The Hero's Redemption

Cole hadn’t carried her since the first time, but he did now. Without protest, Erin wrapped her legs around his waist and kept kissing his jaw, his neck. She nibbled his earlobe, whispered, “Hurry.”

In her bedroom, he yanked her shoes off, then her jeans and panties. Pushed her shirt up enough to suckle her breasts even as he fumbled to unzip and free himself. He paused only to scrabble for a condom and put it on before he drove into her hard enough to shove her across the bed.

Too hard.

But she said, “Yes,” and clawed at him.

With no tenderness at all, only fierce hunger, he rode her until her body arched and her spasms gripped him. Then he let himself go.

Somehow, he managed to roll over when all the strength left his body. Couldn’t crush her.

Please don’t let me have hurt her.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

IN THE NEXT few days, Erin did take Cole to look at several cars he’d found for sale online. Helping him take this step to leave her felt bittersweet, yet she treasured every minute they had together.

After going for a short drive in a 2004 Toyota pickup and taking a long look under the hood, he stood for some time bargaining with the owner. The truck had 130,000 miles on it; the yellow paint bore some scratches and dings and the bed was heavily dented.

He strolled over to where she waited to tell her he was going to buy it.

“That’s a lot of miles.”

“Runs well, though, and there’s no reason it can’t go 200,000 miles.”

A couple of minutes later, the owner signed and dated the release of ownership part of the title and handed it to him. In turn, he counted out the cash, took the key, and said to Erin, “I’ll see you at home.”

Twenty minutes later, he parked his acquisition in front of the house beside her Cherokee and got out, smiling.

“I can work on an engine this age if I have to. There’s not as much that requires computer diagnostics.”

She made a face at him. “If you say so.”

As they walked toward the house, he added, “Tomorrow morning, I’ll register the sale and get the license.” Despite his smile, he didn’t sound as satisfied as she’d expected.

Because he knew, as she did, that having his own transportation took him a long way to being ready to start his new life? The one that didn’t include her.

She’d come to empathize with the salmon snatched from the river by bald eagles. That was what this dread felt like—the biting grip of talons.

“There’s an office right in town,” she said, proud of how casual she sounded.

“I’ve seen it.”

He could go tomorrow, because yesterday he’d finished the job for Lottie Price. Erin knew he had asked her for a recommendation, which he’d added to a file folder that already held three other glowing recommendations, including the one she’d written for him. She also knew he’d applied online for several jobs, and had called area contractors to find out if they had openings.

He never said when he got a turndown, but she could tell from his stone face. Each time, she was as mad as she’d been that day at the hardware store, when she saw his stoic acceptance. That she also felt secret relief because he wouldn’t be leaving yet wasn’t something she let him see.

That night, for the first time since he’d started sleeping with her, Erin had a nightmare. Staring eyes. Hands grasping for her. She knew she’d screamed because her throat felt sore when she awakened, sitting bolt upright in bed. Arms came around her, and she fought until the nightmare images faded.

Swearing as he tugged her down beneath the covers, Cole said, “Damn, that’s a shot of adrenaline.”

“Bet you won’t miss this,” she mumbled.

Neither of them said another word after that. With his arms still around her, she did eventually fall asleep again. He was definitely asleep the next time she opened her eyes, the light outside a gray that gradually brightened.

Erin didn’t move, needing to hold on to these minutes. His heartbeat, the rise and fall of his powerful chest, the lick of flame reaching up his neck.

She never woke up to find they’d separated during the night. Whenever he changed his position, he obviously rearranged hers, too. And even asleep, she apparently didn’t want to lose contact with his big, warm, solid body. She hadn’t slept as well in a very long time—until last night.