A Reason To Live (Reason #3)

by CP Smith

  He didn’t close his eyes when my lips met his, so I kept mine open and watched his gray pools turn stormy when he surged up. I gasped, feeling stretched and full as he met each of my thrusts, and saw arrogance flash across his face. If I could have spoken, I would have told him he had a right to be arrogant. I hadn’t been with many men in my life, but Shane was by far the best.

  “Faster,” he murmured against my lips, so I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and picked up the pace.

  He grabbed my hair, fisting it at the nape as his injured arm pulled me against his chest. Yanking my head back, he buried his face in my neck. He groaned when I swiveled my hips, whispering, “Fuckin’ made for me.”

  Hundreds of dreams and adolescent lists about the perfect man hadn’t prepared me for Shane. His strength of character, possessiveness, and willingness to put his life on the line further fueled the intense feelings that were developing at a rapid rate. If I was made for him, then he was most definitely made for me.

  My breath hitched and another flash, another sharp shock of pleasure coiled in my core when he grabbed my shoulders and slammed me down on his cock. With one rotation of his hips, I shattered into a million brilliant pieces, then fused again as I rode out my release, clinging to his shoulders for support.

  On a possessive growl, Shane bit out, “Mine,” as he surged up and buried himself to his root and held, spilling into my depths.

  When I came down, he rolled me onto my back, continuing to sink in and out, caressing my core as he took my mouth in a deep kiss that reached into my heart and held firm. He’d imprinted himself on my soul, his body as familiar as my own in just a few days.

  It should have scared me how much he came to mean to me in such a short time, but it didn’t. He was as essential to my life now as breathing was to living. He felt like my soul mate. Like our two halves had been torn apart and now we were whole.

  He placed his forehead to mine and I opened my eyes and looked into his smoky depths. My lungs froze when I saw my own thoughts reflected back at me.

  Raising his hand to my jaw, Shane kissed me slower, sweeter, anchoring me to him like a lifeline.

  Everything I felt at that moment came tumbling to the surface. When he ended the kiss, my emotions broke free and I whispered, “You have a beautiful soul, Shane Sherman.”

  A slow grin pulled across his mouth and he rolled, bringing me with him. My hair spilled around his head in a veil, enclosing us in our own world.

  “I have a black soul,” he mumbled, pushing my hair back, locking it in place with one hand. “But I figure God’s still on my side since he sent you to save—”

  “Shane,” I interrupted, ready to argue his soul was anything but black, but he covered my lips with his finger, halting my argument.

  “You’re my saving grace, Sage. No arguments. I still feel responsible for Emma Jane’s death, but I’m no longer willing to let my life pass me by. I’ll face my demons.” Punctuating each point with a kiss, he continued in a whisper, “For you. For me. For us.”

  Loud voices were coming from the living room, but all I paid attention to at that moment was Shane. I made a vow I would help him face his demons, to help him move past his guilt and to forgive himself.

  “No arguments,” I whispered back, brushing my lips across his.

  He rolled again, taking me to my back, deepening the kiss. But the voices grew louder and more chaotic.

  “Sounds like Jack and Jenn are awake,” Shane chuckled against my mouth.

  After Heller had attacked, we hadn’t slept. Then we’d traveled from Trails End to Gunnison, arriving late in the evening. By the time we made the drive from Denver to Gunnison, we were exhausted from lack of sleep. We’d retired immediately, falling into bed and curling around each other. But Shane had woken me early, nudging me out of deep sleep with his warm mouth between my legs. Now the house was stirring and it was time to emerge from our cocoon.

  “Do you think Jack will know how Officer Rogers is doing?”

  Tim Rogers was the officer assigned to guard Maxine’s cabin. Rogers had been hit with a large rock rather than shot as I’d thought. Heller had apparently been hoping to sneak in under the cover of night. But my need for food had foiled his plans. If Shane hadn’t gone to fix me a sandwich and seen Rogers’ prone body, he might have succeeded in another attempt on our lives.

  “If he hasn’t, I’ll call Chester,” Shane answered.

