by Cynthia Eden
Her hands flattened on his chest. She didn’t even think of pushing him away. Why would she? Scarlett wanted him too much.
She rose onto her toes, opened her mouth and kissed him just as wildly. Grant wasn’t the only one who’d been afraid. But when Justin had been reaching for that gun, Scarlett hadn’t worried about her own life.
She’d worried about Grant.
She’d always feared for him. When they were dating, and he’d joined the military. When he’d disappeared into battles that he couldn’t discuss. When he’d become a ranger and his eyes had grown so shadowed.
And now...when he hunted for killers as a PI. When he put his life on the line so often, she was afraid.
He was addicted to the rush of adrenaline. She’d learned that long ago.
Just as she’d learned to live with her fear. But tonight...tonight it had been too close for them both.
Her hands shoved his shirt up. She touched hot skin. He pulled back long enough to send that T-shirt flying, and then her hands were on the buckle of his belt. She managed to unsnap his jeans and then she dragged down his zipper.
There was no hesitancy from her. No uncertainty. This was Grant. He was what she wanted.
Life was short. Fate was cruel. And in this moment, there would be no regrets. No fears. There would be only need and pleasure.
They made it to the bed. She wasn’t even really sure how, because she’d been kissing him the whole time, but Scarlett felt the soft mattress against the back of her legs, and then they were tumbling down onto it.
They were still kissing.
Only now they were both fighting to get her clothes off. The dress—well, it was easy enough to ditch that.
Then he caught her underwear and slid it down her legs. She arched toward him, needing this moment so much.
Pleasure could hold back the fear. Pleasure could make the nightmares go away.
Her bra was tossed aside. Then his mouth was on her breast. Caressing. Kissing. Even as he kissed her, his fingers were sliding between her thighs, stroking her core. Making her arch up against him. Her breath came faster and harder as her body yearned for release.
“Grant...I don’t want to wait.”
She wanted him. Now. And she was taking what she wanted.
She pushed him onto his back, rose above him and straddled his strong hips.
Her knees sank into the mattress. Her fingers threaded with his. Scarlett kept her eyes locked with Grant’s, and then she sank down, taking all of him into her.
He filled her fully, and a moan slipped from her. This was what she needed.
Up, down, her body moved. Her knees sank deeper into the mattress. His fingers tightened around hers.
She couldn’t look away from his eyes.
Up and down...she could feel the approach of her climax, coiling within her, getting closer and closer.
She leaned forward and kissed him. Loved the way he licked her lower lip.
Her lips kept moving, her body arching.
The coil was tighter, tighter—
His hips pushed against her, driving deep, and the pleasure hit her. She was kissing him when she climaxed. Tasting him and wondering if he could taste her pleasure, too.
His hips thrust again. Over and over, and the pleasure rocked through her in waves that wouldn’t end. Then he was growling her name, stiffening beneath her, and she knew the release had hit him, too.
Their hands were still linked. They were still kissing.
And, yes, she could taste his pleasure.
* * *
SCARLETT WAS ASLEEP in his arms, again.
She did that...just seemed to go right to sleep without any fears. Trusting that she was safe with him.
Moonlight flowed over them. She was beside him in the old bed, turned to face him. Her lashes cast shadows on her cheeks, and the curve of her shoulder looked both sensual and delicate.
He leaned forward and kissed that curve.
In her sleep, she murmured his name.
I won’t lose you.
Scarlett thought the threats to her were over, that it was time to go back to her real life. Grant had every intention of being part of that real life.
He wasn’t ready to be forgotten by Scarlett.
He wanted another chance with her. He’d do anything to get that chance. Anything.
Once more, his gaze returned to the window. In the distance, he could just see the roof of the main ranch house. He swallowed, pushing back the pain that wanted to rise within him. Life was filled with good and bad, he knew that.
He’d stayed away from this place because he couldn’t stand the shadows of pain that clung to the ranch.
Brodie and Davis had stayed there because, when they looked around them, the twins just saw the good memories.
Grant bent and kissed Scarlett’s shoulder once more. He wouldn’t be leaving her in the middle of the night again. He wouldn’t be running away. From now on, he intended to be at Scarlett’s side.
He just had to convince her that she needed him there.
* * *
IT WAS THE faint scratch of wood that woke Grant hours later. He came awake instantly, the way he’d always done back in his military days. His eyes flew open, his heart pounded frantically in his chest, and he realized that Scarlett was still sleeping in his arms.
She slept deeply, easily.
But he could hear the creak of wood from the outer room. Starlight still filled the room, spilling in from the window. Dawn hadn’t sent light streaking over the sky yet, and under the cover of darkness, someone had just sneaked into the guesthouse.
He slid from the bed. Brodie or Davis wouldn’t just come in, not with Scarlett there. Could it be Sullivan? Or even Mac?
But, no, they didn’t use the guesthouse.
