“Pathetic,” he tsked, shaking his head. “You didn’t even startle the birds. Stop being a bloody coward. Or is this you being a victim?” He pushed her off his lap and rose to his feet.
She grabbed his hand and yanked him back. “You bastard!”
“What did you call me?” He whipped around and pinned her with a dark glare, his voice cold.
Raine let go of his hand. She thought about inching away—but she wouldn’t back down. “Bastard.”
“That’s Sir Bastard to you. Do you have a scream in there after all? If you could roar at the assholes who’ve taken Hammer from us, what would that sound like?”
She got to her knees, bracing herself by digging her fingers into the wet sand. Her lips pursed. Her face turned red. Her eyes burned a fiery blue. She glared at him like she hated his guts right now, and he didn’t care, because he was finally getting through to her.
Raine gritted her teeth. Then she flung fistfuls of sand, threw her head back, and let loose a howl. The sound pealed across the beach, long and loud, over the surf, carried by the wind. People in all directions turned to stare. Liam didn’t give a shit. Her wail was filled with such misery that it cut him to the quick. Primal, soul-deep pain. He blinked away the burn behind his eyes.
There was her heart. Fierce. Full of love. God, she would fight for Hammer. Good. It might take both of them to save him.
When she ran out of air, she looked at him again, defiant and sad and still seething with fight.
He gave her a nasty smile sure to set her off. “That was a decent start. Again.”
Twice more she poured out her grief to the gulls as the wind carried her screams away. Until her throat turned raw. Until her body shuddered and the tension left her. Until she sank to the sand again, face in her hands, small and spent. Until she cried.
“That was perfect, love. I’m proud of you.”
She cupped his cheek, her red-rimmed eyes full of gratitude, of worship. “I feel better. Thank you, Sir.”
Heart bursting, he gathered her up and into his arms. He brushed a hand over the babe, relieved to feel calm, even a bit of tumbling into slumber. A million feelings pelted him as he carried Raine back to the pier. She’d worked off her stress. In fact, she gave out completely and slept against him, resting her head on his shoulder in a silent show of trust.
He still had no idea where he stood with her. If Hammer was gone, would she stay?
Heaving a deep breath as he reached the car, he was relieved that his parents didn’t say a word when he slipped Raine’s slumbering form into the front seat and they left the beach.
When they pulled into the driveway, the FBI had cleared out. Liam hoped like hell he could get Raine into bed so he could deal with whatever mess the search teams had left behind. When she woke…he’d deal with her.
He handed Da his keys. When his father opened the door, the disaster that greeted him nearly took his legs out from under him. This was just another injustice Raine didn’t need now.
“Don’t worry about a thing, son. We’ll soon have everything set to rights,” Mum insisted. “I raised seven children, remember? I’ve seen worse.”
“True,” Duncan murmured. “But I’d have pulled out the strap for this mess.”
“You’re all bluster. The strap…” Bryn swatted Duncan’s arm. “Enough with you, man. Start tidying down here.” She turned to Liam. “Why don’t you take your girl upstairs?”
Since they both had sand all over them, he supposed the bath was a good place to start. “We’ll take a quick rinse and I’ll be down to help you directly.”
His mum frowned. The expression turned into an angry scowl when she took in the disheveled state of the bedroom. “Don’t be ridiculous. Raine doesn’t need to clean up this mess. She needs your comfort.”
Liam turned to look at his mother. Somehow, he didn’t think she meant his wee wench needed a hug.
“Now you’re catching on.” She shooed him into the master bathroom, which looked far closer to normal than any other room in the house. “Don’t make the rinse too quick.”
He stood and blinked at her. Had his own mother just told him to make love to Raine?
“Of course.” She shook her head as she left the room, muttering to herself. “Sometimes men can be so thick…”
Liam looked down at Raine lying in his arms, so trusting and peaceful. He hated like hell to wake her. Even without makeup, with tears staining her cheeks, she looked beautiful. Rumpled, windblown, all warm woman, precious and alive. His, by god.
Instantly, his damn cock went hard with need for her, despite everything they’d endured today, despite everything beyond the door.