In Protective Custody

by Beth Cornelison

  His breath whooshed from his lungs as they collided. She screamed again.

  With his free hand, he caught her shoulder, shook her gently.

  She looked up at him with wide eyes. Her body shook with violent tremors.

  “Laura, it’s me. What happened? Who’s out there?”

  Laura panted for a breath, her gaze dropping to take in the sight of Max’s long, lean body. His wet body. His muscled, gorgeous, nearly naked body.

  She couldn’t help it. She gaped. Heat flooded her night-chilled body, collected in her womb, then spread insidious fingers of fire from head to toe. Just the sight of him turned her blood to warm honey, her knees to mush.

  Her eyes followed the arrow of dark hair on his chest until it disappeared under the towel he’d loosely tucked around his waist. The towel drooped low on his hips, slipped a bit more even as she watched. Oh mercy!

  His hand flew down to catch the errant towel.

  “Laura, what happened? I heard you scream.” The sharp, worried tone of his voice penetrated her fog of desire.

  “I—I went to get…uh, w-wood for the fire.”

  “Yeah? And?”

  “I heard something. Something was out there…by the woodpile.”

  He scowled. “This something wouldn’t have been four-legged and furry, by any chance?”

  “And beady-eyed. It startled me.” She drew a deep breath, shuddering as she recalled her brush with the raccoon. “Then I dropped a log on my toe. Stupid raccoon.”

  He leaned the rifle he’d brought out against the porch rail and dragged a hand down his face. He’d left his shower and come out with his rifle, ready to defend her, ready to save her from an unknown danger.

  Knowing that did crazy things to her composure. His willingness to go to battle for her twisted around a vulnerable part of her heart and spread roots in the dark corners of her soul.

  “You nearly gave me a heart attack, woman.”

  “That raccoon nearly gave me a heart attack!”

  Tightening his towel and tucking it more securely, he scowled at her. “I’m going back to my shower now—” he picked up the rifle again “—unless there is a roach or a mouse you need exterminated first. I’d rather not be interrupted again.”

  She grinned at him despite his sarcasm. “No, thank you. I can handle the roaches and mice by myself.”

  He turned and marched back toward the door, grumbling something about freezing his butt off and the cabin not having mice.

  She indulged in the view. The wide span of his shoulders, the way the towel clung damply to his tight rear end, his long, powerful legs and narrow feet. Breathtaking.

  “Max?”

  He stopped at the door and looked back at her, glowering.

  She grinned again. “Thanks anyway.”

  The tension seemed to drain from him as he stared back at her. He didn’t respond at first. But then the corner of his mouth tugged upward and, with a wink, he disappeared inside.

  She refused to examine too closely the warm feeling that puddled inside her. Instead, she decided that Max needed to be rewarded for his chivalry. They both needed a release from the tension stretching them as taut as rubber bands. They were both ready to snap. She had an idea of what might help Max’s mood. Well, several ideas really, but their hands-off policy ruled out most of them.

  Her plan in place, Laura headed back in to warm herself by the fire.

  The car was gone.

  Max ran from the woods after his daily walk and gaped at the spot where he’d last parked Laura’s Honda. He’d only been gone for a few minutes. But the car was most definitely gone.

  Elmer.

  A wave of icy dread swamped him as he raced into the cabin, throwing the door open with such force that it crashed as it hit the wall.

  The baby’s car seat was gone. His nephew was nowhere to be seen. Nor was Laura.

  Fear swamped him.

  Holy hell, had the Rialtos found the cabin? Had they taken Elmer? Kidnapped Laura? Stolen the car to leave him stranded and unable to follow them?

  Rage erupted from him in a roar, and he slammed back out of the cabin. He’d let his guard down, left them alone and unprotected, foolishly believing the cabin so remote as to provide all the protection they needed.

  Over the last several days, he’d been too preoccupied with the idea of jumping Laura’s bones. With trying not to jump her bones. He’d allowed his obsession with her to distract him from the danger of the Rialtos. And now Laura and the baby were gone, snatched from under his nose.

