“Come on, babe. We're here,” he says, as soon as the ship's engine stops droning.
He takes my hand and leads me out, extending the stairs so we can walk down to the dock. It's a warm night, dark as thick mud, and it's like we never left.
I try not to freak out or worry as we exit the boathouse and head toward the house. There's no car waiting for us, of course. I don't know what's happened to either of our cars since we left.
Ty leads me on the long, slow walk, carefully passing along a few points off the main path so we don't alert security. We're coming through the gate near the back, right next to the huge pool, when we see a light on behind the massive glass panes.
“Shit! Stay the fuck down.”
I duck, but it's too late.
Joan gazes right at us, frozen behind the huge glass door, a small squeegee for cleaning windows in her hand. Ty growls, shakes his head, and curses again.
“Come on, babe. Let's get this the hell over with. She saw us.”
My heart starts pounding with every step we take. Tension lines the older woman's face as we draw closer, but she pops the door and holds it out for us.
I don't have a fucking clue what I'm going to say. Jesus, I don't know what Ty's going to say or do either. It's dangerous. If we have to confront our parents now, someone might end up getting killed.#p#分页标题#e#
We're not ready. I'm not ready for this. We haven't rehearsed or planned anything.
Joan speaks first. “Welcome home.”
Ty cocks his head. I stand next to him, nervous and tight lipped as a guilty kid next to teacher.
“Thanks. You gonna tell my old man we're back, or what?”
Joan's face softens. “I won't do that, Tyler. I don't care what he threatens this time. I've been ready to walk out the door for weeks without looking back now that I've seen somebody who has the courage to do it.”
That makes me grin. I step forward, give her a hug on impulse. It's too hard to contain the relief humming through my veins.
Ty seems a little more uneasy, but he's not fighting mad.
“We're leaving soon,” he says. Then he does something that almost drops me to the floor.
He steps forward and throws his arms around the woman, pulling her tight, the way a man hugs his mother after a long time away.
“Lady, I don't give a fuck what he does either. You're family as far as I'm concerned. You're welcome to follow us up to Alaska or wherever the fuck we end up anytime, if you can stand the cold.”
Jesus, he's right. I really might have to follow him up there to stay together. I have no idea what I'll do for work, but keeping Ty in my life means everything. That's what love is, and I'm watching it spill over onto the old servant in his embrace, looking at me with tears in her eyes.
“I'll pack my best sweaters, Tyler.”
“You got it. Now, we'll get the hell outta your way so you can get back to work. Hopefully it's just about the last you'll do in this house. Come on, babe.” He pulls away and I follow him, shooting one last smile over my shoulder at Joan.
I've never seen her look so happy. To be fair, I've never seen her do much of anything except clean up after us, but the gratitude flashing in her face doesn't lie.
You can't buy that kinda loyalty, and it makes my heart swell. It's sweet to see my man do the right thing too, proof that the heart hiding in his rough exterior doesn't only open to me.
We head for his room and shut the door behind us. I inhale deeply, amazed that it's still got his scent after all these weeks away. Good thing too. His masculine richness helps calm me down. It's hard to worry about us being back here, staring down the barrel of a gun, when he truly surrounds me like this.
He steps out into the middle of the floor and starts to get undressed. It's amazing, really. He's so chill. Deciding to follow his example, I stand up from his bed and strip, enjoying the nighttime coolness against my body.
“You're magic, babe,” he says, stepping close to me. “Gotta be. There's no other explanation for why the hell you look just as beautiful when we're under the sun or moon or rolling rain. Shit, even when we're back in this God forsaken place...”
I blink, then feel a big grin coming. “Hm. When did you turn into such a poet?”
He wraps his strong arms around me. If I'm forever beautiful in his eyes, then he's forever huge, forever hard, forever a superman in mine.
I can't imagine anything that'll ever break his brute strength. Being in the ring with Fat Boy came close, but he won, using the same persistence that's natural to him.
One hand runs down my back, fingers spread, before they stop next to my ass and give me a sharp whack, ending in a possessive grab. He's growling, tickling my cheek with his stubble, pressing his lips to my ear.