did. “Well, I thank you. And I would like to buy my cabin. Now that
everything’s out in the open, there are a couple of old bank accounts I
can get into. I should be able to come pretty close to market value.”
He nodded. “I’ll have my lawyer draw up the paperwork
immediately. I am very glad to know you won’t be leaving us.”
She was startled at the thought. “Why would I leave?”
His shoulders moved up and down negligently. “It’s obvious to
anyone who sees you with those two men that you have a past.”
“Yes, and that’s what it is—the past.”
It wasn’t going any further. It didn’t matter that her libido had
come back online for the first time in years. For five long and lonely
years, she’d had nothing but her vibrator. Even that hadn’t gotten
much use. At first, she’d tried because she wanted to make sure
everything still worked. Her parts functioned, but her heart wasn’t in
it. The only times she’d worked herself up to a froth had been when
she thought about them. When she’d pictured Rafe’s handsome face
working over her or the way Cam’s shoulders bunched as he
climaxed, that was the only time she could really enjoy it.
“You know we found out a lot of things about those two,” Stef
said, his voice all smooth and silky. “They appear to have spent an
enormous amount of time and money searching for you.”
“They feel guilty.” But the words were starting to ring a little
hollow.
Laura let her eyes seek them out. They stood together talking.
Rafe looked intent on what Cam was saying. They had always been
an odd partnership. Rafe was the big-city hottie who understood fine
wine and good clothes. Cam was a backwoods, gorgeous nerd who
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cared far more about his computer than when a wine was bottled. He
liked beer and watched an enormous amount of science-fiction
television. Yet they fit together. Somehow, someway, Rafe and Cam
had become odd halves of a whole.
Once there had been three pieces to their little puzzle. Had they
really missed her? For more than just simple guilt?
Stef’s voice broke through her thoughts. “They put their lives on
hold. Can I ask you a question?”
She wanted to say no, but had a feeling Stef would press anyway.
“All right.”
“Did you love one of them?”
Tears clouded her eyes as she shook her head.
Stef nodded. “That’s what I thought. You loved both of them.”
Her throat felt far too small. She couldn’t even manage a yes. She
looked at them. Really looked at them. They were older. Rafe had
lines across his forehead that hadn’t been there before. There was a
little slump to Cam’s shoulders that she didn’t remember. She had
missed them. God, she had missed them so much.
They started to walk toward her. She took a short step back, but
the stage was behind her.
“You could run again.” Stef didn’t sound enthused about that
choice.
“No.” She was done running. She had found her home.
“Then I want you to think about what you were looking for when
you came to Bliss. You were looking for a second chance.”
She had been looking for a place to hide. “They hurt me, Stef.
They just about killed me.”
She could have sworn his eyes misted for a moment before he
spoke. “We do that sometimes. We do it to the people we love the
most. We do it precisely because we love them. I know you’re scared.
In the end, this is all the time we have. I would take it if I were you. I would take it and milk it for every moment it’s worth, and if it all falls apart, at least you have a home now and people whom you can always
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count on. Holly will stand by you, and Nell will protest at their front
doors if they hurt you again.”
She couldn’t help but laugh a little at the thought. She had never
had friends the way she had them here. And she’d never loved the
way she had with Rafe and Cam. What if she could have it all? Even
if only for a few days?
Stef leaned in. “It’s better to hurt because you tried with every
ounce of your soul than it is to regret not trying. My wife taught me
that.”
“She isn’t your wife yet.” The wedding was still a few days away.
“Oh, but she is. I see now that she was always my wife. She’s the
other half of my soul. The wedding is just a party. The marriage is
already well under way. It was rocky in the beginning, but I wouldn’t
change it.” Stef took a step back as Rafe and Cam walked up to them.
Cam strode up like an angry bull, his eyes assessing Stef the way
he would a perp in an interrogation room. “What did you say to her?”
Rafe was all about her. His hands found her shoulders. “Bella,
you’re crying. Are you all right?”
Rafe’s hands on her felt wonderful, but she was worried that Cam
was about to start a fight. She moved between them. “He was saying
that I should dance with you. It’s only fair. I danced with Rafe.”
Cam turned, his attention shifting from Stef to her in the blink of
an eye. “What?”
He stared down at her like he couldn’t quite believe what she’d
said. And his eyes weren’t exactly on her face. A little laugh escaped.
That was Cam. He wasn’t good at hiding what he felt or wanted. He’d
never been able to play the games he needed to play to move up with
the Bureau. Rafe had smoothed the way for him because they were
friends. She loved the fact that Cam almost never had a mask on.
