyatt pulled a face of distaste. “Clay and Melody got that trial coming up here in August, and they surely aren’t looking forward to it. I personally think they ought to keep her ex-husband behind bulletproof glass ’cause Clay is likely to try for a second chance to kill him if he says something dumb, and you know he will. He doesn’t strike me as the smartest Cracker Jack in the box.”

“Seemed strange that Romeo was willing to help him right after their big fight, but I suppose if Jules was dating him—”

“She wasn’t dating him then.” Wyatt finished with the last of tape, pulling the cut closed tightly so it wouldn’t scar. “It’s complicated. It’d take all night to explain it, but let’s just say it’s been an exciting year in Garnet.”

She finished the bar and leaned over to set the wrapper on the nightstand. She sat back up and admired his handy work after he used the last little piece of tape on her leg. “You’re pretty good at this. Who needs a doctor?”

“I have taped up my fair share of cuts over the years.” Wyatt gave her a wide smile that made him so handsome it nearly stole Tabitha’s breath.

“I guess you have.” Tabitha knew Wyatt had spent his life fighting in and outside the cage and yet wasn’t really any worse for the wear for it. “And here I was worrying about a scar. Like I need another one.”

“Nah, you’ll be fine.” Wyatt caressed her leg once more, making her shiver against her will. “Let it heal. Put some vitamin E oil on it for a few months, and it’ll be good as new.”

Before Tabitha could respond, he stood and sat back down on the bed with the kit in hand, this time behind her. He ran his finger over her bare shoulder, gently touching the tender spot that hit the cinderblock. Underneath that frisson of desire from the gentle caress was the novelty of being touched by a man. It was something simple, something most women probably took for granted, but it was something Tabitha thought she’d never have again.

“It’s more bruising than anything. I’m going to just put some ointment on it and a bandage. No sense doing the peroxide thing again.”

Tabitha took a shuddering breath. “Much appreciated.”

She let Wyatt doctor her shoulder, savoring the feel of his touch that was tender despite his large size and dangerous fists. Her nerves had settled considerably, and for just that moment she focused all her energy on trying to remember everything about being with him again. Like the combined smell of Wyatt’s soap and expensive aftershave. The cool feel of the ointment on tender skin. The sound of the bandage being opened. The general hum of powerful energy that seemed to vibrate off men like Wyatt. Assured, successful, handsome, and charming, he’d always had such a strong sense of self. The path Wyatt was supposed to take in life had been crystal clear for him from a very young age. Knowing the right route to take had made him extremely self-confident, and that’d forever be appealing to Tabitha.

“All better,” Wyatt announced as he closed the first-aid kit. “Unless you’d like me to kiss it to speed up the healing process.”

She laughed. “I’m sure that’s the last thing you want to do.”

“I wouldn’t be that sure.”

Tabitha’s heart did a little flip when she heard the catch in his voice that sounded like the cross between a promise and a threat. She craned her neck curiously, looking at him in surprise. “Wy—”

“I’m gonna take off and let you rest.” Wyatt made a move to leave, but Tabitha grabbed his hand on instinct and squeezed like her life depended on it. Something about that desperation must have translated, because Wyatt closed his eyes as if looking for strength he didn’t have. “Tab, you should lemme go. I ain’t so sure I can be the fella you remember. I’ve been lonely for too long. That can make a man go feral after the first decade.”

Tabitha heard the warning that she was holding on to something akin to a caged tiger—one who was angry, lonely, and neglected by the very person who’d sworn in front of a justice of the peace to love him. The confession held terrible implications. It was something she’d never even considered, that Wyatt had been as sexually isolated as she was, with only the memories of something long lost to sustain her. She hadn’t wanted that for him, not once in all the years they’d been separated. The pain welled up between them as he stood there stoically. She squeezed his hand tighter, willing all the loss to disappear, if even for one day.

“I want you to kiss it better,” she whispered, not knowing how else to convey the need to fix what felt irrevocably broken. “Please.”