  Disgust with himself, with his failure, gnawed Max’s gut.

  He stalked in tight circles, pacing the front lawn of the cabin, deciding his best attack. He’d have to walk down the mountain, find a phone. He’d have to get the police involved, which probably meant they’d put Elmer in protective custody with children’s services at least for a while. If the Rialtos hadn’t already skipped the country…

  Hell. Hell. Hell!

  He started down the rutted driveway, headed out to the narrow road that led to the foot of the mountain. By the time he reached a phone, they’d be miles from town, maybe out of the state.

  And Laura might be dead.

  Hell.

  He kicked his pace up to a run.

  Laura hummed to herself, enjoying the palette of fall colors dappling the maples and oaks as she drove back up the twisting mountain road. With a glance in the clip-on visor mirror she’d bought today, she checked on Elmer, who blinked sleepily in the backseat. She smiled. He couldn’t be any sweeter. He was a good sleeper and content while awake, except at mealtime or when wet. But once his needs were tended to, he’d settle down to nap again or to gaze in wonder at the two adults who cooed over him constantly.

  Even Max spoke to the baby with a special inflection in his voice, and hearing Max talk soothingly to the infant filled her with a sentimental warmth she couldn’t escape. Seeing him bond with his nephew was endearing. And completely dangerous to her heart. She was getting in too deep.

  She’d driven all the way to a small mall in a town past Parson’s General Store, and her shopping trip had been a success. Laura had found several things she wanted for Elmer and a few things she needed for herself, as well as her surprise for Max.

  But the trip had taken longer than she’d expected, and she hoped Max wouldn’t be too worried about them or upset over her late afternoon return. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than she spotted the tall, broad-shouldered figure of a man jogging along the side of the road. As she approached him, his dark, rugged features became more distinguishable.

  Max.

  What in the world…? Instantly, a bolt of fear streaked through her. Had there been trouble at the cabin? Had the Rialtos found him? Quickly she pulled to the edge of the road, praying no other car came careening around one of the sharp mountain curves and clipped her.

  “Max!” she cried, climbing from the front seat and standing in the open car door. “What happened?”

  His head came up, and a full range of emotions played across his face. “Laura! Thank God. Are you all right? Is Elmer with you? I thought the Rialtos—”

  He stopped short and released a shuddering sigh.

  Compunction bit Laura. “Didn’t you…see my note?”

  His dark eyebrows snapped together. “What note?”

  Max sucked in deep breaths, winded from his jog. A vein on his neck pulsed wildly. She imagined the pleasure it would be to kiss that throbbing pulse, to tease it with her tongue, and had to mentally shake herself in order to answer his question. “I left a note on the kitchen counter for you. I went shopping for a few things. More diapers, a jacket for me, a—”

  “Shopping?” His harsh shout must have startled Elmer, because the baby started crying.

  Laura winced. “You’re upset. You…didn’t see the note.”

  He closed his eyes and ducked his head, clearly struggling to contain his rampaging emotions and catch his breath. “No.”

&
nbsp; That fact clicked in her head, followed closely by what his assumption regarding her disappearance must have been to have him so rattled.

  “You thought the Rialtos had us, didn’t you?” Regret for the worry she’d put him through speared her chest.

  Raising his head, he met her apologetic gaze with a penetrating, dark brown stare. “I guess I panicked, assumed the worst. But under the circumstances…”

  Guilt lanced the bubble of contentment she’d enjoyed moments earlier, the sense of connection she’d felt with Max since their tête-à-tête last night.

  Telling him about her time in foster homes had been difficult, like stripping her soul naked for him. But she’d felt compelled to share at least a piece of her history with him. She wanted Max to understand her dedication to Elmer, the reason why she wanted so desperately to ensure that Elmer found a good home, the right home. Because she hadn’t had a place to call home.

  His compassion and understanding had been a balm to the raw nerve she’d exposed. Incredibly, she’d felt safer, more accepted in the hours since opening herself to him than in all the years since she’d left her last foster home at eighteen. And how had she repaid him? By scaring him to death with her disappearance.

