Running Free (15 page)

Minnie jumps out from her hiding spot in one of the cabinets and into my arms.

“What is he doing to him?” she sobs.

Holding her close to me, I choke down my own tears. “I don’t know but—”

“Hádanka.”

The warmth and love coming from the voice is such a stark contrast from my nightmarish memory, that I latch onto it and let it drag me away from the horrors of my past.

“Gun,” I murmur once I open my eyes.

His dark brows are furrowed in concern but I don’t miss the relief in his expression at having me there with him again.

“Nightmare?”

I nod and snuggle against his bare chest. My fingers slide along the small thatch of hair between his pecs.

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not much to say. One of my foster parents, Joe Harrison, was an evil sonofabitch. I was having a memory of one time when he was high on drugs and was hiding from the ‘aliens.’ I’d stumbled along and he’d forced me under the bed with him. If it hadn’t have been for my foster brother, I’m afraid of what he would have done to me. I was only twelve at the time.”

The growl in Gun’s throat is low and menacing.

“Shhh, you’re safe now here with me. Thank fuck you came back to me. I was scared out of my fucking mind, Frankie.”

Guilt infects me and my throat aches from being on the verge of tears. “I’m so sorry. I got scared. A lot was going through my head. Then, the animals were going wild. I bolted and I shouldn’t have. Please give me another chance.”

He palms my cheek and presses his lips to mine before answering.

“I never give up on a puzzle, Frankie, which means I’m not ever giving up on you.”

Gunnar

She came back to me.

I’m not sure how the hell she got in my house while I slept but I’m not fucking complaining. Warm, in my arms as I kiss her, is exactly where she belongs.

She’s mine.

“I guess we have to have make-up sex now. Our official first fight,” I tell her with a grin before trailing kisses down her neck and along her chest.

“We’d have to be something to be official. We’re nothing, Gun.”

I roll my eyes at her and playfully bite the flesh on her belly. “How many times do I have to tell you, woman? We are not ‘nothing.’ We’re something. In fact, you’re my girlfriend.”

She gasps and sits up on her elbows, furrowing her brows together. “I came back to apologize, not put labels on whatever it is we are.”

Sitting up on my haunches, I push her knees apart and drag my gaze over her pussy. Her lips glisten with her need for me. No matter what spews from her mouth, I know she wants me. She may not have convinced her mind yet, but her body most definitely wants me. That’ll have to do for now.

“I’m your boyfriend,” I tell her in a matter-of-fact tone before bringing my lips to those between her legs.

“Oh… ”

Her fingers tangle in my hair while I show her exactly what it is good boyfriends do. I take her closer and closer to the edge of sanity with each swirl of my tongue on her clit until I know she’s dangling over the edge.

“Say it,” I demand, pulling just far enough away from her that all she can feel is my hot breath.

“Damn you, Gun!”

“I’m not getting you off until you admit you want me and we’re something. Say it, hádanka.”

She relaxes and pushes me back to where she throbs for me. “Fine, I’m your woman. Now eat my pussy before I end up in the paper for homicide.”

I’m smiling as I lick her a few more times until she’s shuddering and gasping for air. I don’t wait for her to catch her breath and am soon on my knees, fisting my cock as I position myself between her. Last time, I took her slow. This time, during make-up sex, I’m going to fuck my girl.

With a hard thrust, I slam into her. She cries out and clutches the sheets beside her as I drive into her tight heat. “No more running, Frankie. We’re something. You got that?”

Her wild eyes are on me as she nods frantically and when I push her knees against her chest, a sexy mewl escapes her. From this position, my balls slap her ass and I know it won’t be long before I’m coming too.

She reaches around and clutches onto my balls, causing my vision to go black with pleasure. All of it — her contracting pussy, her sweet moans, and now her massaging my balls — I lose myself to a fucking epic climax.

“That’s it, baby, take it all,” I say with a growl, as my nuts tighten and I pour into her, hot and furious.

She wiggles her legs around me and I scoot closer to her, crushing her with my massive body. Despite her labored breaths, she’s happy as a fucking lark to have me on top of her this way. Slipping my hands into her hair, I kiss her in a way I hope conveys how much she means to me.

“Make-up sex is kind of fun. Maybe we should fight more often,” she muses aloud.

I chuckle and nibble her lip before rolling onto my back, dragging her on top of me. “As long as our next fight includes me spanking you, I guess I can get on board with it.”

She swats at me but I seize her wrists and draw her to me for another kiss.

“I fucking missed you, woman.”

Her sigh into my mouth is one of contentedness and my heart pounds nearly through my chest for her. For as long as Carla and I were together, I never felt like I’d walk through the depths of hell for her. Sure, I would have protected her at all costs because she was my wife. But with Frankie, something’s different. It’s like she tethered her heart to mine and the only way to sever that link is death.

I don’t plan on dying any time soon.

And I’ll be damned if I let anything happen to her.

I’m such a lovesick fool at the moment that I’m already wondering how I can talk her into moving in with me. She’s the independent type so I’ll have to tread lightly, this I know.