Grant’s steps were silent as he made his way toward the bedroom door. He could hear more faint creaks, and he knew his intruder was coming his way.
Grant yanked open the door and launched himself forward, a snarl on his lips and his hands ready to—
Grab his sister?
Because he recognized the desperate scream that had just come from his intruder. It was one that had haunted him for far too long.
After he’d come back home, Ava had stayed with him for months. And each night, her screams had woken him. He would never forget the sound of his sister’s screams.
“Ava, I’m sorry!” He immediately released her.
She staggered back.
Lights flooded on behind Grant. Scarlett was up; he knew she’d turned on those lights, and he could hear her footsteps racing toward him.
Ava was taking deep, gulping breaths. Her eyes were wide and terrified. All the color was gone from her cheeks, and her body trembled.
“I’m sorry,” he said again, trying to make his voice sound soothing. He always tried to soothe Ava, but he never seemed to say or do the right thing with her. “I thought you were an intruder.”
She flinched.
Hell. “Ava...”
She backed up a few more steps. Her gaze darted between him and Scarlett. “I didn’t know anyone was here. I just...I needed a place to crash tonight.”
He took a tentative step toward her. “You should be at college.” She had only a semester to go before she graduated.
Ava swiped at her cheeks. “I needed to come home. I just...I needed to be here.”
That wasn’t like her. Usually, the last place she wanted to be was at the ranch.
“Hello, Ava,” Scarlett said softly. “It’s been a long time.”
“Scarlett?”
Grant glanced over at Scarlett. She’d grabbed the sheet and wrapped it around her body.
Oh, hell, how awkward was this? He was
wearing only jeans and Scarlett looked sexy as all hell wrapped in that sheet, with her hair tumbling around her shoulders.
“I’ll, um, get dressed,” she said as her cheeks flushed. She hurried back into the bedroom and shut the door behind her.
“Scarlett,” Ava said, shaking her head. “Scarlett Stone? I remember her...I mean, she was ahead of me in school, but she was always around you.”
No, I was always around her.
“I read about her in the paper.” Ava had backed up a few more feet. “Did she kill her fiancé?”
Grant’s back teeth locked. “No.” He ran a hand over his jaw. “Scarlett is innocent, and we think we just caught the man who was framing her.” He paused. Hell, he might as well tell her. “After he torched my place.”
Her jaw dropped.
“That’s why we’re here,” he said, giving a slow nod. “We needed a place to crash, too.” He put his hands on his hips. “That’s my excuse, Ava. What’s yours?”
She looked away from him. “Sometime, it just gets to be...too much, you know? I feel like people are always whispering about me. Always watching me. I hate this place,” she said starkly. “The ranch does nothing but make me hurt, but...at least no one here stares at me like I’m a freak.”
“You’re no freak.” He marched to her side. Pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. She’d looked so shell-shocked, so broken when he’d flown from the Middle East, back to Austin. The docs had even put her in a psychiatric ward. And left her there.
I came back to take care of you. That was exactly what he would always do.
The door squeaked open behind him. He caught the scent of vanilla.
“I didn’t do it,” Ava whispered, the words so soft that he had to strain to hear her.
But they were words she’d said before. Words that pierced him to the heart right then, just as they had when he’d seen her in the psychiatric ward.
I didn’t do it.
There was a reason he’d reacted so strongly when Scarlett had told him that she was being set up for murder. That she was innocent.
Most folks in the area thought his sister was guilty of murder, too. That she’d gotten away scot-free.
But he knew Ava was innocent. Just as he knew Scarlett was. And one day, he would find out who’d really killed his parents.
“I never thought you did,” Grant said. But some people...some cops had been too quick with their suspicions. A girl at the scene right at the time of the kills? A girl who’d escaped without any injury at all? She must be guilty. If she didn’t do it herself, then she was in on the crime.
The allegations had run rampant. And after all this time, those allegations still simmered with local law enforcement. Until we find the real killers, there will always be some folks who think my sister murdered our parents.
“I miss them so much.” Ava’s voice was still that soft whisper. “I keep thinking it will get better, but it never does.”
He pressed a kiss to her temple.
She slid from his arms. Ava glanced over at Scarlett and winced. “I am so sorry. I never would have interrupted...come sneaking in like this if I thought—”
Scarlett lifted her hand. “This is your home, not mine. You don’t need to apologize to me for anything.”
Ava shook her head. “Still too nice, huh? That was always you.”
Yes, it had been.
“I can go to the main house,” Ava offered, but even as she said the words, terror flashed in her eyes.
“You know—” Scarlett was making her way to the small kitchen “—I think I could use some coffee. I mean, dawn isn’t far off. Why not have a cup?”
Grant’s brows rose.
Scarlett smiled at his sister. “It would be nice to catch up with you again. It really has been too long.”
And Ava smiled back at her. “Yes, it has.”
Grant watched them, realizing how at ease Ava seemed with Scarlett, and realizing why. When Scarlett looked at his sister, her eyes were warm. Her gaze was open. Friendly.
