The sun that hit her face when she cleared the ER’s doors was bright, and she held up a hand to shield her eyes. When had it gotten so late in the day? Charlie squeezed her eyes tightly shut and rubbed at them, desperately trying to expel the cobwebs. It had to be nearly lunch time, but already she felt like she’d aged a thousand years in a day. First, Scott’s visit that morning, then Shane’s attack, ending with the near tragedy at the chief’s house. The sun warmed up her cold limbs, but somehow that only made her seem more tired.
Where was she going to go? First, she needed a car. Her pulse skittered at the idea of going back to her apartment, but she had no choice. She wouldn’t stay, just duck inside long enough to grab her car keys and a few changes of clothes and then get the hell out of Dodge. Anything else, she’d figure out when she got to wherever the hell she was going. That much, she could decide on the road. As she raised her arm up to hail a cab, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out—Jesse’s name was on the screen. Crap. She’d forgotten about that. She couldn’t afford to ditch it just yet, and so she swiped into the options screen, disabled GPS, and then turned it off. She’d get a new one when she arrived at God knew where, but until then, that should keep her safe.
One short taxi ride later, she pulled up in her street, several houses down, just in case. After deciding there was no one parked near her house that shouldn’t be, Charlie paid the driver in cash and then hopped out, walking quickly back to her apartment. She felt exposed, even just walking down the sidewalk in her own neighborhood. What she wouldn’t give for a scarf or a ball cap. She rolled her eyes. She’d been watching way too many cop shows. Still, she had to be quick.
Ten minutes and one stuffed-full duffle later, she was out the door. She leaned down to swing it over her shoulder and nearly fell flat on her face on in the hall. Damn it. She hefted it up again and this time managed to get it over her shoulder and make it down to the residents’ parking lot. She was too tired to scope it out again and so pulled the cap she’d dug out of the bottom of her closet low over her face and stepped out. Every muscle was tensed, half waiting for a shout of recognition, or for someone to tackle her from behind. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until she got to her car and couldn’t manage to get her fingers to press the unlock button on the remote.
She heaved in a deep breath, and then another, but the world still stayed slightly fuzzy around the edges. Shit. The concussion plus her lack of sleep was going to be a problem. Plans of driving halfway across the state were going to have to wait. She’d be lucky to get halfway across town before she crashed the damn car. She pulled out her phone and switched it on, making sure location services were still disabled, and quickly skimmed through the maps to locate a route through back streets to her temporary destination, then fumbled with a paperclip on her keyring to remove her sim for good measure. She’d be able to pull up the map she’d left downloaded and open if necessary, but she’d stay off grid.
Finally, her trembling fingers found the right notch on the side of the phone. After throwing the duffle in the trunk, Charlie started the car and pulled out, turning the opposite way down the highway than she’d originally planned. There was a series of rest stops just outside the town, along with a BYO-tent or van campground. The place was rarely used this time of year, and she’d be able to pull her car in out of sight from the road and catch a few minutes of sleep before heading off on the long-haul drive. As she drove, her phone vibrated with a text. Actually, more than one. It sounded as though a small swarm of bees was buzzing away on the passenger seat, and Charlie swore she could see her phone actually wiggle at her out of the corner of her eye. She frowned. How was anyone texting her with her sim out? She thumped the steering wheel as the answer occurred to her. Fucking Wi-Fi. Thank God she’d had the idea to turn off her GPS. Once she’d cleared the center of town, the Wi-Fi would drop out, too, and she’d finally be clear.
Finally, she reached the campground and pulled in. After switching off the engine, she gingerly reached over and picked up her phone, as if whoever was trying to reach her would be able to sense her through the hardware. God, she must be tired. She was being utterly ridiculous. She tried to read the texts on the screen, but names and messages blurred into each other, and after a minute she gave up, dropped the phone back on the seat, and closed her eyes. The world was going to have to wait. She needed sleep.
