It Started with a Kiss (A Sequoia Lake Novel)

by Marina Adair

  Ty turned off the shower and, without letting her down, grabbed a towel and carried her through the bedroom, bypassing the bed to enter the hallway.

  “The bed’s back there,” she said, tightening her arms around his neck, water sliding down their bodies.

  “We need to dry off first.”

  He walked her to the front room and set her on her feet in front of the fireplace. With a gentleness that rocked her world, he slowly dried her hair, then her arms, carefully draping the towel over her shoulders.

  “What about you?”

  Ty smiled and tugged the edges of the terrycloth until she was pressed against him—all the way against him—and they were sharing the towel.

  “I’m supposed to be taking care of you.”

  “You already did. Now it’s my turn,” he whispered against her lips. They didn’t do much drying off after that, but the heat created between them helped out. The long, languid kisses didn’t hurt either.

  Ty led Avery backward, snagged the blanket off the couch, and dropped it to the floor. Never breaking contact, he guided Avery down until she was spread out on her back, her arms above her head. “You are so damn beautiful.”

  Avery’s throat closed because he was looking at her—scars and all—with desire. Not a drop of pity or concern, but a desire so raw her body felt the impact.

  “Don’t move,” he said, then in case she was thinking about it, he gave a gentle squeeze to her wrists before running the towel down her arms again, over her breasts, as though memorizing the shape of her waist and thighs, then back up and between her legs—teasing and tempting her.

  Drying her off and making her wet at the same time.

  He consumed her. His hands were everywhere, rough and possessive, mapping her body and leaving a mark—except for her scar. When he reached there he took his time, careful of its size, his touch almost reverent.

  Tears clogged her throat. “I won’t break.”

  “I might,” he said. His eyes met hers, and what she saw there had her knees wobbling. It was Ty without a filter, everything on display for her to see. His fears, his hopes, and most importantly, his love. He might not know it, but it was right there staring back at her.

  Avery wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down until all of those hard muscles were pressed against her and she could feel his heartbeat. “Not on my watch.”

  “You are an angel,” he whispered, then took her lips once again, making his way along her jawline and to her ear, leaving a trail of fire that went all the way down to her heart when he said, “You’re my angel.”

  If that wasn’t the most romantic thing ever said in the history of love stories, then the way he held her as she kissed him was enough to know that she was in love. Head over heels, never coming back, until the end of eternity love.

  Avery locked her legs behind his, pressing her hips up to slide against him. She felt his body jerk at the contact, only to come back down with twice the friction. She did it again, a long, drugging slide that had her brain going fuzzy and her heart doing crazy things.

  When she arched her back, Ty gave a soft chuckle, then slid a hand between them. When he found her wet and more than ready, he said, “And here I thought I had taken care of your every need. Guess I missed a spot.”

  Ty reached for the condom, and Avery did her best to assist with the process—which led to more kissing and teasing than anything. But soon she was laughing, Ty was groaning, and then she let out a groan of her own as he filled her completely.

  Ty slid his hands beneath her, pressing the two of them closer together with every stroke. All the way together, taking his time about it too, and making sure to hit her special spot.

  “There,” she sighed as he narrowed down the trajectory from a drive-by to a one-way journey to heaven when his fingers got involved. With those deliberate and talented fingers rubbing her sensitive skin, he took her higher and higher and so unbearably high that she was quivering from head to toe.

  He sank in even deeper, so exquisitely deep it was as if they were one being sharing the same space. Sharing the same breath as their bodies moved together toward the same goal, connecting in a way that she had never experienced before.

  It felt as if he were loving her over and over again, every thrust taking them to the next level, until all she felt was him. His pain, his suffering, his strength, and his love—all knotted up in a complicated ball that began to merge—blurring the lines until all that was left was the two of them. Open and vulnerable, no longer afraid of the possibilities.