She reached out and took his hand. “I said I would like my dance
now.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
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She had to lead him to the dance floor. He shuffled behind her, an
almost shy look on his face. She moved to the center and stepped
close to him, putting her arms around his neck. His handsome face
turned mulishly stubborn.
“If this is some trick, you should know that I’m not leaving. You
can’t say that you gave me my dance and now I have to go. If you
think that you can send me back to DC after one measly dance, then
you don’t know me.”
She laid her head against his chest. It felt so good to hear the beat
of his heart. “I know you, Cameron Briggs. I would have to get a tow
truck to haul your ass out of town if you didn’t want to go. I just
wanted to dance.”
Slowly, his arms came up and surrounded her. He clutched her
like he was afraid she would slip away. “I missed you, baby. I missed
you so much.”
“I missed you, too, bella.” Suddenly Rafe was right behind her.
He stepped in, and his arms circled her waist. He was careful to move
in time with Cam, and soon they were swaying to the music. All three
of them were dancing together, the men forming a protective circle
around her.
“Well, that was fast. It didn’t take those two long to move in once
the truth was out,” Holly said as she danced with Pastor Dennis,
who
ran the Feed Store Church.
She felt Rafe stiffen and start to move back.
Laura took a deep breath, thinking about Stef’s words, and let her
hand drift around to Rafe’s waist to keep him close. He moved back
in.
Pastor Dennis took it all with a smile on his face. “All good things
flow from admitting the truth with an open heart.”
“Not all of them,” Holly grumbled.
“Crap, what happened with Caleb?” Laura tried to look around,
but she couldn’t see the doctor.
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Holly shrugged. “Same old, same old. I asked him if he wanted to
go back to my place so we could talk, and he suddenly remembered
some very important surgery he had scheduled. For tonight. Without a
nurse. Or a hospital. I give up on him. I’m going to satisfy myself
with my prison love letters.”
Holly gave her a sad smile as the pastor danced her away.
Poor Holly. Caleb was breaking her heart, and they had never
even gone out. Would Holly be happier if she had at least gotten to be
intimate with the man who hurt her? Would she regret it? Or would
she do what Stef had said and forgive herself and be happy that at
least she had tried?
“Did you come back for the case?” She didn’t pull her head from
Cam’s chest. She simply asked the question and prayed they had the
right answer.
Cam’s head touched the top of her own. “I don’t care about the
case anymore. Don’t get me wrong. I want to kill him for what he did
to you, but I’m here because I’m crazy about you, Laura Rosen or
Niles, or whatever you call yourself.”
Rafe breathed against her neck, the warmth reassuring. “We’re
here for you, bella. Nothing else. We talked about the case because we thought it would force you to spend time with us. We’ve been
looking for you for years because we don’t want to live without you.”
Well, that was a pretty fine answer. Tears in her eyes, she stopped
dancing, disentangled herself, and started toward the parking lot.
She’d gotten ten feet when she realized they weren’t following. She
turned, and they looked like lost puppies.
“I’m going home. I thought we could talk better at my place. Do
you want to come home with me?” It was as plainly as she could put
it. She wanted them. Life was too short to not try. If it all went bad,
she would always have Bliss. She and Holly could be nuns together.
Maybe Alexei had a friend in witness protection who needed some
letter loving.
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But before she tried that, she was going to have at least one more
shot with the two who had gotten away.
They ran to catch up, each taking one of her hands as they walked
into the night.
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Chapter Eight
Cam slid into the back of the SUV beside Laura, his hips brushing
against hers.
Rafe turned the engine on, though Cam could see plainly through
the windshield mirror that he wasn’t thrilled with driving.
Cam didn’t care. He wasn’t about to let her sit by herself. She’d
invited them back to her place. Cam wasn’t exactly sure what that
meant relationship-wise, but the look in her eyes had dared him to try.
He wouldn’t turn down that challenge.
Rafe turned the key in the ignition, and the SUV purred to life.
“You need to take a left on the highway to get back to the valley.”
Laura sat forward, her body bending over.
“I know how to get to your place.” Rafe’s voice was flat. His
whole body betrayed his lack of enthusiasm for the current seating
situation. Cam had been faster. He’d tossed Rafe the keys and
climbed in the back with Laura. It was only fair. Rafe had gotten to
dance with her first. “I can be there very quickly.”
Cam didn’t need a long time. He had her to himself for the time it
took to get from point A to point B. He wasn’t going to waste a
minute.
