Long Way Home (27 page)

         “Are
you sure about this?”

         “I
love you.  We’ve wasted enough time being apart.  I want your hands
on me.”

         He
kissed her but held back.  “I don’t want to hurt you...and I couldn’t
stand it if my touch caused you even a moment’s fear.”

         “And
we’ll never know unless we try.  Touch me, Shane.  Make me not
afraid,” she whispered against his lips, fisting her hands in his shirt to
bring him closer.

         “Baby,”
he breathed, still trying to hang on to his composure.  “Are you
absolutely sure?”

         She
let the towel fall at their feet and used both hands to cup his face.

         “You
are the only man I’ve ever
chosen
to give myself to.  You, Shane
Gabriel McCanton, are the only man I ever wanted to touch me.  I know whom
I am standing here with.  I know whom I am inviting to touch me...and it’s
you.  It’s only you, now and always.  We’d be married now if not for
the Heltons.  They kept me from you long enough.”

         “Fine...but
you are going to drive this.  You take me at your pace.”

         She
yanked his shirt out of his jeans and whipped it over his head, then jumped up
and wrapped her legs around his waist.

         “Take
me to bed, Shane,” she said, kissing him.  He walked with her into the
bedroom and then let her slither down his body to her feet.  She pulled on
his belt and opened his jeans, pushing them and his underwear down, then pushed
him to sit on the bed, straddling him.

         “Look
at me, Tessa.  Who am I?”

         “Shane. 
My Shane,” she replied, smoothing her hands over his face as she kissed
him.  She held his gaze as she slowly settled over him, taking him in.  A
tear slid down her cheek and he quickly kissed it away.

         “There
you are,” he breathed, “My Tessa...are you OK?”

         She
licked at his lips as she began to move against him.  “I’m better than
OK,” she answered, pushing on his shoulders to have him lie down.

         Shane
looked up at her riding him and knew he’d never seen a more beautiful sight
ever in his life, and he knew in that moment, he would do whatever it took to
keep her safe.

         Tessa
had a moment of panic in the night when she woke and found a heavy arm around
her waist, pinning her to the bed, but then she realized it was just Shane and
she was safe in his bed, wrapped in his arms.  Her Shane.  Her
rock.  She’d almost lost him forever out of fear and wanting to spare him
from dealing with all the fallout from her experience, but all that was behind
them now.  She turned in his arms and placed her hand on his cheek,
brushing her thumb over his lower lip.                 

         “Hey,”
he murmured sleepily, smiling softly at her.

         “Hey,”
she echoed.

         “You
OK?”

         She
snuggled closer to him, nuzzling his neck.  “I’m good.  I panicked a
bit when I woke up with your arm over me, but it didn’t take me long to
remember where I was, who I was with.  I’ve missed you so much.  I’d
forgotten what it was like to wake up in bed with you.”

         He
smoothed his hand over her hair.  “We haven’t really had a chance to just
be a couple.  To lay in bed like this and not be rushed back to the
office, knowing our days were numbered.”

         “No,
we haven’t.  This is nice...and such a relief to know that I can be with
you without being afraid.”

         “We’ll
work through your fears as they come up.”

         She
kissed the underside of his jaw and worked her way around to his lips.   “I
don’t know that I will have any fears, because it’s you.  You are my first
and my only choice.  My rock.”

         “You
seriously never slept with anyone else when you were in the Army?”

         She
frowned at him.  “We’ve had this conversation before.”

         “I
know...you’re just so damn beautiful, I always wonder why you waited around for
me.”

         She
blinked at him.  “Because I’ve loved you since the day you walked into
that kindergarten classroom when we were five.  Because you have been my
whole world ever since you finally lifted your ban on talking to me our senior
year.”

         He
gathered her closer and kissed her, then laying on their sides, facing each
other, he took her with all the love and tenderness he felt for her. 
Tessa wrapped her arms around him and held on tight as he took them to the edge
and trusted him to take care of her on the way back down.

         “You
good, babe?” he asked, forehead pressed to hers.

         “Mm,”
she purred, snuggling closer to him, “I’m better than good.”

         “I
love you so much, Tess...this last year without you...it’s been a walking
nightmare.  Knowing you were out there hurting and wanting to be with you
to help you.  It was hell.  Pure hell.”