  A sharp knock on our door had Shane and I turning toward it. “Coffee’s on,” Maxine shouted.

  My brows rose and I looked at Shane.

  “How does she know we’re awake?’

  A slow grin pulled across his mouth. “Babe . . . you’re anything but quiet when you come.”

  I instinctively slapped his shoulder without thinking. Then I gasped. “I’m so sorry, did I hurt you?”

  “I’m a soldier. I’ve been trained to ignore pain,” he scoffed.

  I planted a foot on the bed and rolled Shane to his back. “I’ll take the lead until you’re healed.”

  “I’d have to be dead before I’d let you lead me in bed.”

  “Are you saying you’ll never let me seduce you?”

  “Seducin’,” he mumbled, raising his head to nip my lip, “is one thing. Controllin’ is another.”

  “Even on my birthday?”

  Shane’s lips twitched.

  “I could be persuaded on your birthday.”

  A slow smile pulled across my mouth. “Hope you’re in better shape on Friday.”

  “Your birthday’s Friday?”

  “Mhm, my thirtieth.

  “Milestone,” he smiled. “How do you feel about becoming an old lady?”

  “You know it’s funny, I thought I would be depressed hitting thirty, but with everything that’s happened, I just feel thankful to be alive.”

  “I plan on keepin’ you that way, too,” he vowed.

  Another sharp rap on the door drew our attention.

  “Coffee’s ready, the eggs are gettin’ cold, and you, Jack, and Max have a meeting with some hotshot FBI guy. Stop kissin’ Sage and get your ass out of bed.”

  “Be right out,” Shane called out.

  “Now she’s a pain in my ass. I’d rather stay in here all day.”

  A deep chuckle rumbled in Shane’s chest, then he ordered, “Up, baby.”

  With a sigh of resignation, I climbed off Shane and we dressed, then headed down the hall to the kitchen.

  Jack and Jenn’s house was a four-bedroom log style home just outside of town. They’d built it after they were married five years ago and needed extra space for their growing family. Jenn told me Bailey, her daughter from her first marriage, had since moved in with Grady, one of Jack’s deputies, so they had plenty of room to house all of us while we waited for the authorities to find Heller and put him behind bars.

  The kitchen was a chef’s dream with gray marble counters, stainless steel appliances, and pine cupboards. The great room opposite the kitchen was filled with soft, brown leather sofas and pine tables, accented with tribal print pillows and Native American art. It screamed mountain living, meant to be warm and inviting, just like the couple who lived here.

  Jenn was at the stove cooking when we entered, Jack standing behind her rubbing her shoulders as he whispered in her ear. Max was at the table, Mia sitting in his lap, lost to those around them, still very much the newlyweds they were. And Maxine was on the phone in the living room, mumbling quietly so no one would hear.

  All eyes turned toward us when we reached the kitchen, knowing grins on each face.

  “Shit,” I mumbled and felt heat flood my cheeks.

  Leaning in, Shane whispered, “Like I said, you’re anything but quiet.”

  Someone kill me now.

  “What time are we meeting with your friend?” Shane asked Jack, thankfully drawing attention away from the color of my face.

  Looking at his watch, Jack replied, “In an hour.”

  “That soon? I b
etter change,” I mumbled, looking down at my yoga pants and tank.

  “No need,” Jack answered. “He’s on a tight schedule so it’ll just be Max, Shane, and me.”

  “But I thought they needed to talk to me about his background?”

  “Once he’s caught. Right now we’re focusin’ on apprehendin’ Heller.”

  Loud music began to blare from down the hall, and a song I recognized from the movie “Frozen” filled the room.

  Jack turned to Jenn and scowled.

  Jenn grinned back innocently.

  “I can’t help it if it’s their favorite movie.”

  “Swear to Christ,” Jack grumbled. “If I hear that song one more time, I won’t let it go.”

  “I happen to like the song,” Jenn defended.

  “Then explain to me why they only play it when I’m at home?”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” she clearly lied.

  “Like hell, you don’t.”

  “Maybe they like it?”

  “These are my boys,” Jack scoffed.

  “And?”

