“Is this the only way into the kitchen?” he whispered back.
Kyle shook his head, using hand signals to show there was a circular route through the living room to the other side of the kitchen.
Deke nodded, pointing for Kyle to go that direction. He’d go with the direct route and try to get the madman’s attention focused on him.
He showed five fingers for the countdown of how long he’d wait to go.
Kyle nodded and sneaked out of the cellar into the living room.
Deke counted to five in his head, then stepped out of the cellar. Creeping down the hall, his back against the wall so he was in the shadows, he held the gun out in front of him with both hands, just like Gage had taught him years ago.
Relief, fear and anger slammed into him one right after another when he was close enough to see into the kitchen. Libby was alive and looked unharmed. But she was duct taped to a chair in the center of the room, which had been flooded with kerosene. Across from her, as if he were having morning coffee, sat Banyon. In one hand he held a cigarette in the other, a lighter.
Behind Libby was a door. It moved slightly. Kyle was in place.
“Let her go, Banyon,” Deke said, aiming the gun at the other man’s chest.
* * * * *
Deke.
Libby nearly fainted with relief.
Deke was here. He’d found her. Tears filled her eyes as she tried to focus on the man she loved.
“I said, let her go, Banyon. We know it was you that set the fires. Hurting Ms. Wilson will only make things go worse for you.”
Ms. Wilson?
Libby blinked back the tears and finally got a good look at Deke’s hard-as-stone face and the cold gaze he leveled at the other man. He took another step closer, standing at the kitchen door opening.
“Don’t pretend she doesn’t mean anything to you, Chief Reynolds. I saw you two together. At her house. In her living room. You would’ve taken her there on the couch if her phone hadn’t rung.”
He’d been watching them.
Suddenly, that tender moment between them felt sordid. Libby wanted to hurl.
“She wanted to give herself to you,” Banyon said, holding his hands out in front of him, the old-fashioned lighter out in front of him.
“No, Todd. Please,” she begged.
“Put it down, Banyon. I will shoot you.” Deke took another step closer.
“Her sins have to be purged. The only way is for her to die with me, the only man worthy of her.”
He flicked the lighter on.
A shot rang out.
Libby screamed, struggling against her bonds.
Banyon dropped to the floor like a load of bricks, his entire body engulfed with flames that danced like devilish imps. They jumped to the floor and suddenly a ring of fire shot up between her and Deke.
“Libby!” Deke yelled.
“Get out, Deacon. It’s too dangerous!” she yelled. Behind her, she heard a tearing sound. She looked to the side and saw Kyle bending at the chair.
“Coach, I can’t get through all this duct tape. I need a knife,” he said.
“Got it. Which drawer?” Deke asked as dashed to the side of the kitchen.
“Second drawer to the left of the sink.” Kyle kept trying to tear the tape, even bending to gnaw at it with his teeth.
“You have to get out of here. Both of you,” she pleaded again.
“Not happening, sweetheart,” Deke said as he leaped through the flames, two knives in hand. “Not without you.”
He and Kyle quickly sawed through the tape and then she was up and in Deke’s arms. Her nose pressed into his neck to hold off the nauseous smell of burning flesh.
There was a crash from the front of the house. Libby looked up to see Gage and two firemen rushing into the house. “Hold on you guys, you’re gonna get wet.”
And with that the hoses opened full force on the kitchen, the fire and the three of them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
It was an hour before the fire was deemed completely out. The clouds had finally opened and a low, steady rain helped the firemen keep the blaze contained to the back of the house.
Once news was out that Libby, Deke and Kyle were safe, the crowd at the café had flooded the area, chipping in to help as needed. Little by little, the extra help and spectators had drifted home.
Now Libby sat huddled in the back of the Peaches ’N Cream truck, wrapped in a quilt one of the neighbors had brought out to her, while the men milled around the house, inside and out. Lorna had sent Kyle and Rachel back to manage the café until closing. Since the house would be uninhabitable for the residents, each of their employers had stepped up to provide temporary housing for them. Kyle would spend the night in one of the two apartments over the café, the other being Pete’s home.
“Who knew that Todd was more trouble than the young men we were trying to help?” Lorna said, handing Libby a cup of hot cider from the thermos she’d brought with her.
“No accounting for crazy,” Harriett said in her succinct way.
Libby gave a humorless chuckle and sipped the cider, another shiver running through her.
“The fear will go away,” Bobby said, laying her hand on Libby’s shoulder. The other three ladies had climbed into the van with her once the rain had started. “It’s been six months since I had to climb down into that tunnel for Gage and sometimes, especially late at night when I think about it, the same kind of shudder hits me.”
“What do you do?” she asked, feeling like such a wimp that she was reacting now, when all the danger had passed.
Bobby grinned at her. “Well, if Gage’s next to me in the bed, I just curl into him. He takes all the fear away.”
All four of them were laughing when Deke and Gage stepped up to the van door. Libby looked up to find Deke’s intense brown eyes focused on her, his lips pressed in a thin line and his hands thrust deep into his almost dry jeans. She quickly looked down to fight the tears in her eyes and gripped the thermos cup in her hands tighter.