         She
combed her fingers through his hair.  “For me, too.  Wanting you with
me.  Wanting to feel your arms around me but afraid of how I’d
react.  When Mama told me that you’d begun dating again, I just...I had to
come back.  I had to see if there was anything left.  I haven’t felt
safe again until I looked up across Gib’s truck and saw you standing outside
the gazebo.”

         He
kissed her fingertips.  “I haven’t felt complete again until I looked up
in Miss Nettie’s and saw you...Tess, If you walk away from me again...”

         She
sat up and slid on top of him, pinning him beneath her.  “I’m not ever
leaving, Shane.  Not ever again, do you hear me?  You’re stuck with
me.”

         “Then
marry me.  Tomorrow...later today, whatever the hell time it is...just
marry me.”

         She
got up from him and turned the light on, standing nude before him.

         “Look
at me, Shane.  Look at the scars on my body.  If we marry, you may be
giving up your chance to have a child of your own.”

         He
stood and covered the scar on her abdomen with one hand and cupped the back of
her neck with the other.

         “And
we’ve had this conversation before, too.  Do you think I care about
that?  We can adopt.  We can try in vitro.  A surrogate. 
Or just be happy with the two of us.  I don’t care.  Whatever will
make you happy, babe, that’s all I care about.”

         “Shane...”

         “Don’t
try to read my mind for me.  That’s what got us in this mess in the first
place...marry me, Tess.  Say yes.”

         She
closed her eyes and clutched his biceps.

         “Yes,”
she whispered.

         “What
was that?” he prodded.  “I don’t think I heard you.”

         Her
eyes flew open and she melted into him. “Yes, Shane.  I will marry you.”

         “Tomorrow?”

         She
laughed.  “Tomorrow.  Later today.  A soon as we can get it set
up.”

         He
picked her up and twirled her around, then sat her on her feet and kissed her
breathless.

         “We
just have one more issue to deal with, baby,” he said reluctantly.

         She
nodded.  “The trial.”

         “Make
that two...look, right after you left my office, Bruce called...Nathaniel and
Paul escaped.”

         She
stiffened and stepped away from him.  “And you’re just telling me this
now?”

         “I’d
planned on telling you when I got home, but...”

         “What’s
been done?” she asked, reaching for the shirt he’d discarded and pulling it on.

         He
walked into his closet and pulled on a pair of loose fitting warm-ups. 
When he came out, he followed her into the kitchen.  She cut them both a
piece of chocolate cream pie she’d made earlier and then sat at the table while
he briefed her on all he knew.

         She
took a deep breath when he was done, and then another.  Shane took her
hand in his and lifted it to his lips, kissing her knuckles.

         “I’ll
keep you safe, Tessa.  They won’t get near you.”

         “Thank
you, but I can take care of myself, Shane.”

         “I
know you can.”

         She
nodded, then began clearing their dishes.

         “We
need to get some sleep.  We have a big day tomorrow.”

         Shane
stood and moved in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders to stop
her.  She looked up into his eyes and then smiled when he scooped her up
into his arms and carried her to his, no, to
their
room.

         “What
are you doing?” she asked on a small laugh.

         “Bringing
you back to bed.  You’re right.  We do have a big day tomorrow. 
And before we go to bed tomorrow, you’ll be mine for good.”

         “As
you will be mine,” she echoed.  “I love you.”

         The
next morning, Shane reluctantly let Tessa go back to her mother’s while he went
in to the office.  He checked in with Bruce for an update and checked all
his bulletins, then headed out to his parents’ house.  He wanted to let
them know his plans with Tessa, and to try to assure his mother that he was
doing the right thing since he knew she would be upset that she wouldn’t get to
plan a big wedding.

         When
he turned onto the road leading toward his family’s ranch, he saw a car
stranded on the side of the road with its hood up.  The road was strictly
residential with no outlet so the only vehicles that should be on there were
those of people who lived there and their visitors.  He slowed to a stop
behind them and got out, but made sure he had the clip off his holster.

         “Hi,
there,” he announced, walking up to the car, “I’m Sheriff McCanton, can I help
you?”

         The
hood lowered and Shane found himself face-to-face with Paul Helton.  He
had his gun out and shot at Paul in the same instant he was hit from behind.

         “Mama,
Gib?” Tessa called, walking into their house.

         “In
the kitchen,” she heard her mother call.

