Revved (Axle Alley Vipers)(59)

His hand flexed around hers, eyes haunted “Reid, you don’t have to…”

“I need you to understand, Rusty. Just hear me out, please?”

She stayed quiet, could see how important this was to him, and waited for him to continue.

“That was the first night I watched my father beat my mother. I learned to hide pretty quickly after that, because if he saw me, if I tried to help, he’d turn those fists on me as well. I’d hide, listen to my mother’s screams, her cries for help, the sounds of him tearing the house apart. As I got older, I tried to fight back, and eventually the old man knew better than to come after me, but if I wasn’t around to protect her, he’d still take his anger out on my mom.” He squeezed her fingers in his. “Then one day, I snapped. I’d had enough. And that’s when I threw him out.”

Oh, God. She blinked and a tear slid down her face. What he must have been through, how he must have suffered. He’d been a little boy and no one had protected him. He’d been the one to protect his mother when she’d been unable to do it for herself.

He turned to her and made a low, soothing sound before swiping the tear from her cheek. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Shit, Rusty.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Don’t cry, baby. I’m all right now.”

She nodded, but it wasn’t all right, he wasn’t all right. He’d proven that when he’d pushed her away. Reid didn’t deserve what he’d been through, no child deserved that, and there was nothing she could do to fix it, nothing she could do to take that pain away from him.

He held her gaze. “I sent him away, but he never left us alone. He’s always been there, trying to force his way back, even after all these years. And that dark, violent part of him that made him the monster he is, that still lives inside him, even after losing his wife and kid…” He blew out a shuddery breath. “I’ve always been terrified…that it’s inside me as well, that that darkness is in there, waiting to come out. And I didn’t want to risk it, risk hurting you. After what I did, the way I went at that asshole who hurt you, I freaked out. I thought I was turning into my father.” He ran his thumb across her jaw. “I would rather die than hurt you, do you understand? Do you see now why I tried to send you away?”

Lifting her hands, she rested them over his. “You are not your father. You could never be like him. You saved your mom. You kicked him out. You’re a good man, Reid.” His mouth was close and she closed the gap, pressing her lips against his, kissing him tenderly. When she lifted her head, he was breathing heavily. “I trust you. I know you’d never hurt me,” she said against his lips.

His arms came around her like iron bands, so tight she could barely breathe. But she didn’t care and held him in return, just as fiercely. “Shit, baby,” he rasped.

She leaned back, locking eyes with his. “Take me home, Reid.”





Chapter Twenty-One

The key wouldn’t get in the damn lock. Reid was past need, past hunger for the woman at his side. He was desperation, pure and simple. To the point his hands shook so badly he could barely control them. He took a calming breath that did absolutely nothing to slow his racing pulse, but, finally, the key slid home. He shoved the door open and pulled Rusty in after him, leading her into the house.

“Too damn long,” he said, knowing he made no sense at all but struggling to form coherent sentences at this point.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly, lips parted, the lower one glossy after licking it. She was as desperate for a taste of him as he was of her. “Reid?”

Moving forward, stalking her, he kept coming as she backed up. “Seven nights I climbed into that bed, the smell of you on my sheets, believing I’d lost you, with only the memory of how it felt with you bedside me. How it felt to push into that tight, sweet body. The sound of your cries when you got close. The way you curled into my side after, as if you couldn’t get close enough.” He shook his head. “I didn’t like it, Foxy. Not one fuckin’ bit.”

They’d reached the stairs leading up to his bedroom, and she stood there, looking stunned and highly turned on. “You missed me?” she whispered.

“Baby, missed does not describe the way I felt without you here.” He stepped closer, forcing her up against the wall.

She tipped her head back, licked her lips. “Prove it. Show me how much you missed me.”

Oh, yeah, he’d show her all right. “I could fuck you right here, right now, against the wall, but I need you in my bed.” Bending at the waist, he grabbed her ass and flung her over his shoulder. She squeaked as he carried her up the stairs to his room, laughing in that soft raspy way that made him hard.