  Ty felt the shift too because he pulled back to watch as their bodies moved in perfect sync, spoke to each other without words. It was intense and so intimate she knew the second it happened. Felt the moment Ty went all in.

  His eyes softened, his body relaxed, and the fight drained right out of him. The need to run vanished because just like he had her, he now believed that she had him too.

  Her hands tightened around his neck, and he buried his nose in her neck, holding her close, breathing her in as they made that final climb. Together. Which was why it was so important for them to fall together.

  “Let go, Ty.”

  “Only if you let go with me, angel.”

  At his request, she tightened around him and her body trembled from anticipation. He gave one last push, that spot of hers lighting up like the Fourth of July, and she was launching into the sky—so fast all she could do was hold on to Ty, who was right there with her. Taking her hand and leaping without looking for the net.

  They floated for what seemed like an eternity before coming back down. But even the landing was in unison, Ty holding her close, a tangle of arms and limbs as the fire flickered to hot embers, and their bodies melted into each other.

  And when Avery went to reach for the corner of the blanket to cover them, he held her still and whispered, “I’m not ready to let go this time.”

  CHAPTER 18

  Ty woke up to a calm sky and a warm woman snuggled up next to him. Even better, a warm, naked woman who, based on the way her nipple beaded against his hand, was awake and wanted a replay of last night.

  “Time to wake up,” he said, caressing her in a way that guaranteed to put some good in her morning.

  With a big yawn, Avery stretched out, pressing her breast into his hand and that ass all over his business.

  She looked over her shoulder, those big baby blues already twinkling, and gave a purposeful wiggle. In the mood for a little laughter after the intensity of the past twenty-four hours, Ty hooked a hand behind her knee and rolled her over—and on top of him.

  She let lose a little squeal but didn’t fight him any. In fact, she sprawled out over him, making herself right at home. He cupped a cheek in each palm and helped her settle in.

  Man, she was beautiful. Her face was pink with sleep, her hair spilling down in bed-mussed waves, and she wore a smile that lit him up.

  “Someone’s already awake,” she said, the sleep in her voice sexy as hell.

  “Been awake for a while.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in for a light kiss. “You should have woken me.”

  He brushed the hair from her face. “I liked watching you sleep too much.”

  True story. He was supposed to meet Harris at the station an hour ago for a debriefing. Not to mention Decker, the IC from yesterday, wanted to speak with him about an opening in Sequoia Elite Mountain Rescue. A position Ty was seriously considering. He’d be promoted to lead of the swift water team right here in Sequoia County. A proposition that just a week ago would have been a solid hell no. But after last night—after Avery—he wasn’t so sure what to do.

  Yet every time he tried to convince himself to get out of bed, to get down to the station, Avery would make some little sound or nuzzle deeper into him. So he’d been content to watch her sleep.

  He liked Monterey, liked his team and his life that he’d created. But he was starting to like the thought of coming home to Av
ery a hell of a lot more. One of her smiles was enough to fill the emptiness, lighten his day.

  But his days were running out. What had begun as a series of weeks had dwindled down to forty-eight hours, and come Tuesday he was scheduled to start work again.

  “Are you hungry?” she asked.

  He squeezed her cheeks. “Starving.”

  “I meant for breakfast.”

  He nipped her shoulder. “So did I.”

  “I can whip us up some cocoa, and I have a bag of doughnuts in the kitchen,” she said. “How about I grab them and we can have breakfast in bed?”

  “Is it a clothing-optional kind of breakfast?” he asked, giving her a smack to the lips, then one to the ass as she scooted out of bed and pulled on a big T-shirt. A damn shame for the view.

  Ty put his hands behind his head and watched her walk out the room, enjoying the sexy sway of her hips and how her cheeks peeked out of the bottom with every swish.

  “What happened to the naked part?”

  She stopped at the threshold. “I’ll lose the shirt if you call your mom.”