         She
went in and immediately went to her mother, embracing her on a laugh.

         “Tessa? 
What is it?”

         “Shane
and I are going to get married.  Today.”

         “What?”

         “As
soon as he can get the paperwork cleared.”

         “That’s
wonderful news, honey,” Mary cried, kissing her cheek.

         “Thanks. 
I wanted -” She stopped when Gib walked in, his face grim.

         “Glen?”
Mary asked, “What is it?”

         “I
just got off the phone with Becky at the station.  Tessa, Shane’s gone
missing.”

         She
felt a tight knot form in her stomach.  “What do you mean, he’s gone
missing?”

         “He
left the station on his way to his parents’ house.  He never arrived there
and Becky reports he hasn’t checked in with her.  They’ve been trying his
radio and his cell and have gotten no answer.  His dad headed out to look
for him and found shell casings and a some blood on the side of the road...it’s
a match for Shane’s and one other, and some of the casings came from his gun.”

         “Oh
God!” Mary gasped.

         Tessa
locked eyes with Gib, taking comfort from his steady strength.  She knew
in her heart that Nathaniel and Paul had him, and she knew that they wouldn’t
kill him until they had her.

         “I
need to be at the station,” she said, all business now.  “Gib, I need to
be involved.”

         He
nodded, reaching out a hand to stroke her hair.  “I know you do. 
Let’s go make it happen.”

         Tessa
took a deep breath and settled into the passenger seat of Gib’s truck. 
Part of her wanted to panic but she ruthlessly pushed that part down and
focused on her training.  It helped having Gib with her, pulling from
their past experiences together.  She knew she had to hold it together, to
keep her fears at bay.

         “Hey,”
Gib said, squeezing her hand, “hang in there.  Shane’s good.  He’ll
be OK.”

         She
took a deep breath.  “I know...if they wanted him dead, they would have
already found his body.  This is about drawing me out.”

         “I
agree, but Tessa, you can’t let this be personal.  I know it is...but...”

         She
nodded.  “I know what you’re saying, Gib, I do...but there is no way that
this isn’t personal.  I’m going to find them, and I’m going to finish this
once and for all.”

         “Tessa...”
he began but stopped when her phone rang.

         She
looked down and saw the caller ID.  “It’s Shane,” she said flatly, raising
it to her ear.  She knew what she would hear before she even spoke.

         “Hello,
sweetheart,” Nathaniel’s voice poured through the phone.  “Have you missed
me?”

         “Where
are you?” she asked, knowing that her tone had alerted Gib, who immediately
pulled over to the side of the road.

         “Let’s
not concern ourselves with that just now.”

         “Is
he alive?”

         “For
now, but he killed Paul. He’ll have to pay for that.”

         “I
want to talk to him.”

         “You
are in no position to make demands, Madelyn...or should I say, Tessa.”

         “If
you want me to play your little game, you will put Shane on the phone right
now, Nathaniel.  I won’t entertain any demands from you unless I hear his
voice.”

         She
heard a shuffle of the phone and a muffled groan that she recognized as Shane’s
voice.  Her heart accelerated and she squeezed Gib’s hand, her only
outward sign of emotion.

         “Tess,”
she heard him say weakly.

         She
closed her eyes and prayed for strength.  “How badly are you hurt?” she
asked steadily.

         “Shot...shoulder,
side, leg.  Lost a lot of blood.”

         “Can
you describe where you are?”

         “Inner
Space,” he replied before Nathaniel took the phone away.

         “All
right, you’ve heard from him.  I’m sure he just told you where we
are.  You come here, alone, and we finish this.”

         The
call ended and she sat the phone down on the console between them.

         “You
know where he is?”

         She
nodded.  “He said Inner Space.  That’s what we called the caves
around the lake.  But there are dozens of them, and he’s bleeding out.”

         “Tell
me where to go,” he said, putting the truck in gear.  “Call it in to his
office.”

         Tessa
gave Gib directions and called in to Becky to let them mobilize backup to help
search the caves.  There weren’t too many caves, but enough that she and
Gib couldn’t cover them all on their own.  Gib pulled over when they got
close to the turn off to get to the caves and they got out to arm up. 
Tessa’s eyes widened when he lifted the panel over the cargo hold and she saw
the arsenal he had back there, as well as Kevlar vests, one his size and one
her size.