“Suzie starts school soon,” she tells me, a smile upon her lips. “Otis wants to homeschool her but I think she needs to be around other kids her age.”

I think about the dark-skinned little girl — so adorable and innocent. She’s lucky to have someone like Frankie in her life. With that thought, a dark one enters my mind.

“Did you know a Jennifer Collins?” I blurt out.

The smile on her face falls and she shakes her head. “Don’t say it, Gun. Please.”

I hug her to me and stroke her back. “Last night. After you bolted, I got called in. I’m sorry, Frankie.”

Frankie, the ever resilient and tough cookie, begins to cry and it guts me. Fucking guts me.

“She was pregnant!”

My belly drops at her admission and I swallow down the bile rising in my throat. “I’m so sorry, hádanka.”

She sits up and glares at me, tears staining her pink cheeks. “We have to find who’s doing this. Some asshole has a vendetta against me! Was it Jared? I’ll break his fucking nose again and then I’ll—”

“You’ll do nothing because it wasn’t him.” I sigh. “Babe, it was a bear.”

“Fuck that,” she snarls and scrambles off me.

“Where’re you going?” Panic spikes through me at the thought of her leaving me again. Her emotional outbursts are confusing.

“I’m going to go kill this ‘so-called bear’ and end this today.” Her bare chest heaves each time she takes a furious breath.

I climb out of the bed and pull her naked body against me. “Do you know how to shoot a shotgun?”

She freezes in my arms. “Otis taught me.”

“Good, then we’ll go bear hunting tonight. After your shift. It’s my damn job so I’ll already be on patrol looking for that fucker. But when you get off, you can come with me. The forest ranger said it’ll take a few shots to kill the damn thing.”

“Thank you,” she says and relaxes into my arms. “I have to protect anyone else who knows me. I know it seems like a bear is doing this but trust me, Gunnar. There is more to this that you don’t understand.”

I stroke her hair and kiss the top of her head. “Like what?”

The missing puzzle piece. A big one.

It’s like she’s clutching it behind her back — internally warring on whether or not she should give it to me.

Hand it over, hádanka.

Her sigh is loud and I know today won’t be the day I find out what it is she’s hiding. “Just more. Don’t rule out that there’s someone with ‘motives.’ This wild bear story just isn’t it. I can feel it.”

“I trust you, Frankie. While you work your shift, I’ll keep following leads. When I pick you up at two, we’ll go hunting,” I tell her as I grip her ass. “But until your pretty little ass goes to work, I’m going to feed you.”

She pulls away and gives me a saucy grin. “I’m in the mood for hot dogs.”

My mind goes straight to the gutter and she giggles when my cock hardens between us.

“No, really, Gun. You make the best hot dogs.”

She’s still having a good laugh at my expense when Cutie Pie pushes through the bedroom door proudly carrying one of her boots. It’s been chewed all to hell.

Oh, shit.

“You little fucker!”

I grin as I pull down a long gravel driveway. Earlier, Frankie was pissed that Cutie Pie ate not one but both of her boots and chewed her underwear all to hell. It was embarrassing that my dog dragged all of her clothes out of the house and into the backyard. He’s been such a good pup until today. I’m not quite sure what’s gotten into him.

Pulling into the circular driveway, I park in front of the small cabin where smoke billows from the chimney. I snatch up my printed paper from the office and glance at it. Fitz and I have been combing the homes that dot the lake, questioning everyone if they know anything in regards to the Woodland Pond murders. So far, nothing’s turned up, but we keep trying despite the forest ranger’s belief the homicides were from a bear.

My phone chimes with a text, interrupting my thoughts, so I pause to read it. Fitz. Earlier, I asked him to look up Joe Harrison to make sure he wasn’t fostering anymore kids and if he was to contact the local authorities to see about opening up an investigation. He’d told me he’d get back to me with an update.

Fitz: Harrison died nine years ago. Murder. Apparently really fucking gruesome. Don’t have to worry about him touching kids anymore. The witness was underage and was attacked too but survived.

The news should have me shouting from the damn rooftops for Frankie’s sake. Instead, I’m thrown yet another curveball. A part of me wants to connect this new puzzle piece to the crimes here in Woodland Creek. Another piece that links to Frankie.

Frankie seems far from convinced that these murders had anything to do with a bear. I know I’m the detective here, but I can’t help but believe she’s right. If someone built the right kind of weapon, a knife that resembles the claws of a bear, it would be easy to throw the police off. And, duplicating bear prints wouldn’t be that difficult either.

I’m with Frankie on this one.

Something stinks.

I can’t be convinced all these homicides, all teens who knew Frankie, are just fucking coincidence. Someone is out to ruin her.

I climb out of my Tahoe and trot to the front door. My heavy footsteps clatter on the wooden porch steps and before I can raise my hand to knock, the door cracks open. A dog yaps like crazy in the background and I’m instantly on guard. Slipping my hand to my gun, I use the other to show the occupant my badge.