by Elle James
She glanced down at her dirty shorts and shirt and tried to shove her wild hair behind her ears. “I’m a mess.”
“The prettiest mess around.” He turned her and swatted her bottom. “Now lock up. I made a promise to Frank that I’d get you out of here on time, and I don’t want to disappoint the man. He looks like he could whoop my ass with one hand tied behind his back.”
Roxi took one step, spun back around, planted a kiss on his lips and hurried back through the apartment, making one last pass.
“What was that for?” he called out to her back.
“Just because,” she said over her shoulder. “Chop, chop. We have to leave before dark. The weatherman said the hurricane will make landfall around midnight, but the storm surge and winds will be pretty bad ahead of it.”
For a moment, Decker considered following Roxi into her bedroom and taking her there on her floral-patterned comforter. But one glance out the window reminded him of the limited time they had left before they needed to be off the peninsula. He forced himself to snatch up the suitcase and carry it down to her waiting Toyota RAV4. She already had several boxes jammed into the back. How she’d get the rest of her things into the limited space was a mystery to Decker. Shifting the contents, he made a hole large enough for the suitcase and shoved it in.
When he climbed back up the stairs, he found Roxi standing in the middle of the living room, a bulging suitcase standing beside her. “I missed this one, but I think I now have everything I can’t live without. The rest will just have to weather the storm. Oh, wait. I almost forgot Mom.” She crossed to a shelf in the corner of the living room and lifted a photograph of a woman with a striking resemblance to Roxi. She had the same blond hair and blue eyes, with a few more crow’s feet on the corners. She definitely had the same smile.
“This is your mother?” Decker glanced down at the photograph. “You look just like her.”
Roxi shook her head. “Mom was much prettier. Inside and out. She carried the load for so many years as a single mother trying to raise a kid. I wish I could have helped her more.” She unzipped the suitcase and packed the photo beneath several layers of soft cotton shirts. Then she zipped the suitcase and straightened. “I’m ready.”
“Good. It’s getting dark out there.” Decker would have preferred leaving when Frank had but hadn’t thought a few minutes would make that big of a difference, until he stepped outside. The clouds had thickened and churned, racing across the sky. Lightning flickered, and thunder rumbled close behind. “We need to go.”
“Agreed.” With her hand on the door knob, ready to pull it closed, Roxi glanced around the small room. “Where’s Otis?”
Chapter 10
A bright flash of lightning blinded Roxi as she glanced down the stairs. Not even a second later, thunder boomed so loud, it made her jump.
As protective as Otis was, he was a big scaredy-cat when it came to thunderstorms.
Decker stuck his head inside the apartment and called out, “Otis, come!”
Nothing moved.
Roxi shoved the suitcase toward Decker. “You carry this down, I’ll check under the bed.”
Decker laughed. “Under the bed?”
Roxi gave Decker a stern look. “Don’t judge.” Her lips twitched. “Otis is a big baby when it comes to storms.”
Decker went down the stairs while Roxi reentered the apartment and searched every nook and cranny, which didn’t take long in the small space.
Worry settled in the middle of her chest.
Decker arrived at the top of the stairs as Roxi pulled the door close. “He’s not in the apartment.”
“Could Frank have taken him?”
“Not a chance.” Roxi shook her head. “Frank barely had room for himself and Saul.”
“Could he be in the bar?”
“Maybe.” She pulled her keys to the bar out of her purse, descended the stairs and unlocked the door to the kitchen.
“I’ll make a pass around the building while you check inside.” Decker headed around the side of the building.
Roxi entered the kitchen, flipped on the light and checked under every counter, behind the empty trash cans and stacked boxes. “Otis!” she called out, moving into the main room. The German shepherd wasn’t behind the bar. After a thorough pass through the large seating area with the chairs stacked neatly on the tables and the outside tables and chairs pushed up against the walls, Roxi was no closer to finding Otis.
