“You’re more than ready,” he said and lowered his mouth to hers. He plunged his tongue in deeply and squeezed her by her ass, then cupped her breast, and she moaned at the deep sensations she felt. She let go a moment and felt his thick, hard muscles, inhaled his cologne, acknowledged in her head his important position in this town, in the county and it all intimidated her as thoughts of his, or his brothers hurting her filled her mind. Aleck and Mavis particularly as they recently retired from the Marine Corps and they had PTSD. She pulled back, and he released her lips but then trailed his mouth along her jaw and neck.
“You’ll let us in. One step at a time, one encounter like this at a time with each of us and you’ll see it’s meant to be.” She didn’t respond with words but instead pressed him away from her and fixed herself up.
She looked up at him and could see he was shocked by how she easily pushed him away after that kiss. It wasn’t easy doing this. It was so damn hard, but she just couldn’t let go of the past, of the pain, the loss, the hurt and the failure to save her own fiancé’s life. Nor could she risk being physically struck, abused by a man more powerful, one who was dominant and in control like Tavern had been. She could remember the strikes to her body, hell, her face, and the fear. The dirty, worthless sensation she had was her motivation to keep a wall up and to be alone and do what was necessary to save others before they destroyed or lost their lives and loved ones.
“I need to get back inside. I appreciate your assistance, Sheriff. Have a good night, and be safe out there,” she said, dismissing him and another hot and heavy encounter that would leave her body aching all night, especially in bed, alone tonight.
Chapter 1
Athena could tell that Kane was upset as he stood on the back porch. One look at Culter, Chase, and Fox and she knew they were concerned for their sister. Athena had recently spent some time with Charlie and adored her. She was young like Athena, but Charlie was able to finish college, have a career and achieve success as a therapist and social worker—unlike Athena who had her twenties stolen from her. She approached Kane and hugged him from behind.
“Why don’t you go and talk to her,” she suggested. Culter snorted.
“Yeah right,” he said.
She glanced at him but kept her arms around Kane until he turned around and pulled her in front of him instead. She ran her palms up his chest.
“I don’t mean confront her and make demands. I mean actually talk to her about her feelings. Maybe see if she’s okay after such an emotional situation.”
“We’re not the therapists, Athena,” Fox said to her.
She glanced at him and that snappy tone that was all Fox. “Oh, I know you aren’t. You’re her brothers though, and you love her. If she was a thousand miles away or off on another adventure in a danger zone you wouldn’t know about any situations she wound up in, but here in Cherry Hill and Central Valley, you can know, and you can be supportive, so maybe she’ll let you in on what she’s feeling,” she said.
“What she’s feeling?” Chase asked her.
“Athena, she’s resisting Titus and his brothers out of fear and her obsession with saving every soldier she can save because she thinks she’s at fault for Tavern’s death,” Kane said to her.
“She might feel guilty, wonder if she didn’t see any signs, or whatever and that’s normal, but maybe she’s looking at things like she could help another woman, another family from suffering from the pain, from the loss like she suffered. Ever think of that?” she asked.
Kane squeezed her ass cheek and shook his head at her. “You’re something else, ya know that?”
She gave a soft smile. “I know that you’re all tough men, Titus and his brothers included, and it’s hard to be vulnerable and to open up yourselves to emotions, but as I know personally, every day is a gift. Opportunities surround us, but we can’t be forced to take those opportunities or risk what protective instincts and walls we have in place. Sometimes you need a little coaxing.”
Fox pressed up against her back and slid his palm up under her blouse and against her breast. He kissed along her neck. “And how do we go about coaxing our sister to decrease the chances she’s taking, and perhaps open up her heart again?”
“By being there for her, Fox. By communicating with her and being supportive of her. It can be lonely surrounded by those walls, and easy to put up a front and get lost in work, or responsibilities as time slips away, and so do the opportunities. Perhaps she didn’t share all the details of her relationship with Tavern.”
“We love you, baby. We want this kind of love, companionship for our sister, too,” Chase said, and he and Culter stood there, too.
“If it’s meant to be, it will happen. Charlie and I have plans tomorrow afternoon, remember, shopping in Central Valley and then lunch at Sparks.”
“Oh yeah, we remember, and we didn’t exactly say yes to it,” Culter said, and she scrunched her eyes and stepped back from Kane and Fox’s hold.
“What do you mean?” she asked and placed her hands on her hips. Culter raised one of his eyebrows at her stance, and she lowered her hands. “You’re teasing me,” she said, and he winked.
