Shelter for Elizabeth (Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Book 5) (18 page)

The knot in Beth’s throat that had disappeared came back. She’d never thought of it that way before. If she’d have died, what would’ve happened to Summer? Hurst would’ve started in on her without a doubt. It put a whole different spin on it. “You’re welcome.” The words were inadequate, but they were the best she could come up with at the moment.

“Are you ready to go, Sunshine?” Sam had come up behind them and stood off to the side waiting for his wife. “We can either drive back to Pittsburgh today, which I’m leaning toward because I’m afraid to leave April with Tex and Melody too long. He’ll either teach her how to hack into our iPads to watch cartoons or Melody will decide to kidnap her, what with her pregnancy hormones being all out of control these days. Or we can stay the night here and take off in the morning.”

Summer laughed and snaked her arm around Sam’s. “As much as I’m a little frightened of what Tex might teach our daughter…I think I’d love to have you all to myself for the night.”

The gleam in Sam’s eyes was easy to see, and Beth felt a small prick of jealousy slide through her. She wanted that with Cade. She knew they had some work to do to get there, but she was more determined than ever to get there.

“It was really nice meeting both of you,” Beth said, leaning into Cade’s side as he came up beside her.

“You too. Take care of yourself, and if you ever need anything, please know you’ll have me and my entire team at your back,” Sam told her, sincerity clear in his tone.

Beth wasn’t sure what to say about that, other than a short, “Thanks.”

“I’m exhausted,” Beth said into Cade’s shirt after Summer and Sam disappeared from sight.

“Why don’t you take a nap? I’ll come back later.”

Beth looked up without releasing him. “I don’t want you to go.” She bit her lip as Cade studied her.

“Then I won’t. Come on.”

Beth didn’t know where they were going, but ultimately it didn’t matter. Cade was here with her, he could’ve walked her into a closet and she wouldn’t have protested.

It wasn’t a closet, but the TV room he led her to. He’d obviously seen it as they’d passed by on their way to the session earlier that morning.

He settled into the corner of the couch and held out an arm. Beth immediately curled into him and sighed in contentment.

“I love you, Cade.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. Close your eyes. Get some sleep.”

“You know others use this room too, right?”

“Yeah, as long as they don’t run screaming in and out, I have a feeling you’ll sleep right through it.”

“Don’t rule out the screaming. This
is
a treatment facility, Cade.”

He chuckled under his breath. “So noted.” Cade kissed her forehead. “Close your eyes. I’ll keep you safe.”

“I know you will. I’ve never had one doubt of that since we’ve met.”

Dr. Neal looked into the room a while later and smiled, seeing Beth and Cade sound asleep. Beth might not be quite ready to go home yet, but she’d made giant strides forward that morning. Cade had been everything the doctor wished all her patients had: a loving, supportive person to stand by their side, no matter what.

And seeing Cade help her come out of her panic attack during their session had been educational and satisfying. These two would be fine. Beth was going to be one of the lucky ones. She’d make it through this, and with love, a bit of medication and continued therapy, she’d be able to live a long, happy life.

B
eth took
a deep breath as the front door of Cade’s house shut behind them. It’d been a long day, made much easier by the cocktail of drugs Dr. Neal had prescribed for her. After some trial and error, she’d started taking Effexor, which treated the social anxiety she felt when she went outside, and Klonopin, which helped reduce the panic attacks.

For the trip home, Beth had taken a Xanax to get her through the ordeal of flying. Cade had also gotten them first-class tickets, so they had more room and weren’t stuck in the back of the plane. It was that, along with a hundred other things he’d done for her over the last few weeks, that made Beth fall in love with him all over again.

They’d spoken every night on the phone, talking about nothing important. Cade had joked about the guys and the trouble they were getting into. Apparently Driftwood had met a woman on shift one night, and was having a hard time getting her to agree to go out with him. It wasn’t often the man struck out, and he’d apparently made it his goal in life to get the woman to “fall in line.”

Beth had giggled at that, telling Cade, “Fall in line? He’s going to crash and burn.”

Cade put his hand on the small of Beth’s back and followed her into his living room. “Have a seat, sweetheart. I’ll get you something to drink.”

Beth nodded and settled on the sofa as she watched Cade putter about in his kitchen. It was late, and she was tired, but she wanted to make sure Cade knew how much she appreciated his traveling with her. She’d been willing to try it on her own, but he wouldn’t even think about letting her fly from Philadelphia to San Antonio without him.

On one of her last evenings at the treatment facility, Dr. Neal, David, and Beth had gone out to a fast-food restaurant for dinner. It wasn’t a long trip, but it was enough to give Beth the boost she needed to feel like she just might be making progress.