  He groaned. The last thing he wanted to do was call his mom. She was going to worry him to death, then get Dale on the phone so they could argue about his decision to send Avery over the ravine. And Ty was still riding the high from last night.

  With a smile that spelled trouble, she teased the hem of her shirt until he could see just enough peeking through. “If you call her, when I come back it comes off. If not, it stays on. Your call.”

  “My phone’s dead, remember?” He was pretty sure it was broken from dropping it in the gutter on his way over last night.

  “Use mine,” she said, then ripped his shirt up and off, leaving her mouthwateringly bare. “In case you forgot your options.”

  The woman was sexy. And so damn sweet he was hooked.

  Ty looked around her room, bright and cheerful with framed mantras on the walls, and imagined what it would be like to wake up there every morning. Watch her flit around in oversized shirts and bare feet, drinking her cocoa and humming to herself.

  To know that even after the worst of days he could come home to a warm hug and an even hotter kiss. Hell, just to know that no matter what happened, no matter who he let down, he could always come home. Because that’s how big Avery’s heart was. She didn’t judge, didn’t back off when things got hard. Nope, she dug in and held tight.

  Knowing he had to call his mom, and knowing she was going to ask him a million and one questions about his calling from Avery’s phone, he reached out and grabbed the phone. With one last calming breath, he swiped the screen and it opened to an email from Mercy General titled URGENT.

  Thinking it might be about Caroline’s surgery, Ty stood up to walk the phone to Avery, knowing she’d want to get the news ASAP. Only his finger opened the email, and it wasn’t about Caroline at all. The urgent message from the top transplant center in the area was about Avery.

  Ty’s eyes surveyed the text quickly, locking in on the last line:

  Your latest blood work had some abnormalities. Dr. Johnson would like to see you at 10:00 a.m. Monday morning. Please call the Transplant Center to confirm.

  Ty’s knees gave and his body went numb. Slowly, he sank back to the bed, rereading the email until he comprehended what it was saying. The tests were run just a few days ago, and they wanted to see her first thing. He might not be a doctor, but he’d had enough experience with medicine to know when to worry.

  And this felt like one of those times.

  He pictured her scar, the look on her face when she told him about her mom passing, and his gut raged. He’d been trained to prepare for the worst and hope nature doesn’t kick your ass in the process. But he was too fucking scared to acknowledge the worst.

  Her mom’s outcome had been the worst. Holding Garrett while he slowly faded away was the worst. Knowing that this was so far out of Ty’s expertise brought back all of the helplessness and panic, like a noose around his neck cinching tighter and tighter.

  Avery had been through so much already, the pain, the loss, and she’d endured it all with such courage. She didn’t deserve the worst.

  She didn’t deserve any of this.

  “Cocoa is almost done. So why don’t you tell me how hard of a time Irene gave you for being here before we crack into the doughnuts.”

  Ty looked up to find Avery standing by the door in nothing but bed head, a pair of fuzzy house boots that came to her calves, and her scar. He was going to be sick.

  Picking up her shirt, he tugged it over her head, waiting until she poked here arms through the holes before he led her to the bed.

  She looked at him and rolled her eyes. “Seriously? She only wants to hear that you’re okay. Just think of her worry as overbearing love.”

  “I went to call her, but an email came in from Mercy General. I thought it was about Caroline and accidently opened it.”

  Avery must have picked up on the tension in Ty’s voice, because her smile faded. “Is she okay?”

  “She’s fine,” he said, his mind racing to find the thread. “At least the email isn’t about her. It was about your lab results.”

  “My lab results?” Confusion hit swift and hard, followed by recognition and a small “Oh” that didn’t help his panic.

  If anything, it made his chest seize up all together.

  Avery opened the email, reading over every line and all of the in-betweens to see if she could gauge what abnormality it could be referring to. This soon after a transplant it could mean anything from too many toxins in her blood to a kidney rejection. While she didn’t think it was the latter, she couldn’t be sure until she saw her doctor.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were having problems?” he asked quietly, taking her hand.