Wyatt shook his head. “I ain’t kidding. I haven’t been with—”

“Don’t—” She cut him off, not wanting to hear the confession. “You need it. I do too. It’s been such a long day. Let’s just forget the rest for a little while.”

She expected him to deny her. A part of her sort of hoped he would, because she wasn’t even certain she could do what she was suggesting, but at the same time, she needed it desperately. Just once. Some sort of confirmation that she was still human and could live and love and experience real passion like everyone else.

Even before things went bad, Wyatt had always been the only one for her. If she didn’t take this opportunity, she might never have another one, and that was easily the most depressing thought of the day, which was saying something.

Rather than turn and leave, Wyatt released her hand and sat behind her once more. Even without seeing it, she could actually sense the tension as he remained silent behind her, but so close she could feel the heat from his big body. Then he touched her shoulder, making her jump, because the reality of what she’d just gotten herself into hit her like a ton of bricks.

She jumped a second time when he leaned down to press his lips against the tender spot to the right of the bandage on the back of her shoulder instead. She was still trying to recover from the shock of pleasure it caused when he moved up to the curve of her neck, his warm breath fanning over her sensitive skin, leaving a wave of goose bumps in his wake.

Tabitha shuddered from the rush of emotion that was so overwhelming it left her choked up and struggling for breath. “I love you, Wy.”

It came out of her so easily as if the past had never happened, and she couldn’t take it back even if she wanted to, because it was one of the most heartfelt things that had ever left her mouth. She was shaking. The tears rolled down her cheeks without warning, and Wyatt didn’t question or doubt any of it.

He just wrapped one powerful arm around her waist and then pulled her close to whisper in her ear, “I love you too.”

Wyatt kissed her ear before she could say something to ruin the moment. It was obvious he needed this too, and Tabitha was so glad they’d both made it real. They hadn’t been able to be together, and the reasons they’d been torn apart were terrible and unfair. There were deep, life-changing secrets looming between them that were a little too transparent now that she was back in his arms, but they still loved each other, and neither of them were going to do this without acknowledging it.

This was probably a mistake, but it certainly didn’t feel like it as Wyatt’s lips moved down her neck. He let out a low groan and his arm around her waist tightened as if he were afraid she would suddenly disappear.

She grabbed his strong thigh through his jeans, squeezing tightly to let him know this was real. Her voice was gone, trapped in her chest somewhere beneath the nostalgia and crazy rush of desire that surged through her bloodstream. It was like a breath of fresh air, washing out over a decade of fear and solitude.

Starved and more turned on than she thought imaginable before this moment, Tabitha turned in his arms. His beautiful eyes were wide and stunned, as if the tidal wave of lust had slammed into him the same time it knocked every thought out of her head except the throbbing need for more of her husband.

Wyatt reached up and fisted her hair as if losing the tight hold on his urges. He tugged her forward and claimed her lips without asking. His kiss was harsh and demanding, but Tabitha parted to him rather than freeze, allowing him to own what belonged to him.

When he used his bulk to push her back against the bed, she let him. They never broke the connection. If anything, it got more intense as he arched his hips against her, letting her feel the hard outline of his cock through his jeans. She just clutched at his shirt and savored the feel of his tongue pushing into her mouth and brushing against hers over and over, finding that she still liked being under him.

They kissed like wild, frantic teenagers, as if they were back in Wyatt’s room and hiding from the world. Everything was exactly how she remembered it, and it left her feeling like the person she once was before life burned her. Her towel fell open, and she would have been too far gone to notice if the brush of Wyatt’s cotton shirt against her nipples hadn’t forced her to arch into him. She was suddenly hypersensitive and wound tight. Her fingers were in his hair, and she clenched them tightly as a tremor of pleasure seized her.

Wyatt grunted in response and broke the kiss to study her face as both their chests heaved from the unexpected cataclysm of desire that exploded between them. After several breathless seconds, he looked down at her completely bare beneath him, making it obvious he’d noticed the towel falling to the wayside, probably before she had.