Trips to Walmart would probably always be off the table, since she’d been snatched from their parking lot—even seeing the sign sometimes triggered an attack—but knowing she could possibly do with Cade some of the things that most normal couples did made her feel much more optimistic about her future with him. She hadn’t thought about the Memorial Stair Climb in a while, but that was definitely going on her list of things she wanted to do…eventually.

Cade came back to the living room and put a glass of orange juice, without pulp, on the coffee table for her. He put his own glass of water down and pulled her into his arms. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m okay. I feel a little out of it because of the Xanax, but it’ll wear off by the morning.”

“I’m proud of you. You did great today.”

Beth shrugged. “I’m glad they had those family bathrooms.”

Cade chuckled. “I can just imagine what people would’ve thought if I’d followed you into the women’s restroom. As it was, I think they probably thought we were having a quickie in there.”

Beth laughed and nodded. “I just…I felt like everyone was staring at me.”

Cade kissed the top of her head. “They were…because you’re beautiful.”

Beth rolled her eyes and shook her head in exasperation. “Thank you for coming for me.”

“Any day, anytime. How was your visit with David?”

“Good.” Beth yawned and settled deeper into Cade. “He came by this morning and we said our goodbye’s. He wants to come down and visit later this year.”

“No problem. I’m sure he’s worried about you and would like to see you. I’d like to spend more than fifteen minutes with him too. I don’t think he’s completely forgiven me yet, but I really liked him and we had a good conversation.”

“What did you talk about?”

“Oh, this and that.”

Taking the cue that Cade really didn’t want to discuss it, she let it go. “I also got a text from Summer today.”

“You did?” Cade asked in surprise.

“Uh-huh. I think Tex must’ve have given her my cell phone number. She said she was happy to have met me and she extended an open invitation to come to Riverton, out in California, to visit her anytime.”

“Ummmm.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready to go back yet.”

“Whenever you are, I’ll be right by your side. We can swing over to see your parents, as well as meet up with Summer.”

Beth was still exhausted and felt like her head was swimming in a fog, but she sat up and straddled Cade’s lap. “Have I told you today how much I love you?”

“Nope.”

“I love you.”

“I know.”

Beth smiled down at Cade. “Brat.” Without giving him a chance to say anything back, she leaned down and kissed him, melting into his chest as they lazily explored and caressed each other.

Beth pulled back and rested her head on his shoulder, sighing in contentment as she felt his arms go around her back and hold her to him. “There’s nowhere I feel safer than right here in your arms.”

“Good. Because while you were gone, I moved all your stuff that wasn’t destroyed by water damage over here.”

Beth’s head came up at that. “Um…what? When were you going to tell me that little piece of news?”

Cade shrugged and flushed guiltily. “I just did. Besides, your place smelled like smoke, and probably is full of mold now. The landlord was letting people out of their leases because of the mess, so I took him up on his offer.”

Beth didn’t have the energy or desire to get pissed at him. The Xanax was probably
also
helping her with that. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Uh-huh. I feel safe with you…it doesn’t matter if you’re at my place or I’m here. So as long as moving my stuff means you want me to live here with you, I’m good with it.”

“I want you to live here with me.”

Beth yawned again and put her head back down. “Great.”

Cade chuckled and stood, easily lifting Beth in his arms. “Come on, sleepyhead, you need to get some sleep.”

“Don’t expect me to always be like this,” Beth warned.

“What? Compliant, warm, and snuggly in my arms?”

“Exactly. When the Xanax wears off, I’ll be back to my snarky self.”

“Good. I like you like that too.”

Beth was asleep before her head hit the pillow and didn’t remember Cade getting her out of her clothes and into one of his Station 7 T-shirts. She didn’t recall turning into him and throwing an arm and a leg around his body when he climbed in next to her. And she definitely didn’t have any idea how tightly Cade held her to him as she slept.

I
t was amazing
the difference a week made. Beth had lost her customer service job when she’d fled to Pennsylvania, but she’d taken Tex up on his offer to work with him and the government, and was neck-deep in research about some guy who lived and worked in the Waco area. She had no idea who Tex was getting the information for, but she had enough respect for him that she wasn’t going to ask. Besides, she was getting a ridiculous amount of money for doing what she loved; it was definitely a win-win situation.

The guys from Station 7 had all come over the other night to welcome her home and to make sure she knew they were happy she and Cade were together. Cruz, Quint, and Daxton had also shown up with their girlfriends. It was great to see Mackenzie again, as she was hilarious and took a lot of the attention off Beth and everything that had happened. The guys spent an inordinate amount of time laughing at her when she rambled on about whatever topic came up.