  “That says it all.”

  Shane grunted, “Exactly,” and I giggled. Something told me Jack and Jenn’s relationship was a lesson in patience between them both.

  Jenn rolled her eyes and then turned from the stove, shouting, “Keller! Kaiden!” Moments later the music stopped and two identical dark-haired boys with matching grins ran into the room. They were the spitting image of their father with bright blue eyes filled with mirth.

  “Did daddy get mad?” one said.

  “We would know if he was mad, Keller. Daddy yells really loud,” Kaiden answered.

  Jack’s eyes shot to Jenn’s and her grin widened.

  “This is payback,” Jack growled.

  “You think?” Jenn answered sarcastically, turning back to the stove.

  Jack looked at Max and Mia, then to Shane and I. “Fair warning,” Jack said. “Women never let shit go, and payback is torture.”

  When Jenn scoffed, he turned back and glared at her, crossing his arms for emphasis.

  “Mia, Sage,” Jenn called out over her shoulder. “Fair warning . . . these brooding types will do whatever they think is necessary to get their way. I highly recommend you avoid police stations, jail cells in particular, without backup.”

  “Sweetness, I can promise you that cell will become your permanent home if you involve yourself in another one of my investigations.”

  I looked at Shane, smiling, thinking Jack was joking, but I found him nodding in agreement. Then I turned to Max in time to hear him mumble, “Damn straight.”

  “Wait, are you saying Jack actually locked you in a cell?” I asked, amazed.

  “Twice!” Jenn bit out, throwing two fingers into the air.

  “Babe, you have your facts wrong. I locked you in there once. The boys locked you in there the second time.”

  I snorted, thinking Jack was definitely kidding this time, but then I looked toward the twins. They were nodding their heads in agreement.

  What on earth?

  “Question,” I asked, looking back and forth between the twins and Jenn. “Why did the boys lock you in a cell?”

  “They were mad because I left them behind when we flew to Alaska for Max and Mia’s wedding.”

  “Nuh-uh!” one of the twins denied.

  All eyes turned to the boys. “Then why did you do it?” Jenn asked.

  Both boys looked at each other and scowled just like their father. “’Cause Daddy said if another man looked at Mommy’s ass, he’d lock her up and throw away the key.”

  “Kaiden, don’t say ass,” Jenn corrected, glaring at Jack. “I think you boys were mistaken. Mr. Steele couldn’t see my a—my bottom since we were sitting the whole time.”

  “Not the whole time,” Keller argued. “He watched you pick up your pen.”

  Jenn paused to consider his explanation, then shook her head.

  “How could you possibly know he looked at Mommy’s bottom all the way from the jungle gym?”

  “He did the same thing Daddy does when you bend over.”

  Jack leaned down and looked both boys in the eyes, his lips twitching as he stared at his clones. “What exactly do I do when Mommy bends over?”

  In unison, and a tad bit eerie, if truth be told, the twins tilted their heads to the side like they were inspecting something and then bit their bottom lips.

  Jenn sucked in her breath, and all three men grunted, “He looked at her ass.”

  Mia and I burst out laughing when Jack looked back at Jenn with a smug look. Scowling when Jack raised his brows, Jenn grumbled, “Spare me from testosterone,” then turned off the stove and took the boys by the hand. “Come on, my little Neanderthals, Grandma Gunnison will be here soon to pick you up,” she explained as she led them down the hall.

  “Who’s this Steele?” Max asked when he stood to get another cup of coffee.

  “A dead man if he looks at Jenn’s ass again,” Jack answered with a hard edge, looking at his watch. “We better get a move on.”

  All three men grabbed a mug of coffee before heading down the hall to change. I watched Shane as he left, ogling his ass the whole way. An ass, I reminded myself, I get to touch whenever I wanted and planned on doing often.

  “So what are we doing while the men chase a madman?” I asked Mia as I settled in beside her at the table.

  “Beats me, but Maxine used to live here so she’ll be able to show us around.”

  Jenn came back into the kitchen carrying a file folder and dumped it on the table right as Maxine ended her call.