It was the distant dim slam of a car door that woke her what felt like seconds later. It must have been longer, as the sun was now low in the sky, but it felt like her eyes had only been closed a few seconds. Before she could wake up enough to work out what the sound meant, her own door was being wrenched open, blasting her face with cold air. Charlie blinked, her mouth hanging open. She had to be asleep. That was the only explanation for what she was seeing.
Shane was standing in front of her open door, his breath fogging in the cold. His jaw was clenched and his gaze burned into her. He lifted his cell to his ear. “I got her. We’ll be back at the house. Soon.” He almost spat out the last word, still glaring at her. He jabbed at his phone to end the call, then walked around to the passenger side of the car, swiping her stuff onto the backseat and climbing in. He slammed the door closed and then turned to her. “Are you serious?” he asked.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Charlie said. Her stomach churned with guilt. They both knew she was lying.
Shane’s voice was hard and cold. A small movement caught her gaze. His fingers were twitching with his attempts to stay calm. “I’ve been out of my mind looking for you. I thought you were gone. I thought you might be already dead.” His voice broke. “What were you thinking?”
Charlie’s eyes closed as her heart sank. “I honestly don’t know. I didn’t know what to do. He knows everything about me, Shane, and he’s not afraid to hurt anyone I care about. I had nowhere to go.”
“So your answer is to run away to the middle of the woods? Alone? Not telling anyone where you went?” Shane’s voice was so loud that it echoed off the windshield. “Jesus, Charlie. We could have barricaded you in 81; we could have taken a flight to Jamaica. We could have done anything if you had just talked to me.”
She looked down, tears pricking her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“If I hadn’t broken pretty much every rule there is and tracked your phone, I still wouldn’t have found you. You can still do that, you know, even when you pull the sim.” His gaze was still angry. At her or something else, she couldn’t tell, but the same emotion surged through her.
“You tracked my phone? That’s way over the line, Shane.”
He laughed. “That’s what you’re angry about? That I tried to find you when you’re being stalked by a psychopath who wants to kill you?”
Charlie took a deep breath. She didn’t want to say it, but he had to know. “It’s something he would do.”
Shane’s face went soft, understanding her anger. He leaned over to her, pulling her to him across the center console and kissing her hard. “I can’t lose you,” he said against her lips. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
His touch, the feeling of being in his embrace again, broke something inside her. A sob broke through and Charlie launched herself at him, climbing across into his lap. He pulled her against his chest while she straddled him, his arms like bands of iron. He squeezed her so tightly that she could barely breathe, and she didn’t care. “I need you,” she whispered. “I need you inside me.”
Shane was already a step ahead of her, undoing his belt. He slipped a condom on his already erect cock. It wasn’t easy in the small space, but Charlie shoved her pants down to her ankles and straddled him again, not caring enough to do more. Shane’s cock was rock hard, and she sank onto him in one long roll of her hips. He kissed her wildly, tongue dancing with hers, and she wanted this. She’d been so desperate, so scared, but it had been a mistake to run. Scranton wanted to destroy her life, and she’d just about helped him do it. Thank God she had people who loved her enough
to never give up, even when she was being an idiot. She’d nearly given up and let Scranton win. She wasn’t going to make that mistake again.
She rode Shane, hips rolling. He held onto her hips, supporting her, guiding her, and letting her take what she wanted. She needed this, and he would give it to her. It was enough to be in his arms again and know she was safe.
It didn’t take long until her head dropped back, lips parted as she moaned from the feeling. She squeezed down on his cock, and Shane’s entire body tensed to keep from moving, to let her take and take and take.
He reached down, stroking her, her clit slick with her own juices. This was what she needed, to remember what it was like to be alive and loved. “I love you,” she said to him. “I love you.”
The look on Shane’s face was like the sun—pure and perfect and in absolute awe. Pleasure cracked through her like a whip, spiraling up from his fingers on her clit and outward. It encompassed her whole body, her whole being. She felt her orgasm flood down onto his cock as he came, too, in jerking thrusts deep inside her.