Quint’s girlfriend, Corrie, was blind, but Beth wouldn’t have been able to tell if she hadn’t known beforehand from Penelope. She was the least helpless “disabled” person Beth had ever met, and was her new idol. If Corrie could get around with little to no assistance, then so could she, darn it.

Cruz, the FBI agent, looked content to hang out on the large armchair with his girlfriend, Mickie, sitting on his lap. She was gorgeous and curvy, with short black hair, and the two looked totally in love with each other. Beth hadn’t had many girlfriends in her life, but she hoped she’d be able to meet up again with these women at some point. Their men looked to be as possessive and head-over-heels in love with them as Cade seemed to be with her. It would be nice to get another woman’s perspective on some things every now and then.

It was late and the house was quiet. Cade had gone to bed hours ago while she’d been in the midst of her “computer thing,” as he called it. It was now two in the morning and Beth’s eyes felt crossed from looking at the computer screen for so long without a break. She was tired, but wired at the same time, probably because her body was still getting used to the medicine she was taking to control the agoraphobia.

Smiling to herself, Beth put aside her laptop and made her way up the stairs to the master bedroom. She eased open the door and felt her smile get bigger. Cade was sound asleep, almost spread eagle on their bed. He’d kicked the comforter off, not wearing a stitch of clothing.

He’d taken to sleeping in the nude once she’d moved in with him. He’d told her that it was simply easier to not have to worry about his clothes getting in the way when she did come to bed each night. The first night, Beth hadn’t wanted to disturb him and had slept on the couch. He’d woken up to find the space next to him empty and came downstairs and carried her back to their bed, telling her that it was important to him that she always crawled into bed, no matter what time it was.

Ever since that night, she’d carefully eased onto the mattress at his side, trying not to disturb him, but every time he’d woken up. Some nights he’d make sweet love to her, and others he’d simply gather her into his arms and hold her close until she fell asleep. Beth didn’t know which she liked better.

But tonight, she wasn’t feeling in the mood to cuddle, or to go to sleep right away. In all their lovemaking sessions, Beth hadn’t ever gone down on him, and tonight was her night. He was the most unselfish lover she’d ever had—which wasn’t saying much, since he was only the second man she’d ever slept with of her own free will, but she’d been doing some research online and she was ready to see if the tips and tricks she’d picked up were useful or not.

Without a sound, Beth peeled off her tank top and pushed her leggings down her legs. Deciding the best way to go about this was from below, she climbed onto the mattress very carefully from the foot of the bed, easing her way toward Cade slowly and steadily. He made her job easier because his legs were already spread, so Beth lay between them and tried to steady her breathing.

She leaned down and inhaled, loving how Cade always smelled like…Cade. She would recognize him anywhere. Knowing he’d most likely wake up the second she touched him, as he wasn’t a heavy sleeper, Beth got down to business.

She wrapped her hand lightly around his cock, put just the tip in her mouth and sucked gently. When he didn’t move, she got braver and began to lick all around the mushroom head, making sure to pay special attention to the underside, where all the videos online said men were the most sensitive. He hardened in her grasp and she smiled, loving that she could arouse him so quickly.

She could tell the second Cade fully woke and realized what she was doing. One hand came to rest lightly on the back of her head and the other curled into a fist at his side.

“Lord, Beth…”

She didn’t stop to talk, simply continued with her ministrations. Feeling bold, she scooted up onto her knees and took as much of him into her mouth as she could. She felt him tap the back of her throat and pulled back. Taking a deep breath, she went down on him again, this time relaxing her throat enough that she felt him push past her gag reflex. She swallowed once, exaggerating the motion, and she felt him twitch.

Beth was loving the sounds coming from Cade and continued to give him what she hoped was the best blow job he’d ever received in his life. She alternated between using her hand to squeeze and pump him, and taking him as far into her mouth, and throat, as she could manage.

Deciding to tease, she moved her mouth to his balls as her hand continued to stroke, taking one into her mouth and sucking hard. Knowing she’d hit pay dirt—by the expletives that came out of Cade’s mouth and the way his hips pumped upward—she concentrated her efforts there until she could feel his pre-come dripping out of the slit at the top of his cock.

Wanting to feel him lose control more than she wanted almost anything, Beth moved back up to his throbbing tip and licked him clean. She looked up at his face and said, “I love you,” in a quiet voice, then dropped her head back to him, worshiping his body.

It wasn’t long before Cade told her, “Beth, I can’t hold on, come up here.”