  “Everything all right back home?” I asked.

  “Gregor says they haven’t seen hide nor hair of Heller. All is quiet thankfully.”

  “Is Gregor that good-looking older man I met?” Jenn asked as she opened her files.

  “Same one.”

  Mia and I looked at each other and smiled. When all this was behind us, I was determined to enlist Mia’s help getting those two together.

  “What are you working on?” Maxine asked Jenn.

  She pushed her open file toward her.

  “Haunted Gunnison?”

  “I was talking with Mrs. Thomas the other day and she said her son was driving past the old graveyard outside of town and saw a ghost. I was intrigued, so I did a google search and found there are quite a few places in Gunnison reputed to be haunted. I thought it might be fun to investigate and run a series. With the boys in school in the fall, I’ll have more time on my hands to do in-depth investigative pieces.”

  “How do you plan to investigate haunted houses?”

  She looked over her shoulder toward the bedrooms then leaned in and whispered. “I plan to stake them out at night and see if any ghosts appear.”

  “Really?” Maxine whispered back, “Sounds like fun. I’m in.”

  “Why are we whispering?” Mia whispered.

  “I’m avoiding a jail cell.”

  “Why would he lock you up for investigating ghosts?” I asked, whispering like the others.

  “He’s Jack. He doesn’t need a reason.”

  Oddly, that made complete sense.

  “When were you planning to start?” Mia asked.

  “I’m glad you asked,” Jenn grinned. “I was planning to start this week while Jack has the evening shift. He doesn’t get home ‘til after midnight, so I figured I could poke around while he was at work. But with Max and Shane here, I can’t. They would rat me out. Do you think you could keep them busy so Jack doesn’t know I’m gone?”

  “What about the boys?”

  “Susie, Jack’s mother, agreed to take the boys for the next week while you’re here. That’s why I was going to start this week, but I forgot about Max and Shane. The bro code is strong with these Neanderthals and they’d step in even if Jack was gone.”

  “How many of these places are empty?” Maxine asked.

  “Just the graveyard. The rest are occupied.”

  �
��Then hold off on those until we leave and focus on the graveyard while we’re here to watch your back. I can tell the boys I’m taking you to meet my old friend Helen and we can go to the graveyard instead.”

  “What if they want to come along?” I asked.

  “Those boys aren’t gonna want to tag along on a hen night.”

  “Shane might. He doesn’t want me out of his sight until Heller is caught.”

  Maxine thought for a moment, then a slow grin pulled across her mouth.

  “Piece of cake,” Maxine smiled, looking back over her shoulder. “I know exactly how to get Max and Shane to stay home.”

  “What about Heller, though? Shouldn’t we be concerned about being out unprotected?” I asked.

  “I already talked to Jack about this; there’s no need to worry yet. If he could figure out where you are, which I doubt he can, it would take him at least two and a half days to drive here from Alaska if he didn’t sleep, closer to four if he slept for any amount of time. He can’t fly without showin’ ID, and Chester already alerted the airlines. They have his picture so they’ll be on the lookout for him. And he can’t cross the border into Canada without a passport. Jack knows this, so do Shane and Max. That’s why we’re here instead of back home. We’re all as safe as we can possibly be,” Maxine explained.

  “I agree,” Mia replied. “If Max thought for a second I was in danger, he would take me with him to the police station, but he’s not.”

  “Jack said with the FBI involved and the fact you used fake names traveling here, the chances of Heller finding you were next to nil,” Jenn added.

  “Okay, I’m in then,” I smiled, relieved that we didn’t have to stay locked behind closed doors. “So how do you plan on keeping Max and Shane from insisting they go with us?” I asked Maxine.

  She stood and headed for her bag resting on the sofa. She dug through it for a minute, then turned and held up a rainbow-colored dildo.

  “We tell the boys we’re having a Passion Princess party at Helen’s house.”

  “That might work except for one thing,” I stated. “I don’t think Shane would buy the fact you came prepared to host a toy party while on the run from a madman.”

  “Pish posh. Never underestimate what a man is willing to believe if the topic is uncomfortable.”