  Laura sagged behind the steering wheel, and Max opened the back door to croon to Elmer. “Hey, fella. I’m sorry. Easy does it.”

  Hearing Max murmur to the crying infant stirred a painful longing deep inside her. He’d soothed her last night the same way, and she missed the seductive lull in his deep voice and gentle hands. The comfort and understanding he’d given her had awakened something elemental inside her.

  Yet succumbing to his soft words and tender touch was exactly the kind of mistake, the reckless hope that had crushed her so many times growing up. She couldn’t build false hopes around a few moments of kindness and comfort. Why hadn’t she learned?

  She glanced in her rearview mirror and watched him lightly stroke the baby’s cheek with a finger, poke a pacifier in the baby’s lips then kiss Elmer’s head before ducking back out to close the door.

  When he climbed in beside her, he sighed. Tension and anxiety still vibrated from him, and she gave him a guilty glance. “I’m sorry I scared you like that, Max. I should have known how you’d worry. I should have told you where I was going rather than expect you to find my note. I—”

  He silenced her with a finger to her lips, his touch sending sizzling sensations through her blood.

  “The important thing is you’re okay. Elmer’s okay. Just…dear God, don’t do something like that again.”

  She winced and shook her head.

  Closed in the confines of the car with him, she could smell his sweat, the scent of fall leaves and mountain air that clung to him. The combination of male heat and the crispness of nature tantalized her.

  Laura pulled back onto the road, trying to focus on the fall scenery instead of the zing in her blood Max’s presence stirred.

  After several minutes of riding in silence, Max said, “It’s Friday.”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “Friday afternoons are game days in Pee Wee football. My team’s playing even as we speak.”

  She studied the serious countenance of the man beside her, saw in his dark eyes the conflict between his responsibility to his team and to his sister’s baby. His frustration, torn between two loyalties, etched lines beside his eyes and plucked at her heart.

  “I know that you’re thinking you’ve let your team down by not being there.”

  He grunted in reply and turned toward his window.

  She persevered, determined to offer him a bit of comfort and encouragement as he’d done for her the night before. “But all the time you spent with the team up until now, the practices and encouragement, that all counts for something. They know you’d be there if you could.”

  Max remained quiet.

  “They know you’re there in spirit.”

  With a sigh, he turned to her. “They’re five years old. My being there in spirit means nothing to them. All they know is their coach didn’t show up for the game.”

  Laura chewed her bottom lip, reflecting, remembering, then shook her head. “You’re wrong. Children understand more than adults give them credit for. Even as young as Elmer is, he knows you love him. He can sense it. After my mom died, I felt her with me, felt her love.”

  A years-old ache swelled in her chest. Laura paused to draw a deep breath and collect her composure again before continuing. “So don’t ever doubt the difference you’ve made for the kids on your Pee Wee team. Or the importance of what you’re doing for Elmer.”

  She paused and met Max’s dark penetrating stare across the front seat. “That’s why I came back…the day I ditched you in Mississippi. I knew you cared.”

  Dropping his gaze, he fisted his hands in his lap. “Is caring enough, though? All I could think about as I was running down this road was that I’d failed Emily. Failed Elmer. Failed you.”

  “You haven’t failed anyone!”

  “We need a backup plan. I have to find us another safe place to stay in case the Rialtos do show up.”

  She nodded. “Okay. Makes sense. But where?”

  “That’s what I have to figure out.”

  “Tell you what.” Max bent over Elmer’s homemade cradle where his nephew wiggled restlessly and flailed his legs. “When you’re older, I’ll take you down to my fire station and let you sit behind the wheel of the big ladder truck. What d’ya think?”

  Elmer wrinkled his nose and whimpered.

  Max glanced to the closed door of the bathroom, wondering how much longer Laura needed to get her evening bath. Wondering how much more of this one-sided conversation with his nephew he needed to keep his thoughts away from Laura and the steamy tub of bubbles in the next room.