Not suspicious. Not judging. Scarlett knew exactly what it felt like to be suspected by those close to her, and she wasn’t going to treat Ava that way.
She also wasn’t going to turn Grant’s sister away.
He rolled back his shoulders as he stared at them. Scarlett was poking at the coffeepot—the thing looked ancient—and saying it would be a miracle if they got anything drinkable from it.
Some of the shadows had lifted from Ava’s eyes. She was still smiling at Scarlett.
His chest ached as he watched them. Two women who’d been falsely accused. Two women who’d been through hell.
But they’d come out stronger from their nightmares.
Two women...and he loved them both. In an instant, he would give his life for either of them.
* * *
IT WASN’T OVER.
Justin Turner was in the hospital, wailing for all to hear about his innocence. It was hard to buy an innocent act when the gas cans had been found in the fool’s truck. A truck he’d stolen from a neighbor.
Sloppy work. Very sloppy.
It wasn’t surprising that he’d been caught. Or shot. Grant McGuire wasn’t the kind of man who’d just let his enemies slip away. He would want vengeance, payback from those who’d wronged him.
He could understand that. He wanted his payback, too.
What he couldn’t understand was the man’s attachment to Scarlett Stone. Grant should have been able to see her for exactly what she was.
The woman left a path of destruction in her wake. She never looked back to see the havoc she’d caused. She moved ahead, on to her next target.
She probably thought she was safe now, that the danger was over.
Her name would be cleared. Her job would be given back to her. The papers would paint her as the victim.
She’d get her life back. Scarlett would think that she’d gotten away from judgment.
She was dead wrong.
This wasn’t the plan that had been in place for Scarlett. She should have suffered, should have lived her life behind bars, day in and day out. That would have been exactly what she deserved.
A fitting punishment.
But, no, things had changed now. Framing her wasn’t an option. So if Scarlett’s life couldn’t be made into a living hell, well...
Then she just wouldn’t get to live.
Chapter Ten
Scarlett walked outside, enjoying the view of the sun as it slowly rose into the sky. Her steps were slow and certain as she headed toward the bluff.
To Grant.
She saw him, standing with his legs braced apart, his hands by his sides, as he stared out at the water. His posture was so stiff and tense. Grant never seemed to relax. Or maybe it was just that the demons chasing him never let him rest.
She stopped a few feet behind him. “Your sister’s changed a lot.” Not the girl she remembered at all. A beautiful woman now, smart, warm, but with shadows in her eyes. Just like her brothers.
“You know the stories, don’t you?” Grant was staring out at the water.
“Yes, but I never believed them.”
He glanced back at her. “Is that why you came to me, telling me that you were innocent? You knew how I’d react, because of my sister?”
Scarlett shook her head and went to his side. She didn’t touch him, just stood there, gazing at the view. “I went to you because...ten years ago, you stood out here with me. You broke my heart—”
He jerked. “Scarlett...”
“Well, you did.” Why lie? “You broke my heart in one breath, and in the next you told me that if I ever needed you, you’d be there for me.” She turned to face him. “I knew I could count on you, despite everything else. So
that is why I went to you for help. We might not have made it as lovers, but we were always friends.”
Pain flashed across his face.
“Tell me about them,” she said, because she didn’t want to talk about what she and Grant had lost. She wanted to try and take some of the shadows from his eyes. He’d helped her. He’d been there when she needed him most.
But what about when he needed someone? She wanted to help him.
His gaze slid toward the ranch house. She never looked away from him.
“I’d been gone for five months on my latest mission when I got the news. Five months, and I was on the other side of the world when they died.” His words were low, and emotion simmered just beneath his surface. “They were at home—you’re supposed to be safe at home—and they were killed. Intruders came in...and my parents were shot. Both at point-blank range.” His breath rushed out. “It was two shooters. Their weapons were never found, and the bullets never matched up to any other crimes.”
“Ava...”
“Ava was supposed to be at the homecoming dance that night, but she and her date had a fight at the last minute. She stayed here instead. Here. She was in the stables when she heard the first shot.” His eyes shut.
Scarlett had read these details in the paper before, but hearing the pain in Grant’s voice as he recounted the story made everything different.
“She ran to the house, spotted our mother on the floor...Ava could see her through the window. Our father—Ava says he saw her. That he shook his head when she tried to get closer. Then he started screaming, yelling at the shooters.”
“What did he say?” Because that hadn’t been in any newspaper account.
“He said, ‘I’ll never tell you. No matter what you do. I’ll never tell.’”
Grant’s eyes opened. “And Ava said they shot him. When she saw him fall, that’s when she ran. She went back to the stables. Saddled her horse and didn’t stop running until she got to the Montgomery ranch.”
“She blames herself.” That had been obvious to Scarlett.
He nodded. “She thinks she could have saved them. She doesn’t get it...that if she’d gone in there, she would be dead, too.”