She didn’t feel fear or shame when he groaned and became blatant about studying her naked body, but she did feel the hot flush of desire that burned her neck and cheeks at the flare of possessiveness that shone in his eyes. Wyatt’s breathing was harsh as he lowered his gaze and stopped to stare hungrily at her breasts. Then he leaned down and sucked on one taut pink nipple as if it was too much a temptation to resist. It was all happening really fast, but it didn’t matter. She tossed her head back against the pillow at the lightning bolt of bliss and unexpectedly found her voice.

“God, Wyatt!” she shouted, because she’d forgotten how good it felt to have his mouth on her.

She pushed her fingers into his short hair once more. She was panting. Her body was already tense with the need for release, and every tug on her sensitive nipple sent a white-hot rush of pleasure straight to her center.

Nothing existed but the need for more of everything. For one day, Tabitha was free from what felt like a lifetime of post-traumatic stress, and she seized it like a woman starved. What made it even more amazing was Wyatt met her every step of the way. His hunger was palpable. His need was overwhelming and humbling. She couldn’t remember a time in her life when she felt more loved and feminine than she did as she watched Wyatt worship her small, pert breasts that were never anything to brag about.

Then he pulled up to tug at the neckline of his shirt, and Tabitha helped him get it off. She didn’t have a chance to admire his cut, muscular form before he fell over her, forcing the air out of her chest from the weight of his heavy body, but who needed to breathe? The warm press of his bare skin against hers had Tabitha clinging to him. She turned her head to the side as he kissed and licked at her neck once more.

“I need you,” he groaned into her ear. “I’m sorry. I can’t wait. It’s been too long, and—”

“I need it too.”

He lifted his head as a look of uncertainty crossed over his handsome face. “I wasn’t kidding before. I haven’t done this since—”

“It’s okay.” She winced, finding that the tears were threatening despite the yearning. Her voice was choked as she admitted, “I haven’t either.”

“I guess we’ll just have to relearn together.” He gave her a hesitant smile. “Won’t be the first time, right?”

The tears spilled over without warning as she remembered what was once beautiful and perfect. “I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, don’t,” Wyatt pleaded, the tears sounding in his voice too. “I don’t wanna cry right now. Let me love you instead. We’ll take a rain check on the rest.”

She nodded silently as she fought the urge to come apart. Wyatt reached up and rubbed a thumb over her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut against the emotion, but she still felt his gaze on her. When he kissed her again, she tasted the salty tang of tears, but she wasn’t certain if they were hers or his.

She ran her hands over the thick ridges of his back muscles, savoring the feel of his warm skin. The sound of Wyatt reaching between their bodies to undo the button to his jeans and then pull his zipper down sent little darts of anticipation through her, and she found herself reaching down to help him push his pants off.

When there had been so much separating them for so very long, she needed to be skin to skin with Wyatt, stark, honest, with nothing between them. Once they got his jeans and underwear past his hips, she hooked her feet under the waistband and helped him kick them off.

They were still kissing, with Wyatt’s tongue pushing into her open mouth over and over again. Bare skin against bare skin, she could feel the hot slide of his thick cock against her thigh. She remembered that he was big, that’d it been a challenge at first, but now it was likely an issue once again when it’d been so very long.

“I’m gonna get you off first, okay?” Wyatt whispered when his lips broke away from hers. He placed a kiss against the curve of her neck as if having the same thoughts she was. “It’ll be easier if you’re really wet and relaxed, because I’m not sure how slow I’m gonna be able to go once we get started.”

“I’m really wet now.” Tabitha panted, hating the idea of Wyatt having to rein himself him. “I think it’ll be fine.”

Wyatt’s hand slipped between their straining bodies, because they couldn’t seem to stop moving. It was as if they were instinctively trying to come together. Tabitha kept shifting under him, alternating between spreading her thighs wide and then wrapping her legs around him, letting her feet trail down his strong thighs.