“What’s got you all in a good mood?” Gage asked.
The rain had let up and Bobby climbed out of the truck. “Oh, I was just telling them how you help me get over my flashbacks to the tunnel cave-in last spring.”
He wrapped her in his arms. “Always glad to help.”
Lorna and Harriett exchanged a knowing look, then climbed out of the van.
“Everything settled in there?” Lorna asked, nodding at the house.
Gage nodded. “The ambulance took Banyon’s body away and the fire’s out. Nothing more we can do until Mike comes to investigate the arson in the morning. But with Libby’s, Deke’s and Kyle’s accounts of what happened, I’m pretty sure we’ve solved the firebug problem.”
Their voices drifted off as the quartet moved to the front of the truck, leaving Libby alone with Deke.
“You ready to go?” Deke finally asked, his usually raspy voice even deeper tonight.
She nodded, setting the cup aside, her hands suddenly shaking. “I don’t…I don’t think I can drive.”
“I’ll take you home. We’ll get your car tomorrow.”
He held out a hand and she slipped hers into it, letting him help her out of the van. He didn’t let go once she was out, but walked her down the street to his truck, the quilt still wrapped around her.
They didn’t talk, not on the way to the truck and not on the way to her house. There was so much to say, but Libby’s emotions were too raw for idle chatter. At the house, Deke parked, then grabbed something out of the back of the cab, coming around to open her door. He dropped her bag in her lap. Tears filled her eyes.
“You saved my bag.”
Without saying anything, he reached in and scooped her into his arms. With a swift kick to the truck door, he carried her up to the front entrance. She fumbled in the bag, finally finding her key and unlocking the door. He carried her inside then straight up the stairs to her room. Stopping at the edge of her bed, he let go of
her legs so she could stand in front of him.
“Deacon, what I said—” she started to say, but he stilled her with his fingers to her lips.
“It’s okay, Libby,” he whispered, his voice husky with emotion.
“I didn’t mean it.” Tears filled her eyes and rolled down her face.
“Shh, sweetheart,” he said, cupping her face between his hands and tilting her head until her watery gaze met his. Tears were in his eyes, too. “I know you didn’t. You were saying what you thought he wanted to hear.”
Unable to say more, she nodded.
“You were staying alive.” He leaned in and kissed her softly, briefly. “Waiting for me.”
Claiming her mouth again, this time with more force, devouring her lips with his as if he’d die if he ever let go. Wrapping her arms around his body, she clutched his shirt in her hands, straining to pull him into her, needing to feel every inch of him pressed tightly to her. He slid his tongue into her mouth and she met it with her own.
Then the damn shaking started.
He broke off the kiss with a curse, sweeping the damp quilt from her body. “Got to get you out of these wet clothes,” he said, working the buttons of her cotton blouse. She tried to help, but her fingers shook too much. He caught her hands in his and stilled them. “Let me, love.”
She swallowed the emotions that threatened to choke her and let her hands drop to her sides as he worked the small buttons with his big fingers. It took him a minute or two, but then he was pushing it off her shoulders, his hands continuing down to the button and zipper of her skirt. He pushed it down her legs along with her panties and she stepped out of them, along with her shoes. Finally he went to her bra, opening the front-closing clasp nestled between her breasts.
Standing naked before him, she shivered. He pulled her close with one arm, reaching with the other to pull back the covers. Scooping her up, he slid her into the cool sheets and drew the bed quilt over her. Another shiver wracked her body, and she whimpered at the loss of his body heat.
“Just a second, sweetheart,” he said, quickly shucking off his shirt, shoes and socks. Then he pulled a small square packet out of the pocket of his jeans and laid it on the bedside table. His jeans and boxers were next. Finally, he crawled under the covers with her, drawing her up against his body.
The shaking became so hard, she thought she might be having a seizure.
“Can’t…stop…shaking.”
“Shh, sweetheart,” he said against her head, his heart beating next to her ear, his hand sliding up and down her back. “It’s the adrenaline. It’ll wear off soon. Try not to fight it.”
The heat he gave off slowly seeped through the soul-deep cold she’d been frozen in since realizing Todd meant to kill her.
“He was…going to…burn me…alive.” She sobbed, eyes clenched tight, but the shaking had slowed.
“I wasn’t going to let that happen.” He pressed her in tighter. “I’ve got you. I’m never going to let you go.” He pulled back. “I love you, Libby. I always have. I always will.”
She stared up into those deep-brown eyes, reading there the love he had and knew now was the time to tell him.
Deke fought the urge to press the issue, to claim her in the age-old way a man claimed his woman, but something flickered in her blue eyes and he found himself holding his breath. “What is it, sweetheart? Don’t you believe me? I know I was stupid ten years ago when I threw away what we had—”
She laid a finger on his lips. “No, I know you’ve always loved me, just as I love you.”
Her words should thrill him, but he could feel the tenseness in her body. Something was holding her back. “Then what’s wrong?”
“I have something to tell you. Something I should’ve told you a very, very long time ago.” A tear slipped down her cheek.
His chest grew tight at her distress and he wiped the tear away with a finger. “Whatever it is, sweetheart, it will be okay.”
She stared up at him for what seemed like forever.
