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Authors: J. M. Madden
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grace to her that was spellbinding. Cat was competent and controlled in all things, body, mind and spirit.
Even at twenty-two when he’d first met her, he knew he’d been none of those things. His body had been maturing faster than his mind. His spirit had never caught up. The most complete his spirit had ever been had been when he was living with her. All of the fucked up shit he’d grown up with had faded away. There were a couple of brief, shining moments he remembered being completely content with everything in his life. Stupid things like watching her cook him a monster dinner after being deployed for months. Real food made with loving hands after living on government supplied freeze-dried crap made by machines. Playing in the snow on a trip up north, Cat pregnant with Dillon at the time. Watching her tinker under the hood of the truck with him, grease streaked on her cheek.
Cat had been at the center of all of those.
The past year and a half had been hard. Remembering those brilliant moments had kept him moving through his monotonous life.
“I miss watching you,” he admitted.
She paused long enough to smile at him, hand propped on her hip. “And I miss feeling the weight of your gaze on me.”
Arousal hit him in a rush, causing a different kind of dizziness. That no-holds-barred responsiveness to his overtures had always cranked him up hard. The first moment he’d seen her walking into that restaurant he’d been hit with the most potent arousal he’d ever felt. And over the years as he’d grown to love her, the need had grown as well. Within just a few months they’d been inseparable. If he wasn’t on base training, he was with her. The guys in his platoon had thought he was a loner, which was fine because it tied into the sniper mentality, but he was actually just the opposite—home enjoying his wife. He just didn’t talk about that part of his life.
Psychologically, Cat had accepted him like no one else ever had. When the miserable excuse he’d had for a father had died when he was twenty-four, it had been a blip on his radar. He’d sent money for the cremation but he hadn’t even gone back to Georgia for the service. And nobody had missed him. As the child of an affair, he had never been accepted by either family. Cat had supported his decision to stay away from them all and hadn’t said a word to try to sway him otherwise. She knew the kind of abuse he’d lived through.
Because along with that calm-headedness came a knowledge of when to let him run and when to try to rein him in or guide him. Harper knew she played him, but it was all done with their best interests at heart. And she usually manipulated him into doing what he’d wanted to begin with, just hadn’t wanted to admit.
Watching her move around the kitchen, he wondered if this was one of those times. Actually, he realized, there were two items he needed to be thinking about. One, was she swaying around the kitchen that way to take his mind off everything else? And two, had she rented this house and arranged this time for them to reconnect because she knew they belonged together, in spite of his issues?
The thought that he might have been wrong for the past year and a half and tortured them both for no reason made his head ache. Hell…
Propping his throbbing head on his hands, he probed at the cuts around his bad eye. Puckered and tender. There were some stitches he’d have to get pulled later. The rest of his head thumped.
“They said that you would be in for some monster headaches.”
He slitted his eyes enough to see her set a fresh cup of coffee in front of him and a white pill. Not ibuprofen. “I don’t want to be knocked out anymore.”
“I know, but if you don’t have to have the pain, why not take it? The house is secure. And so are we. We’ll get you some breakfast and you can crash.”
“Are you going to tuck me in?”
She laughed and paused long enough to toss a grin at him. “Maybe. Although I
Even at twenty-two when he’d first met her, he knew he’d been none of those things. His body had been maturing faster than his mind. His spirit had never caught up. The most complete his spirit had ever been had been when he was living with her. All of the fucked up shit he’d grown up with had faded away. There were a couple of brief, shining moments he remembered being completely content with everything in his life. Stupid things like watching her cook him a monster dinner after being deployed for months. Real food made with loving hands after living on government supplied freeze-dried crap made by machines. Playing in the snow on a trip up north, Cat pregnant with Dillon at the time. Watching her tinker under the hood of the truck with him, grease streaked on her cheek.
Cat had been at the center of all of those.
The past year and a half had been hard. Remembering those brilliant moments had kept him moving through his monotonous life.
“I miss watching you,” he admitted.
She paused long enough to smile at him, hand propped on her hip. “And I miss feeling the weight of your gaze on me.”
Arousal hit him in a rush, causing a different kind of dizziness. That no-holds-barred responsiveness to his overtures had always cranked him up hard. The first moment he’d seen her walking into that restaurant he’d been hit with the most potent arousal he’d ever felt. And over the years as he’d grown to love her, the need had grown as well. Within just a few months they’d been inseparable. If he wasn’t on base training, he was with her. The guys in his platoon had thought he was a loner, which was fine because it tied into the sniper mentality, but he was actually just the opposite—home enjoying his wife. He just didn’t talk about that part of his life.
Psychologically, Cat had accepted him like no one else ever had. When the miserable excuse he’d had for a father had died when he was twenty-four, it had been a blip on his radar. He’d sent money for the cremation but he hadn’t even gone back to Georgia for the service. And nobody had missed him. As the child of an affair, he had never been accepted by either family. Cat had supported his decision to stay away from them all and hadn’t said a word to try to sway him otherwise. She knew the kind of abuse he’d lived through.
Because along with that calm-headedness came a knowledge of when to let him run and when to try to rein him in or guide him. Harper knew she played him, but it was all done with their best interests at heart. And she usually manipulated him into doing what he’d wanted to begin with, just hadn’t wanted to admit.
Watching her move around the kitchen, he wondered if this was one of those times. Actually, he realized, there were two items he needed to be thinking about. One, was she swaying around the kitchen that way to take his mind off everything else? And two, had she rented this house and arranged this time for them to reconnect because she knew they belonged together, in spite of his issues?
The thought that he might have been wrong for the past year and a half and tortured them both for no reason made his head ache. Hell…
Propping his throbbing head on his hands, he probed at the cuts around his bad eye. Puckered and tender. There were some stitches he’d have to get pulled later. The rest of his head thumped.
“They said that you would be in for some monster headaches.”
He slitted his eyes enough to see her set a fresh cup of coffee in front of him and a white pill. Not ibuprofen. “I don’t want to be knocked out anymore.”
“I know, but if you don’t have to have the pain, why not take it? The house is secure. And so are we. We’ll get you some breakfast and you can crash.”
“Are you going to tuck me in?”
She laughed and paused long enough to toss a grin at him. “Maybe. Although I
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