Any Time, Any Place(100)

Head spinning, tears threatening, Dalton looked at his brothers and smiled.

"Now we know."

They nodded, hands still clasped together.

"Now we know," Cal repeated.

They sat together on the floor for a long, long time.


Raven pulled up to the mansion.

Dalton was on the front porch. When he'd first called her, she'd ignored the message, but after he'd tried to contact her numerous times, she'd finally picked up. He'd gotten straight to the point: A letter had been found. It had something to do with her father.

She'd told him she'd be right over.

Hardening her heart, she got out of the car and walked over, trying not to greedily devour his appearance. He looked the same, but different. Tired. Yet . . . stronger. Hair twisted up in a man bun, and his eyes burned clear and bright, with more focus. She swallowed the pain, realizing he was doing better without her. He'd gotten past her final rejection and moved on.

"Thanks for coming," he said. His deep voice stroked her everywhere, licking every hidden place on her body. "It's important."

She stiffened her muscles. "You said something about a letter?"

He nodded, motioning for her to sit down next to him. She lowered herself onto the rocker, curling herself up tight. "My brothers and I were cleaning out my father's room. He died over a year ago, but we never got around to really sorting and boxing his belongings. We found this letter hidden in the back of his drawer. It's from my mother."

A strange premonition swept over her. With hands that slightly trembled, she took the outstretched letter, shivering at the brush of his fingers against the back of her hand. Raven didn't question why he wanted her to read it. She sensed a piece of the big puzzle was about to slide into place.




 

 

She took her time with the words, noting Diane's graceful penmanship, savoring the sound of her father's name from the woman he'd fallen in love with. When she was done, tears stung her vision, but she read it again. Then again.

Finally she lifted her head and looked at Dalton.

"They were coming back."

"Yes. You were right all along. You knew who they were, even when I doubted."

The hard shell inside her cracked open and she began to shake. Dalton rose, tugging her into his arms, and wrapped her tight in his embrace. She allowed herself this one last time to take comfort in his strength, reveling in his spicy, masculine scent, the heat of his skin, the warm breath rushing past her ear. He rocked her like a child, and she cried as the past fell away and all the answers suddenly became clear.

She quieted but stayed in his arms, hating to leave.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, Raven."

Raven sighed. One more moment in his embrace and she'd pull away. For now, it felt so good. So . . . right. "I know."

"I made a lot of mistakes, but I see things more clearly now. And I understand why you don't feel like you can just open up again and give me a second chance. So I'm going to earn it."

Slowly, she pulled back. "I'm glad you called me. I needed to see the letter. I think there's some closure for both of us now, don't you? But there's nothing left of us. We need to move on."

His jaw tightened, but he nodded. "We do. But I don't think it's too late for us, Raven."

"Dalton-don't."

He tipped her chin up, smiling down at her. Resolution gleamed in his eyes, along with a peace she'd never really noticed before. "I gave you words. But trust isn't won back with words. It's won back with actions. If I let you walk away without a fight, I'll spend the rest of my life with regrets."

She stepped away, tired all the way to her soul. "You need to move on. You've never wanted anything permanent anyway."

"No, I didn't. Because love is just a word until it's attached to a person. I didn't understand what it felt like to want to be with one person longer than a night or two. With you, I saw beyond. When I think about my future, I see you, sweetheart. Only you."

"I've got to go. I'm glad you found the answers you needed, but I can't do this anymore. I won't. Some things can't be fixed."

"Watch me."

His words should have sounded like a threat, but somehow, they were more like a promise. A promise she didn't believe any longer.

Raven left and swore not to think about it again. 


Dalton stood on the porch and watched her drive away.

His insides hurt. Holding her in his arms again was like coming home. But he didn't expect her to believe him. He'd taken something precious she'd given him and destroyed it. She needed time to believe in him again and trust that he wouldn't hurt her. He needed to be in this for the long haul, even if it was possible she would never give him another chance.

It was a risk he had to take.