But it was better than my dreams, better than words can ever describe. Feeling her body rise beneath me, the look of total trust and hope in her eyes as I moved inside her. Watching the passion take her over, until we were both beyond control, way past holding back. Fuck, it was the sexiest, most soul-shaking night of my life, and now it’s all I want in the world.
Tegan, naked in my arms, as soon as fucking possible.
But first, we need to make nice with our families. I can take it, I want to show Blake that I’m in this for real. He can trust me with his sister, I would lay down my life rather than see her hurt again. We settle down to eat at a table piled so high that the girls laugh, taking in the sight. “We’ll never get through this.” Tegan shakes her head.
“You’ll be eating leftovers for a week,” Brit warns Hunter.
Hunter snorts. “What leftovers?” he proclaims, loading up a plate.
“You’re forgetting, we’re men,” I agree, reaching for another burger.
“Big, manly men with appetites to match,” Blake adds, beating his chest.
Tegan exchanges a look with my sister. “It looks like our menfolk have been possessed by Neanderthals.”
Brit laughs. “Hey, as long as the cavemen remember to do the dishes…”
The sun is sinking lower over the hills, making the red barn glow, and out here in the country, it’s so quiet I can hear the crickets. I breathe it in, glad of the peace after the 24/7 noise and hustle of Las Vegas. A breeze rustles through the trees. Tegan shivers beside me.
“Cold?” I ask right away.
She shakes her head. “I’m fine,” she says, but I run inside and grab a sweater for her all the same. I take my time tucking it around her shoulders, stealing what contact I can with her brother glowering at us from across the table.
Tegan gives me a little smile as if to promise “later.”
Damn. I try like hell not to drift into thoughts of her body, those small, lush breasts and her hips driving into me—
“So, Ryland,” Blake begins, “I hear you just got back to town. Where were you living before here?
The interrogation begins.
“All over,” I reply, trying to sound friendly. “I bounced around, but I figured it was time to put down some roots. Since the rest of my family are all so old and settled,” I add, teasing.
“Hey!” Brit laughs in protest. She throws a roll at me, and I duck.“I take it back.” I grin. “You haven’t matured a bit.”
Brit rolls her eyes. She looks happy, and I’m glad. It’s great she’s made a home for herself, and from what I’ve seen of Hunter, she picked a great guy, too. He adores her, and after everything she’s been through, she deserves it.
“What kind of work were you doing?” Blake turns the conversation back.
“This and that,” I reply carefully. “I was in construction for a while, then security.”
“Ryland’s rebuilding his old house,” Tegan interrupts. “It’s amazing, he’s building the whole thing from scratch again.”
I feel a glow of pride. And, hallelujah, Blake looks a little impressed. “Our other brother, Ash, is in property development,” he says. “You guys should talk.”
“Sure,” I say, surprised. What was that, a vote of approval? I look over to Tegan. “We can all get together the next time he’s in town.”
She lights up with a smile, and reminds me in a heartbeat why I’m putting up with twenty questions. I’ll sit here and answer every damn question her brother has if it means Tegan smiles at me like that, like I’m the only man in the world.
Blake quits quizzing me, and I can finally relax, soaking in the simple pleasure of good food and familiar company. This is what I was missing all those years away. I look around, feeling contentment wash over me. Some people might look at us and figure it’s just a backyard dinner, but I know better than to take something like this for granted. I’ve spent too long alone, trying to keep my humanity intact in the midst of the scum of this earth. Now, just the sound of my sister’s laughter; Tegan teasing Blake over some girl, Hunter talking about the big game—I recognize it all as the gift it truly is.
A life I never thought I’d get back.
Hunter looks up from the end of the table. “Hey, Ry, I forgot, a guy called looking for you.”
Reality slams through me, a knife to the fucking gut. I freeze.
“Here?” I ask trying to keep it together. My mind races, searching for some explanation. Maybe I’m misunderstanding. Maybe Hunter got it wrong. Hell, Jimmy from the garage knows I’m crashing here, it could be him.
Please, I pray. Let it be Jimmy.
“Yeah,” Hunter reaches for another serving of potato salad, oblivious to the panic crushing at my chest. “Some guy called Driskell, I think? He didn’t leave a message, said you’d know what it was about.”
Driskell.
Time stops. I swear the earth stops revolving, and for a terrible moment, there’s nothing but me and the ice-cold realization that it’s over. This precious, simple life I had in my grasp, every good thing sitting right here at the table. My plans, my hopes, my dreams. It all crumbles right in front of me, burning to fucking ash.
I should have known he would find me. A man like that doesn’t quit until he gets what he wants—or there’s a trail of broken bodies in his wake.
“When was this?” I demand. Shit. How long would it take him to get here? Would he come himself, or send someone else, one of the heavies who beat first and ask questions later?