“The day of the fire I had just found out I was pregnant.”
The words hit him like a sucker-punch.
“I was going to tell you after you finished your shift. I had a big dinner planned. I was so happy.”
“What happened?” he asked, already knowing what she was going to say.
“About a week after the fire, I miscarried. The doctor said it was probably the stress.”
“Oh, God, Libby,” he whispered, pulling her in against him once more.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just…didn’t know how…then you wouldn’t see me.”
“I’m so sorry,” he said again, leaning down to kiss her face, her salty cheeks, her lips. “So sorry. I was such an ass. You were suffering alone and I was so selfish.”
“No, you weren’t,” she said, returning his kisses, her hand sliding up to stroke the scars on his left side, the other brushing off the tears sliding down his face. “You were fighting to stay alive. I couldn’t add to that burden. I’d already lost so much. Bill, the baby. I couldn’t lose you, too.”
The need to comfort each other over the loss slowly took on a deeper meaning. A need to reaffirm their love for each other. A need to be joined as one. A need so primal they couldn’t ignore it any longer.
When she was moist, slick and begging him to come into her, Deke took the time to protect her as he slid the condom in place. As much as they would’ve loved the child they’d created, the next time they were expecting, he wanted it to be a conscious choice they made—together.
Then he slid into her, joining their bodies as one. Braced up on his elbows he stared down into her beautiful face, not moving, enjoying the hot sheath that held him tight. Home.
“What?” she asked.
He smoothed damp hair off her face.
“This is home. The place I’ve always meant to be.”
“It is,” she said, then her lips turned up in a wicked smile. “But if you don’t get moving, I may have to rethink—”
He pulled back, then thrust forward again.
“Oh, God,” she whispered in a husky rush. Sliding her feet up the back of his legs, opening up wider for him. “Do that again.”
“What? This?” he asked through gritted teeth as he repeated the motion.
“Yes. More. Please.”
With that plea his control broke. Thrust after deep thrust he moved faster and harder, covering her mouth with his to swallow each of her small moans of pleasure. Her nails ran over his back, digging in near his spine, her heels locking around his ass cheeks to hold on as he rode her hard.
The tempo spun out of control.
She broke her mouth free.
“Deacon!” she screamed and seemed to spasm all around him.
The next thrust he stayed buried to the hilt as his orgasm ripped through him.
Every inch of her body relaxed and limp from their lovemaking, Libby lay sprawled on her stomach on one side of the bed. Unable to move, she watched Deke climb out of the bed and head to the bathroom.
Outside the low rumble of thunder and the sound of rain hitting the window and roof in a steady rhythm made her smile. Finally the heavens were sending a cooling rain to quench the earth’s thirst, same as having Deke with her quenched hers.
A few minutes later he strutted back in, gloriously naked in the bathroom light. She couldn’t help but enjoy watching all that hard muscle she’d had her hands and body on earlier. Mine. The idea filled that spot in her heart which had been vacant since the day of the fire.
He’d been right.
He was home. Right where he belonged.
Stopping at the bed, he bent to pick up his jeans.
“Where are you going?” she asked. Certainly he wasn’t leaving.
He palmed something out of the pocket and then grinned at her. “Nowhere, I just wanted to get something.”
Dropping the pants once more, he slid into the bed beside her.
“If that’s another c
ondom, I don’t think I can take another session just now,” she said, only half complaining.
He chuckled. “No. Besides, I put three on the table earlier.”
“Three?” she said, leaning up on one elbow. “Rather cocky of yourself, don’t you think?”
“Well, it’s been ten years.” Something in the way he said that caught her attention.
“You mean you haven’t? Either? In ten years?”
“Celibate as a monk since the last time you and I were together.” Turning on his side, he drew her close and kissed her again. “I told you. I loved you then, I love you now. You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved or ever wanted to make love to.”
“Deacon,” she whispered before claiming his mouth in another kiss, one that spoke how much she loved him.
Breathless, he eased back, letting their lips part slowly. “Don’t you want to know what was in my pants?”
She smiled and reached between them for his thickening cock. “Oh, I know what was in your pants.”
Grabbing her left hand to still her movements, he brought it up and kissed her fingertips. Then he slipped a diamond ring on the third finger. “We’ve waited ten years, Libby. Will you marry me? Soon?”
She didn’t look at the ring. She was too busy looking at the most magnificent thing in the world, Deacon, his eyes shining with love—for her.
“Yes. I’ll marry you, as soon as you want.”
EPILOGUE
The scent of burning wood filled the night air.
Deke stood behind Libby, his arms wrapped around her in the cold November air as they watched the school’s cheerleaders lead the homecoming crowd in cheers for the football team.
“Three more games including the homecoming game tomorrow,” Sean Callahan said, standing beside them. “What does the Sheriff think our chances are of making the State Championship again?”
“With my son as quarterback and the Tanner boy catching his passes they’re a shoe-in,” Kent Howard, the county DA, said from the other side of the newspaperman.
“While they make a great offensive threat, it’s the defense led by Mike Cohn and Kyle Gordon that’s kept this team at the top of the division this year,” Libby said.
Close To The Fire Page 28