“Not entirely. I may tag along to make sure you’re safe. Don’t want any men hitting on our woman,” Culter added.
“Stop. Do you see me saying I need to tag along with you when you go out?” she asked.
Chase pulled her between him and Culter. “Hell no,” Culter said and gave her ass a slap.
“That’s because I trust you, even though Mary Sue still likes to flirt with you and touch your arm or ask for your help lifting a stupid bag into her car. I mean seriously, do I lose my trust in you over that?” she asked Culter.
“She’s a kid,” Culter replied.
“She’s twenty-one, and definitely not a kid with her body and those short shorts she wears and low-cut tops.”
“She’s got nothing on you, Athena,” Culter said and pulled her closer and against his chest. She narrowed her eyes at him, feeling giddy inside. They teased one another often about certain young people in town who flirted with each of them, even Athena. “I love you, baby, and she doesn’t have a thing on you or this sexy, hot body, big tits, and firm, round ass.”
“Culter,” she reprimanded as he squeezed each body part, lowered her top and lifted her breast out partially from her blouse and bra to lick her breast and find her nipple. “Culter,” she moaned, but then Chase was pushing down her pants. Used his thigh to spread her thighs and then slid fingers to her cunt. Sure as hell she was wet, totally busted and turned on by her men even from a simple, ridiculous conversation.
“Chase.”
“Oh yeah, baby. We are going back to bed.”
“Fuck the bed. Use the table right here,” Fox commanded, and that was it. It was on, as she was stripped of her clothing and then loved thoroughly by her men. She smiled softly. She wished for this for Charlie, too. For every woman so they wouldn’t be alone, would never feel pain, and instead blissful happiness.
Kane took a ride into Central Valley around lunchtime so he could visit Charlie. He couldn’t help but to smile to himself thinking about Athena’s advice and how she got them talking about their emotions and addressing concerns they had. It made him think about Charlie, about how independent she had always been, even as a child. As the oldest, sixteen plus years older than her, he remembered her childhood. Remembered how much she missed him and his brothers when they joined the military, and the time she took to write letters and be supportive.
It hadn’t been a surprise when she got romantically involved with Tavern. It was just as much of a shock to all of them when Tavern committed suicide as it was to Charlie. When he thought about it, he really didn’t know what their lives were like living together. Was she happy? Did Tavern treat her right? When they were in public together, Kane didn’t pick up on anything strange, but perhaps he really didn’t watch closely because they were engaged, his sister was happy, and he avoided any serious rela
tionships himself. He and his brothers had their own chaos going on, and the last thing on their minds was romance or settling down. So much had changed the moment Athena arrived in town. That instant attraction, and the interest in wanting to learn everything about her was overwhelming.
Titus and his brothers felt that way about Charlie. He saw it in Titus’s eyes, in his response toward Charlie, as well. Kane’s concern of the large age gap was no longer a concern. He did worry about Aleck and Mavis more than Corey and Titus because they just recently retired from the service and suffered from PTSD. That was another reason his sister resisted her attraction to them. She feared another situation where she would have her heart broken. It’s easier to help strangers, to not have a connection of heart to heart, or a romance if things went wrong.
He swallowed hard as he pulled into the parking lot and saw a man leaving. When he locked gazes with him, he was surprised to see that it was one of his deputies, Prime Jameson’s brother, Ferno. He looked great. A huge improvement from months ago when he saw him at the town fair, and he seemed sickly and withdrawn.
“Hey, Sheriff McCabe,” Ferno greeted him with a handshake and a squeeze to Kane’s shoulder.
“How are you, Ferno?”
“I’m good. Are you here to see your sister?” he asked.
“Yep. Thought I would see if she was free for lunch.”
“She’s inside with Estella.”
“What have you been up to?” Kane asked.
“A lot actually. Before Charlie left for her overseas trip, she hooked me up with a construction company here in Central Valley, and I’m taking some college classes online to finish my degree I didn’t get to finish while in the military.”
“That’s fantastic. Good for you.”
“Thanks. I owe it to Charlie. She’s an angel for sure.”
Kane smiled. “Glad to hear.”
“How about you? Hear that you and your brothers snagged yourselves a gorgeous woman.”
‘We sure did.”
“That’s great. I think if we can get Prime to settle down a little, we could be in the same boat one day soon. Just need to find that perfect woman for us.”
“You will. Take your time though. Believe me, when it happens it’s a shocker.”