His touch was soft as he rested all his weight on his other hand and pushed up a little to give himself the room to maneuver. He traced the line of her wet folds, making her squeeze her eyes shut.

“You weren’t kidding.” Wyatt’s voice was a low rasp of need. “You really are wet.”

“I want you,” she admitted as he slipped one finger inside her. She arched into the feeling of it. “God, Wy.”

“Christ.” His groan was almost pained. “We’re definitely gonna have to get you off first. You’re way too tight.”

Tabitha wasn’t sure why he was such an expert when he just admitted to having exactly as much experience as she did, but then she remembered Wyatt always did seem to have a knack for these things. He found the spot inside her that had stars bursting behind her closed eyes, and she gasped from the feeling.

“You want my fingers or mouth?”

She moaned and tossed her head to the side when she remembered what it felt like to have Wyatt’s mouth on her. Just the memories were enough when all she could feel was his warm skin and his knowing touch. All she could smell was the blend of her shampoo and his aftershave. All she could hear was the sound of their low, labored breathing as he relearned her body.

“I think I’m gonna come,” she admitted with an embarrassed moan. “I’ve had a really hard week, and I haven’t had time to touch myself. It’s all pent up, and being with you again is making me—”

“Tab, shh, you don’t have to explain yourself.” His touch moved up to her clit, soft and featherlight, as if he knew too much stimulation would overwhelm her. “Better?”

Tabitha clutched at the sheets and arched her hips into his touch as a low, keening sound of pleasure burst out of her. Words were gone, obliterated completely as Wyatt rubbed her clit like it’d been thirteen hours instead of thirteen years since they’d last done this.

“Just let go.” Wyatt’s touch grew faster, a little firmer, making the need wind tighter. His voice was husky with a hunger Tabitha thought she’d never hear again as he groaned and said, “God, I used to love to watch you get off from my fingers. Seeing you get all flushed and sweaty and desperate while I touch you, it’s still one of my favorite fantasies to jerk off to.”

Tabitha reached out to him blindly, needing to touch him as she strained for completion. She wrapped her arms around those wide shoulders and pulled Wyatt closer as she arched deeper into his touch and moaned from the fight for completion.

“You’re beautiful, baby,” Wyatt groaned against her ear. “Fuck, but I’ve missed you.”

Tabitha came with a shout, her entire body shaking from the force of it as she clung to Wyatt and rode out the wave after wave of pleasure that crashed over her. It was wild and shameless and one of the most amazing things she’d ever experienced in her life.

When the rush started to ebb, Tabitha ran her hands down Wyatt’s back, still holding him close. “What else do you think about?”

“Huh?” Wyatt’s voice was dazed.

“When you touch yourself? What else do you fantasize about?”

“Oh.” Wyatt swallowed hard, the quake of suppressed need making it come out in something close to a croak. “Everything, really. Seeing you. Touching you. Tasting you.”

“Fucking me?” Tabitha asked, sensing he was holding back.

“Yeah.” Wyatt shuddered in her arms and pressed his lips against her shoulder. “I think ’bout that a lot. Just completely drowning myself in you. Feeling you all around me. I miss it so much.”

It was Tabitha who guided him to her, because she thought about that too when the loneliness got to be too much. What it felt like to be so totally connected with Wyatt it was as if they were wrapped together into one, and she needed it desperately. Even if their souls were broken and fragmented, it felt like if they could just come together again, they’d fill in all those cracks and holes and be one whole, perfect soul instead of two damaged ones.

Wyatt really was a big man, and Tabitha was extrasensitive after such a powerful orgasm, but somehow they still fit. His cock stretched and filled her, and the pleasure was so white-hot all she could do was moan and push her hips up to take more of him.

His large hand held her hip as he took her slow, despite Tabitha shifting against his hold and begging for more. By the time he bottomed out, they were both panting and breathless. So full. It felt as if he had been made to be in her.