“He wasn’t outside hiding in the bushes,” Decker’s voice called out from behind the bar.
“I have no idea where he could have gone.” More worried than she cared to admit, Roxi led the way out of the bar and locked the door behind Decker, making a decision as she did. Grabbing her hair and holding it away from her face, she peered up at Decker in the light from the back porch of the bar. “Look, you need to go while you still can,” she said, shouting over the wail of the wind. “The tide is already rising. If the storm surge gets much higher, we could be cut off from the mainland. You should go while the going’s good.”
Decker’s bark of laughter startled Roxi. “You don’t really think I’d leave without you.”
“You should. I have no idea how long it will take to find Otis, and the weather is bad enough and will only get worse.”
As if to emphasize her point, a cardboard box bounced past them and continued rolling down the nearly empty street. The traffic had thinned to the last few residents heading to the mainland.
“I’m not leaving without you,” Decker said.
“And I’m not leaving without Otis.”
“Then let’s find him.” Decker stepped away from the building and shined his light past the end of the bar toward the water. Waves crashed against the shore and peer. “Does Otis ever visit other houses?”
Roxi shook her head. “Only Frank’s when I have to go to the mainland without him. But that’s two miles away and I never walked him there. He always rides in the car. The only other house he’s been in is yours.” She looked up at Decker, her brows dipping. “You don’t think he went back to your house, do you?”
“If there’s any possibility he went there, we’d better check it out.”
Roxi started for the beach, but Decker caught her arm.
“The surge has pushed into the shoreline and it’s getting too rough near the water. We’ll take my SUV and drive around.” He slipped his arm around Roxi’s waist and, shielding her from the worst of the wind, led the way to his vehicle, shining the light in front of them.
Roxi prayed Otis hadn’t gone down to the water. The way the surf pounded the beach, he could have been swept away. No matter how good of a swimmer he was, the tide would win the battle.
She scanned the sides of the road on the short ride to Decker’s cottage but didn’t see any sign of Otis. Rain started falling as they climbed out of his car and ran for the house.
“Otis!”
Lightning flashed, piercing the pelting rain. Thunder followed immediately behind. Bolt after bolt of electricity shimmered across the sky illuminating the billowing clouds.
“Otis!” Roxi called out, the sound of her voice whipped away by the wind. If not for Decker’s steadying arm around her, she’d have been blown over.
With the flashlight beam barely shining bright enough to see into the shadows, and rain driving into them like a power-washer’s spray, they circled the cottage, checking behind bushes and shining the light beneath the tall peers supporting the house and the deck above. Just when Roxi thought they’d failed in finding the missing dog, the flashlight’s beam glinted off two red orbs.
“Wait!” Roxi grabbed Decker’s hand with the flashlight and shined it toward the farthest corner beneath the house. There in the shadows crouched Otis, his entire body trembling with each boom of thunder.
“Otis!” Roxi cried and, ducking low, she eased beneath the house to where the dog hid. “Oh, baby, come with me. We’ll take care of you.”
Otis dug his feet into the
dirt and refused to come out of his hiding place.
Decker hunkered low and eased up beside Roxi. “Hold this.” He handed her the flashlight, grabbed the dog’s collar and pulled him into his arms. Then he lifted Otis and carried him out into the open.
By then, the sky had opened up and sheets of rain, carried on the wind pummeled them.
Roxi couldn’t see past the end of her arm and the blasting wind nearly pushed her over. But what scared her more was when she swept the flashlight beam toward the Cape, she could see that the tide was near where they stood. The storm surge had arrived.
“We have to get to high ground,” Decker shouted over the wind.
A sheet of metal roofing peeled off the home next to Decker’s and flew toward them.
Roxi screamed and ducked.
Decker, still holding Otis, turned and ducked, but not enough. The metal glanced off his back, hit his head and continued on.
Decker dropped to his knees, his hold on Otis intact.