  Elmer’s whimper sharpened to a whine, and Max grimaced. “Come on, buddy. Laura’s spent all day taking care of you. She’s fed you and bathed you and rocked you and changed your diaper. Give her just a little time to herself, okay?”

  His nephew poked out his bottom lip and scrunched his face tighter, tuning up to a wail.

  Max rubbed the baby’s tummy, stroked his head and cheeks with a finger. “Come on, slugger. It’s okay.”

  Elmer wasn’t buying it. He opened his mouth and loosed a loud cry.

  “Max? Is he okay?” Laura called from the next room.

  “He’s fine. I’ve got him.” He scowled at Elmer. “See? She heard you. She’s gonna think I can’t handle you for five minutes by myself. Pull it together, dude.”

  He wrapped Elmer’s blanket more tightly around him and lifted the baby to the crook of his arm. “What if I told you about your mom? I raised her from the time she was thirteen, ya know.”

  He jostled Elmer gently as he paced in front of the fireplace.

  The bathroom door opened with a click, and Max peeked up from the baby. A cloud of sweet-scented steam followed Laura out of the bathroom. She wore a new, knee-length nightshirt and was combing her wet hair, already curling wildly as it dried.

  Nothing about her appearance or her clothing was immodest or intentionally provocative, but the sight of her damp hair, steam-kissed cheeks and bare feet shot liquid heat through Max’s body.

  Laura set a bottle of lotion on the nightstand and glanced across the room at them. “Need me to take him?”

  He ducked his head and cleared the thickness from his throat. “No. You finish—” He waved a hand toward the bed where she sat on the edge of the mattress. “Whatever. We’re good. Right, slugger?”

  Elmer squawked.

  He turned his back to Laura and kept walking the floor and patting Elmer’s diapered bottom.

  “I bought you something while I was out today,” Laura said.

  “Something for me?” Max glanced toward the bed. And nearly swallowed his tongue.

  Laura had propped one foot on the bed and used both hands to smooth lotion on her sleek, shapely calf. Her nightshirt had crept up to her hip, re
vealing miles of leg and skin.

  Pulse thumping, he yanked his gaze away and paced faster, shifting Elmer to his shoulder.

  “A football. I know you’ve been bored, and I thought maybe you could teach me how to pass and tackle and stuff.”

  From the corner of his eye, he saw Laura switch legs and start spreading lotion on the next calf.

  “Oh. Uh, thanks.” He imagined himself tackling Laura now, on the bed, and swallowed a groan. When he sucked in a deep breath for composure, the lavender scent of Laura’s lotion assailed his senses.

  The bedsprings creaked as Laura shifted her weight, and Max gave up pretenses and turned to stare. He drank in the sight of her silky thighs, lush lips and glowing skin. Temptation personified.

  Elmer whined again, and his flailing fist caught Max in the chin.

  Max let a sigh of frustration hiss through his teeth. He refocused his attention on Elmer, remembering what Laura had said earlier. Even as young as Elmer is, he knows you love him. He can sense it.

  “You know, kid, your mom, uh…she’d be here if she could. She loves you, little guy. She loves you, and she wants you to be safe. That’s why you’re here with me instead of with her. But…you’re going to have your mommy back soon.”

  He stopped pacing and pulled the edge of Elmer’s blanket back to peer down at the tiny face so like Emily’s. Elmer blinked at him sleepily, a spit bubble clinging to the corner of his bowed mouth. Max dabbed the drool with a corner of the blanket and realized Elmer had quit fussing.

  He’d calmed the baby by himself.

  A warm sense of satisfaction and affection puddled in his gut. Max bent his head to drop a kiss on his nephew’s fuzzy hair. “I love you, too, slugger. We’re gonna be all right. I promise.”

  Max sighed. Keeping that promise meant no more screw-ups like today’s. It meant finding another safe place where they could hide if needed. Someplace the Rialtos wouldn’t think to look. Someplace random and not linked to any of his friends the way this cabin was. But hotels cost money, and he was running low on cash. Credit cards could be tracked.

  And wherever they went, they’d need the facilities to take care of the baby, sterilize bottles, keep the formula chilled. That limited their options.