If he didn’t move, Tabitha felt like she’d die.

Fortunately the moment seemed to shatter the tight hold Wyatt had on his control, and that dangerous tiger he’d warned her about surged to the forefront. With a growl of defeat, he pulled out of Tabitha, only to take her hard the second time. She gasped from the reverberating surge of bliss it caused, and that seemed to be enough for him. He took her again before she’d even had a chance to catch her breath, and the pleasure was even more shocking the next time.

This wasn’t a gentle reunion; it was a claiming and rough in a way neither of them anticipated. Wyatt held down her hands and took her body over and over again with feral growls of pleasure. He dragged Tabitha along with him on the sea of ecstasy even if it felt a little like he was punishing her. It was harsh and filled with hurt, but they were together and that was so much better than being alone. She still felt safe and wrapped up in him until all she could feel were the strokes of his body moving in hers, every single one pushing her higher and higher until she was shaking with the need for a second release.

It became too much for Wyatt, and he stiffened over her with a furious gasp, making it obvious he hadn’t planned on it. Tabitha was afraid she’d have to finish another way, but then he leaned down and demanded in a harsh rasp against her ear, “Do it. Come for me, Tabby.”

And she did, just like that, Tabitha bowed to the pleasure. She came because he told her to, proving that his hold over her hadn’t lessened in time. If anything, it was more encompassing than ever.

They rode out the storm together, trembling in each other’s arms as Wyatt’s hips slammed into hers to the hard, erratic pulse of his orgasm and her body milked him in response. Then Wyatt was over her, crushing the air out of her chest and panting in her ear. She just savored the feel of being pressed into the mattress and holding him as tight as possible as he took several minutes to come down from the high.

When his breathing finally evened out, Wyatt said, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Tabitha assured him. “It was perfect.”

“I don’t think it was perfect. It was quick and messy and not at all how I pictured it. I need more time.” Wyatt pushed up, making his massive biceps bunch as he looked down at her in concern. “Once’s not gonna cut it, Tab.”

Tabitha’s gaze darted to the ceiling uncertainly. Things were nice now, but she had so many issues Wyatt didn’t know about. “Wy—”

“I know you had plenty of good reasons to end us,” Wyatt started, his voice cracking with emotion. “Don’t think I don’t take at least half the blame, but you’re here now, and I think you owe it to what we were to give us more time.”

“I can’t live in Garnet,” she said in anguish. “I’m not staying.”

“And I’m not asking you to.” It was a harsh reminder that neither of them might be able to recover from what leaving had done to a love that was once beautiful and perfect. His light eyes narrowed as he studied her. “But I am telling you I need more than one afternoon with my wife who’s been MIA for the past thirteen years. I got a big house all to myself with a whole lot of empty rooms. Makes no sense for you to be renting this place from Terry. You can stay with me till you get everything settled with your mother.”

“We can’t just—”

“We sure as heck can.” Wyatt cut her off. “And I ain’t taking no for an answer.”

When Tabitha would’ve argued again, Wyatt kissed her. She’d like to think she was a strong, independent woman who wasn’t prone to being swayed by his cavemannish tactics to persuade her, but the truth was she wanted more time too.

They’d lost too much, too soon, and a little more time was too tempting to resist.

It was foolish and impractical and likely dangerous as hell for both of them, but then, Wyatt had always been the one to make Tabitha believe in the impossible.

Still connected like they were, she could feel him get harder as they kissed, reminding her of sweaty nights a long time ago when they could stay wrapped up in each other for hours. His lips became softer, less demanding as his hips started moving in her a second time, and everything became enveloped in the misty memories of the past when youth made them invincible and love made them courageous to the point of stupidity.

Every story had an innocent beginning, even theirs, and Tabitha found herself wishing she had a chance to go back and relive it one more time, because she didn’t want to let go any more than Wyatt did.