Roxi realized they were too late to get off the peninsula. With the wind flinging debris everywhere and the tide rising at an alarming rate, they didn’t stand a chance. “Give me the key to your cottage,” she shouted.
“It’s in my pocket,” he said, swaying, where he knelt.
With water streaming down her face, she reached into Decker’s pocket and found his keys. She helped him to his feet and up the flight of stairs to the top. When she fit the one that looked like a house key into the lock, she almost cried with relief. The lock turned, the door swung open and they scrambled inside.
Roxi turned and leaned hard on the door to close it against the elements. The storm raged around the house as if angry they had dared to shelter inside.
Decker set Otis on the floor. The dog promptly shook, showering Decker and the floor around him with droplets of water.
“I’ll get a towel.” Roxi headed for the small bathroom off the bedroom where she had made love to Decker the night before. After all that had happened, it seemed so long ago. As she passed the bed, her heartbeat fluttered, and her body warmed with the memory.
Focusing on the wet dog and the injured man, she hurried through the bedroom, grabbed a towel and a couple of washcloths from the linen closet and hurried back to the living area.
The windows were shuttered against the storm making the cottage feel more like a cave or cocoon, closed off and protected.
Roxi chose not to dwell on the fact hurricane winds could level every building in its path, downing trees and pushing massive ships aground. Even if the cottage survived the hurricane-force winds, the debris or entire boats and ships in its path could be shoved into the pilings, sending the cottage crashing into the storm surge.
She forced the negative thoughts from her head and tossed the towel over Otis. To Decker, she said, “Sit.”
He collapsed on the couch and touched the back of his head. When he brought his hand around to look at it, it was covered in bright red blood.
Roxi pressed one of the cloths to the back of his head where blood matted his hair. “Hold this and apply pressure.”
While he did as she said, Roxi wet the other cloth in the kitchen sink and hurried back to him.
Decker turned sideways to allow her to sit on the couch behind him.
Carefully dabbing at the blood, Roxy located the injury. “It’s just a little cut, but it comes complete with a goose egg knot. Good news is that the bleeding has just about stopped.”
“Good. I want to get a shower before the electricity goes off.” He pushed to his feet and turned to her. His dark brows waggled. “The shower is big enough for two, if you’d care to join me.”
Roxi laughed, her pulse ratcheted up to full speed. “With a hurricane crashing in around us, you want to take a shower with me?”
“Damn right. If we’re wiped off the face of the planet by this storm, I want to die making love to a beautiful woman.” He held out his hand for hers. “Are you with me?”
“That’s some invitation, slugger.” Roxi stood, her heartrate already elevated by danger, her pulse increasing with the amount of passion reflected in Decker’s eyes. “Are you sure you’re up to it? You’ve had a head injury.”
“All the more reason to throw caution to the wind.” Decker’s gaze locked with hers, his voice rich, his tone deep with emotion. “I’ve spent the last two years of my life wishing I was dead. Now that I want to live, I want every day, hour and minute to count.”
Roxi laid her hand in his. “And I’ve spent the past fourteen years afraid to live my life to the fullest, hiding away from the world by staying here on the Cape. If you hadn’t come along, I would still be living only half of a life.” She slapped her hand in his and laughed. “I’m in!”
They ran for the bathroom, clothes flying in their wake
Otis crouched beneath the dining table.
Roxi had never made love in the shower, but under Decker’s tutelage, she learned it could be every bit as sexy as in a bed, albeit a little more challenging. They laughed and soaped each other’s bodies as the storm raged outside, shaking the walls of the cottage. Roxi touched Decker all over and he reciprocated, stroking her in her most sensitive place, making her blood sing and her insides burn.
He brought her to the edge and launched her over, her cries echoing off the tiles.
When she could form a coherent thought again, she pressed her palms to his face. “You make me feel so…so…uninhibited.” Though she’d already come, and her legs were like wet noodles, she wouldn’t feel complete until Decker filled her. She looked him in the eye and whispered, “As crazy as the storm is outside, I’m on fire inside, and I want you.”