Cam scooted over, unwilling to give her space. He slid his arm
over the backboard of the seat, his palm covering her shoulder. She
stiffened slightly, and Cam was just about to take his arm back when
she finally snuggled against him. She turned her head up, her bright
eyes finding his in the intimacy of the car. It was dark, but he could
see her. He couldn’t miss the way her eyes widened and softened as
she looked up at him.
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“Laura, I want to tell you—” he started.
He wanted to tell her everything that had happened since she’d
left. He wanted to know everything that had happened to her. He
wanted to know what it was like to live in this town. He wanted to
know why she had really walked away. The five years they had been
apart felt like centuries, and he needed to fill in the history.
She held a hand up to his lips, the pads of her fingers sparking
against his flesh. She might have kept the touch gentle, but Cam’s
reaction was like a fire lighting his skin. His cock was at full mast,
straining against the material of his pants.
“Not tonight. I don’t want to talk about it tonight.” Her voice was
breathy with longing.
His heart rate skittered. That sounded like an invitation. “If we’re
not going to talk, baby, then what exactly are we going to do?”
“You said you missed me.” Her fingers skimmed across his face.
“So fucking much.” She’d left a huge hole that had only started to
shrink the minute he saw her.
“Show me how much you missed me.”
Cam felt like he’d been let off the leash. He grabbed her and
hauled her into his lap. “Straddle me, baby.”
She threw one of her long legs over his hips so she straddled him
like a horse she was just about to ride. Her skirt bunched around her
knees. There was absolutely nothing between them but her panties
and his slacks and underwear. He could feel how hot her pussy was.
“Damn it,” Rafe cursed, hitting the steering wheel with the palm
of his hand. “I should have made you drive.”
Cam didn’t bother to reply. Rafe had made his bed, and Cam had
no intention of lying in it with him. Laura had given him permission,
and he was taking it. He thrust his hands into her hair. It was soft and silky, and he used it to pull her mouth toward his. He felt like a
starving man who had just been put at the front of the line at an all-
you-can-eat buffet. He wasn’t sure where to start. He wanted to inhale
her.
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Everything about her called to him. Her scent, the touch of her
skin, the sight of her breasts threatening to overflow her shirt. He was on sensory overload.
Laura took the choice out of his hands. She leaned over and
pressed her lips to his. It was a soft touch and not nearly enough for
Cam. She seemed hesitant, brushing their mouths together as though
trying to remember how to kiss.
Cam hadn’t forgotten. He dreamed about it every night. He let his
hands tighten in her hair and ran his tongue over her plump bottom
lip. Laura shivered and softened, giving him control of the kiss. Cam
surged into her mouth, her taste filling him. So long. He had waited so
long.
Cam took her mouth, slanting over her again and again. Their
tongues met and mated, sliding against each other. Laura’s arms
wound around his neck. He loosened his hold on her hair and trailed
down, seeking her breasts. He cupped them. They were bigger,
rounder. The weight she’d put on had gone to all the right places. She
was a sexy handful.
“Show me your breasts, baby.” He pulled away from her mouth,
needing to see them. He wanted her naked.
She leaned back just a little, and he could see the worry in her
eyes. He brushed his thumbs across her nipples. They tightened to
hard little nubs.
“Come on,” he cajoled. “You’re gorgeous, baby. I think you’re so
gorgeous. Five years has only made you more beautiful to me. Let me
see them.” He knew why she was hiding them. He’d read all the
reports. She would have scars, but she needed to know that no amount
of scars would make her less lovely.
“Please, bella. I want you naked by the time we get to your place.
Enjoy her now, Cam. I’ll be inside her as soon as I park the car.”
Rafe’s voice had taken on a guttural tone. Cam could see his eyes
through the rearview mirror. He wasn’t sure what Rafe could see, but
Rafe was obviously trying to be a voyeur.
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Cam chuckled. “I think he wants a show, baby. Let’s give him
one.”
She bit into her bottom lip, tugging it into her mouth. “It’s been a
long time for me, Cam. I haven’t actually been with a man since…”
Cam forced himself to slow down. He wasn’t terribly surprised
she hadn’t had sex. Laura had been very, very picky. She hadn’t dated
anyone the whole time he’d worked with her, though many men had
tried. But that hesitation in her voice could be more about de Sade
than them. That worried the hell out of him.
He softened his hands on her body, touching her in long, slow
strokes. He needed to be careful. He didn’t want to bring back any
bad memories. “Baby, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want