Ferno chuckled and then shook Kane’s hand before he headed to his truck. Kane couldn’t help but to grin. Ferno looked great. He really seemed to be back to a normal routine and not on edge or antisocial.
Kane opened the door to the office building and saw Estella.
“Hey, to what do we owe this pleasure?” she asked, meeting him around her desk and greeting him hello with a kiss to his cheek.
“Came to see my sister, maybe steal her away for lunch.”
“Oh how nice. That’s a great idea.”
“Hey, what are you doing here bro?” Charlie asked, coming from her office with a file. She handed it to Estella. “Thanks, Estella.”
“No worries. Your brother is taking you to lunch.”
“How are you doing?” Kane asked Charlie and looked her over in her conservative attire. She wore a slim-fitting green dress, sleeveless, with heeled sandals. His sister was stunning with long blond hair and unique green eyes that stood out. They were identical to their mother’s eyes. He gave a smile.
“I’m doing good. I could probably grab a salad or something at Percy’s if that’s good for you. I have to get to General in an hour for a meeting.”
“Perfect. Let's go.” He waved good-bye to Estella, and then he and Charlie headed out. He followed her car as she drove through town and got a spot close enough to walk to Percy’s and then the hospital afterward. They walked inside and were both greeted by multiple people before they took their lunch to a table outside. He took a bite of his burger as she started eating her salad with grilled chicken.
“So, I was wondering how you were doing?” he asked her.
She chewed her salad and squinted at him. “What do you mean?” she asked, after swallowing and then reaching for her bottle of water.
“I mean after the incident yesterday with Kyle.”
She took a deep breath and exhaled. “Is this what the lunch is all about? You wanting to reprimand me for doing my job?” He raised both eyebrows up at her, and she immediately exhaled and went back to eating.
“That isn’t what I’m doing. I’m asking how you feel after handling such an intense situation. I know you care about every one of your clients and are willing to do whatever you can to help them. I just figured maybe you needed someone to talk to,” he said and then took a bite of his burger. This emotional stuff was a lot harder then he thought. He couldn’t believe that he listened to Athena’s advice. What was he thinking?
“Did Athena put you up to this?” she asked him.
He looked at her. “What? Why would you ask that?”
“Kane, you, Culter, Chase and even more so, Fox, are the hardest men I know. You don’t do soft conversations or ask about emotions. I know this has something to do with Athena.”
“Even if she did give a little advice and make us see that you might not know we’re totally here for you, the point is we care. We worry about you all the time, and well, we get it. Get why you do what you do. Our concern is, what about you? About your time to be cared for, to be loved.”
“Oh please don’t do this. Did Titus say something to you? Jesus, what is going on?” she said and put her fork down.
He squinted. “Titus? What does he have to do with this?”
She stared at him, exhaled and looked away.
“Charlie, I’m your brother, your family and I love you. This is hard shit for me, the emotions and crap. Come on now, talk to me. What did Titus do?”
She looked at him and then around them before she leaned closer. “Kissed me. Told me he and his brothers were losing their patience with me.” He smirked. She threw down her napkin and leaned back and huffed. “See, this is what I’m talking about. You just said you were here for me, Kane.”
He chuckled. “I am. I am definitely here for you. Just figured you shouldn’t be so shocked. They’ve had their eyes on you for more than a year. A whole damn year watching you, worrying about you and then freaking out when you left to go overseas.”
“What?”
“Yes indeed, they were freaking out. Titus called me a few times, starting off asking about a local case but then asking if I heard from you and if you were okay.” Her angry expression softened. She stared at him.
“Sweetie, would it be so bad to start out slow and maybe date again?”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to.”
“I don’t believe that. I’m sure you’re scared of getting close to someone. We get that.”
“No, you don’t get it. Not really. You fell head over heels for Athena.”
“That’s right. We did, and Fox was resistant big time, but it was meant to be. I think Titus and his brothers are good men.” She gave him a sassy look. “Well, if I’m honest with you, I think they’re a little too old, but when there’s an attraction so deep, and they care like they do, age doesn’t matter. Perhaps them being older, more experienced in life, in dealing with death, too, they could understand.” He saw the tears hit her eyes.
She looked away again. “I just don’t think I can handle it. I’m not ready. It…scares me okay.”
“That’s understandable. All those fears, your personal experience even with counseling afterwards led you to your career. To your life mission to help other soldiers, other first responders deal with their experiences and hold on to life. That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a life of your own.”
Love Heals Page 2