Decker scooped her up by the backs of her thighs, wrapped her legs around his waist and stepped out of the shower. Dripping wet, he headed for the door, his face set.
“Was it something I said?” Roxi snagged a towel from a bar on their way out of the bathroom.
“Most definitely.” Decker winked, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “The protection is in the other room.”
“Oh.” Her core tightened, and she eased down to his erection, teasing him with her wet entrance. “You sure you can wait that long?”
“No, I’m not sure at all.”
Roxi’s stomach fluttered at the intensity of his confession. She held on as he carried her into the bedroom. “Shouldn’t we dry off first?”
“Details, details.” He sighed and set her on her feet. Then he took the towel from her hands and patted her dry from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, taking an inordinate and knee-melting amount of time at her breasts and the juncture of her thighs. By the time she dried him off, she wasn’t sure she could wait another minute. She hopped onto the bed and smiled as the storm pounded the house and Otis crept beneath the bed.
Chapter 11
Decker stood for a moment, drinking in the sight of Roxi, lying across the comforter, naked, a smile curving her full, lush lips, her eyes sparkling. She wanted him. And by all that was crazy, he wanted her too. They could be washed away by the hurricane at any moment, but he knew in his heart, he’d die a happy man as long as he had this time with Roxi.
The woman was strong and worldly in so many ways, and just as eagerly inexperienced in others. He worried that he was pushing her too fast, but she seemed happy to let him touch her and bring out the sex-starved woman in her.
She stared up at him, her blue-eyed gaze intense, penetrating. “Remember,” she said. “This time, you’re on top.” Color rose in her cheeks even as her knees fell to the side, and she spread her legs, inviting him in.
Holy hell. He couldn’t resist. Decker dove into the nightstand for a condom, ripped it open and rolled it over himself, then he climbed onto the bed like a conquering hero, claiming his prize. Taking deep, steadying breaths, he had to remind himself to move slowly, not to scare her or set off any residual memories.
God, he wished he could find the bastard that raped the thirteen-year-old Roxi. He’d kill him and le
ave him for the buzzards to pick clean.
Roxi slid her hands over his chest and locked them behind his head, careful not to touch the lump he’d sustained in the storm.
Strong, sexy Roxi, who’d chosen to let him be the one to show her how loving should be done. His heart swelled.
The woman beneath him slid her hands back over his chest and lower to grip his hips. “I want you. Now.” She increased the pressure, pulling him toward her.
Decker slid into her, all the way until he could go no farther. This was where he wanted to be. This woman made him feel more alive than he had in a very long time and he wanted to keep on living if only to be with her.
THEY MADE LOVE, holding and caressing each other until the electricity blinked out around midnight. It didn’t matter to Decker. He didn’t need a light to know where she was. When they were completely satiated, they slept, curled inside each other’s arms.
Decker slept deeper than he’d done since the accident, no dreams to wake him, only the sound of Roxi’s soft breathing to lull him into a happy place. When he woke it was to the soft gray of dawn, edging past the cracks between the storm shutter slats.
Otis stood beside the bed and woofed.
Roxi stirred and stretched, her arm sliding across Decker’s chest. “He needs to go outside.”
“I’ll take him.” Decker pushed the sheet aside and flicked the switch on the lamp on the nightstand. Nothing happened. “Electricity is still off.”
“It will probably be off for a couple of days,” Roxi said, her voice gravelly with sleep.
Decker found a pair of shorts in one of his drawers and pulled them on.
Otis trotted across the wooden floor, toenails clicking, headed for the door to the deck.
With all the windows covered, Decker didn’t know what to expect outside. By the silence, he’d guess the storm had passed.
When he opened the door, Otis ran out on the deck and down to the beach. Debris had washed up on the sand, including a fishing boat, boards from what might once have been someone’s dock and other items. It was a mess, but nothing that couldn’t be cleaned up in time for next summer’s tourists.