  “I’m not having problems,” she said, putting the phone down. “I went in for my one-year checkup, and I guess there are questions on the lab results.” The date for tomorrow flashed in her head. “Oh no. Tomorrow is the inspection. I promised to help you and Dale. I can reschedule for later.”

  “I don’t care about the inspection,” Ty said, and she started at the harshness there. Ty never raised his voice. In fact, the only time she’d ever seen him close to mad was when he’d felt helpless with his dad. “Don’t reschedule for that.”

  “Hey, it’s not a big deal,” she soothed.

  Even though a part of her, who knew just how bad abnormalities could be, felt the familiar fear start to creep in, tricking her into making it a big deal, Avery decided dwelling on it was not how she wanted to spend one of her last mornings with Ty.

  Getting caught up in things she couldn’t change was a total waste of energy. And putting her life on hold for something that could be as simple as Drink more water and less cocoa wasn’t how she wanted to live her life.

  “It could be nothing more than a clerical mistake in the coding,” she offered.

  “Which is why you should go,” Ty said, taking both of her hands. “That way you can know. I’ll call Lance, see if I can push the inspection until the afternoon so I can go with you. That is, if you want.”

  Normally, Avery would welcome the company, the casual chatter to take her mind off things. But there was nothing casual about his offer. In fact, he looked and sounded uncomfortable, as if the idea of her unknown health unsettled him.

  Spun him the wrong way.

  “That depends. Why do you want to go with me?” she ventured, holding her breath waiting for him to answer. Hoping it was because he loved her and not because he felt bad for her.

  “For answers. You may be able to wait, but I need to know,” he said.

  “I get that, but it doesn’t have to consume our fun morning.”

  “This isn’t fun, angel,” he said, and she could hear the worry strangling him. “None of this is fun. Seeing that email, thinking you’d gone over that cliff, wondering if I was ever going to see you again.”

  “I know, it can be frustrating and scary, but w
asting one of our last days together, worrying over something that is out of our control, isn’t worth it. Not to me.”

  “But this is in your control,” he said, and her heart started pounding. She was going to lose him. He was listening, but he wasn’t hearing what she was saying. “After everything that you’ve already gone through, what your mom went through, don’t you think knowing all of the facts is the best decision?”

  His question cut right through her. His concern wrapped around her like a vise, tethering her back to her time in the hospital.

  “Control doesn’t always make life better, Ty. Sometimes it just keeps the colors from shining through.”

  “Yeah, well, I want to keep you alive until you’re a hundred and seven,” he said, and her stomach sank. Avery had accepted that life came with no guarantee, and that happiness had to be about quality, not quantity. Ty wasn’t there yet, and she didn’t know if he ever would be.

  No matter how this ended, Avery was going to lose. And lose big.

  “You never answered my question. Why do you want to come with me, Ty?” she asked quietly.

  He stared at her for a beat, as if trying to find the right answer. “Because I want to know that everything is okay.”

  And it was the right answer—for him. For her, it brought a world of hurt crashing down.

  “You want a guarantee that you won’t get hurt,” she said through the tears that were building. “You want to know something is a sure thing before you commit. After what happened with Garrett, and what you see every day, no one would expect you to walk into another risky situation where there is a chance that you could lose someone again. But I can’t give you that guarantee. I’ll never be able to.”

  “Avery, I didn’t mean—”

  “I know.” She cupped his face and looked up into those eyes that melted her heart. Only this time they were breaking it. “But I can’t tell you if my kidney will fail tomorrow or in twenty years. The only thing I do know for a fact is that one day it will just stop working, and I’ll go back on that list. Maybe I’ll get lucky and make it to the top, or maybe I’ll spend my last week climbing a stupid mountain. But I will make it to the top, and that means I can’t live my life from test to test or waiting for guarantees that might never come.”