Charlie’s breath caught as she came down from the high.
“I love you, too,” he said, voice quiet in the aftermath. “Let me take you home, and show you exactly how much I mean it. Please.”
He was still inside her, hardening again as he waited for her answer, and she nodded. “Okay.”
24
Shane
Shane glanced over at Charlie as he turned the car onto the main road back into town. After he made love to her in the car, it seemed as if all the fight and anger had left her. She’d been so beautiful, but she’d also been exhausted, and Shane was reminded of just how little sleep they’d both gotten over the past couple of days. That, and the knock she’d taken to the head the day before . . . God, had it only been twenty-four hours since he’d learned of her attack? Since, he’d felt fear like he’d never imagined before. Getting hurt on shift hadn’t exactly been a picnic, but it happened. They were used to it, expected it occasionally even, in their profession. He’d been comforted by the knowledge that Charlie wasn’t working that night, that she was at home binging on Netflix, or safely tucked up in bed. The fact that someone had been able to get to her, had convinced her to drive out of town and to an abandoned field, where he was waiting to . . . a shudder went through him and Charlie blinked, looking him over slowly.
“You okay?” She frowned. “Your head isn’t bothering you, is it? Maybe I should drive.”
He smiled. That was Charlie. Always wanting to help. She cared about everyone, even patients, just moments after she’d met them. How anyone could want to hurt someone like that was beyond him. The smile slipped from his face as his features went dark.
Darryl Scranton was a sociopath. He had to be. There was no way anyone could know Charlie and not fall in love with her. Hell, he’d been ass over heels in love with her as soon as he’d seen her sweet smile when she’d first subbed in at 81 a few years back. Once he’d gotten to know her, it was a slam dunk. The fact it had taken him years to have the guts enough to act on his feelings was something he’d probably always regret. The only thing he could do now was be the man she deserved, and that started with not letting some asshole lunatic lay a finger on her ever again. “I’m fine,” he said. “Besides, it wasn’t nearly as much of a bang as you got.”
He looked over at her again. She was still pale. He doubted her full color had returned at all since she’d been attacked. He wasn’t letting her lift a finger tonight, no matter how much she protested. As soon as they were safely inside, he was getting her into a warm shower, plying her with a hot meal, and then tucking her into bed.
Their shift started again the next day, and although he wasn’t sure if they’d make the 7 a.m. call, Charlie would want to see the guys. Even if she didn’t, he knew none of them would rest easy until they’d clapped eyes on her themselves. Once they’d gotten the fire under control, the entire shift had headed to the hospital to wait for Alex. That was when they’d first realized that Charlie had taken off. He—and half the squad—had blown up her phone for a good fifteen minutes, but when they’d gotten no response, the guys had split off. Half of them stayed with the chief, keeping watch over his family while he finished his treatment, and the other set off in search of Charlie. Shane had headed straight for her apartment, and then called Scott in desperation when he’d found the front door ajar and her bedroom half destroyed, clothes strewn all over the floor. He’d been scared shitless enough that she’d run that he hadn’t even let himself consider the other possibility, that the room was a mess from someone else—someone looking to take her. It still hadn’t stopped him from racing all over town in a mad panic until Scott had called. He’d made Shane promise to keep his mouth shut on how they’d found her. Charlie was a grown adult, and despite Scranton still being at large, a few hours wasn’t enough for a judge to issue any sort of warrant to track her phone. Shane couldn’t have cared less, and fortunately Scott felt the same, because ten minutes later, he’d called with her location, and Shane had driven there like the devil was on his heels.
Yep, warm shower, warm food, and then warm bed, in that order. He could still see the subtle tremors that wracked her body, no matter how much she tried to hide them. He’d like to think they were related to the way he’d made her come, but that wasn’t it. They’d needed it at the time. God, he’d needed to feel her tighten around him more than even he’d known. Being as close to her as he possibly could and watching her fall apart in his arms had been balm for both their souls, but now she needed something else from him. Charlie was on her last legs. She needed to rest. He’d stand sentry all night if that’s what it took to make her comfortable enough to finally sleep.
They arrived at Charlie’s apartment, and Shane had to resist the urge to carry her inside. He settled for an arm around her waist, gently guiding her up the stairs. He half carried her all the way to the bathroom, where he sat her down and undressed her. She was absolutely gorgeous, but tonight wasn’t about anything other than giving her what she needed. When the water was hot, he guided her into the stream and then reluctantly left her alone. He would have loved to climb in there with her and move his soapy hands over her skin, worshiping her, but there was no way she’d rest when she saw the disaster she’d left behind in her bedroom. Shane doubted she’d realized it at the time, but it was hard to miss now that it looked like a bomb had gone off.
First, he tapped a delivery order for his favorite local curry place into his phone, and then tackled the room. Unsure what was clean or dirty, he scooped it all into the hamper and then picked up the small mountain of toiletries she’d dumped on the bedside table, righting a wicker chair that had fallen over in the chaos. Finally, he changed the sheets and was just walking down the hall with his arms full of the old ones when he heard the water shut off in the bathroom.
Dumping the sheets on the laundry floor, he made a quick detour to the linen closet and grabbed the biggest, fluffiest towels he could find. He grinned. Charlie was as good as any of them out on a call, but he highly doubted he’d find such luxurious towels in any of the guy’s houses. Maybe Seth’s—after the women of 81 had gone over his apartment. These, though, they’d keep her toasty warm until Shane got her dry and dressed.
He was just slipping her arms into the flannel pajamas he’d found in her closet when the doorbell rang. He frowned at the small flinch she made at the sound. That was something that would take a while to go away, he supposed. Maybe he should talk to the chief about getting counseling for her. The department might even cover it, given the circumstances. Maybe he’d go with her, when this was all over. It could be good for both of them. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Make yourself comfortable,” he said, gesturing at the bed. “I’ll be back in a few minutes with dinner.”
Charlie looked up at him, her forehead creased in confusion. “In bed?”
He chuckled. Damn, she looked even cuter with her nose scrunched up. “For tonight, yes. I’m not
letting your feet hit the floor again until you’ve had a solid eight hours, at least.”
“But we’re on shift tomorrow.”
“Not officially,” he reminded her. “But I’m sure the guys would love to see you.”
Her face dropped and Shane opened his mouth to set her straight, but the doorbell rang again. Cursing, he shot her a stern eye. “Hold that thought. I’ll be back in a moment to answer it.” He nearly sprinted to the door, grabbing the takeout and throwing a twenty-dollar tip at the delivery guy, and then made an even quicker pass through the kitchen, grabbing a random assortment of plates, bowls, glasses, and crockery, along with a bottle of wine. Skidding into the bedroom, he dumped it all on the bed with a flourish. “Madam, dinner is served.”
Despite the way he’d left her, a hint of a smile appeared on Charlie’s face, followed by a snort, then a giggle. Her entire face lit up, and Shane grinned back in reply. That was more like it.
“Wine out of tumblers?” she asked.
“Nothing is too good for you,” he replied, setting off another round of giggles. He served her up a steaming bowl of rice, topped with a heaping serving of curry chicken. He hoped the spicy food would chase away the rest of the shivers and help her sleep with a full stomach. Charlie closed her eyes and moaned in delight at the first mouthful, and Shane was instantly hard, his erection pushing up against his zipper almost painfully. He ignored it and instead served himself up a similar bowl and handed Charlie a glass of red. Her eyes danced with amusement at the presentation in the cheap dollar-store tumbler, and he figured now was as good a time as any to bring up visiting the house.
Line of Fire (Southern Heat Book 5) Page 14