She ignored him, pleased as she could be that she’d brought him to the edge so quickly, and sped up both her hand and her head. Tasting his muskiness as he got closer and closer to the edge, Beth took him as deep as she could and swallowed twice in succession, while at the same time humming. That did the trick.

“Beth!” was all he got out before he exploded in her mouth.

She pulled back just enough so she could breathe and swallowed as fast as she could, trying to make sure she didn’t miss even one drop. He continued to twitch in her grasp as she milked his cock until he’d finished coming.

Letting him pop out of her mouth, she kissed the crease where his leg met his torso and gently caressed him, loving the feel of his soft dick in her hand almost as much as when he was aroused. It was intimate, and heady, knowing she’d satisfied him.

Before Beth was done basking in the glow of pleasing her man, Cade took her by the biceps and pulled her up. He rolled over, trapping her beneath him, and took her mouth in a hot, carnal kiss. She would’ve pulled away, tell him she’d go and wash her mouth out before he had to kiss her, but he didn’t give her a chance.

A couple of minutes later, when they were both breathing hard, Cade pulled back. “Lord, woman. That was the most amazing wake-up I’ve ever had.”

“Oh? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“Brat.”

“I love you, Cade. You’ve done so much for me and I feel like all I ever do is take from you. Thank you for giving me that tonight. For letting me take you all the way.”

“You’re welcome. Now, lay back and let me say thank you properly.”

“You don’t—”

Her words cut off with a squeak as Cade changed his mind and rolled, pulled her over him until she was straddling his chest. Beth looked down and saw the wicked smile on his face. “I know I don’t have to, believe me, this is no hardship. Get up here and let me make you feel good, sweetheart.”

Without a word, and with Cade’s guiding hands, Beth moved into position over him. She grabbed onto the headboard and held on for dear life as Cade proceeded to rock her world…not once, but twice.

A
couple of hours later
, Beth barely stirred as Cade’s alarm went off and he climbed out of bed. She vaguely heard the shower come on as he got ready for his shift. He came back into the bedroom and sat next to her on the mattress and brushed a lock of hair off her forehead in a loving caress.

“I don’t know how you can get up this early,” Beth complained sleepily.

“I don’t stay up until the wee hours of the morning on the computer like some people,” Cade told her with a smile.

“It’s unnatural that you’re a morning person.”

They’d had the argument several times over the last week, and he always smiled at her, letting her have the last word.

“I’m working a twelve today; I’ll be back around eight-thirty tonight.”

“Be safe.”

“I will. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way home. Want me to pick up anything?”

Beth closed her eyes and snuggled farther into the blankets. “Uh-uh. I’m good.”

“Okay, I’ll let you get back to sleep. Text me when you get up. I’ll miss you.”

“Miss you too.”

Beth was asleep as soon as the words left her mouth and didn’t feel the gentle kiss Cade left on her lips and forehead before he stood and left the room and headed off to the station for his shift.

She woke up a few hours later, feeling wide awake, which was typical. When she crashed, she crashed hard, but once she woke up, that was it. She was awake.

Beth stretched and thought about what she was going to do with her day. She needed to finish her research for Tex, then see if she couldn’t track down the ISP address for the sicko pervert she’d found the other night who was trying to find kids to buy on the Internet. Who the hell bought children on the Dark Web? A perverted asshole, that’s who. Beth had no doubt what he wanted to do with the little girls and boys once he had them.

She’d eat a big lunch, and then see if Cade was hungry when he got home. When he worked twelve-hour shifts, sometimes the squad got to eat at the station and other times they wouldn’t, depending on when—and how many—calls for assistance came in.

As Beth lay in bed, remembering the feel of Cade’s body against hers as they’d drifted off to sleep the night before, she heard an odd noise.

Because inside was where she felt the most comfortable, she’d memorized the “normal” sounds the house made. The air conditioner kicking on and off, the icemaker dropping ice, even the far-off sound of the garbage truck as it rumbled by every Thursday. But this wasn’t a sound she’d heard before—and that alone made her immediately tense.

Hopping out of bed before she’d really even thought about it, Beth grabbed the Station 7 T-shirt she’d been wearing before she’d come to bed the night before. She had it over her head and her sweats on before the sound came again.

Beth tilted her head and her brow wrinkled as she tried to determine what it was and where it might be coming from. Before she’d figured it out, male voices interrupted the serenity of the morning.

“Shut up, you asshole, do you want the entire neighborhood to hear you?”

“Jesus, Frank. There’s no one here. Guy’s truck is gone and the nearest house isn’t close enough to see us or care about what we’re doing.”

“Well, shut up anyway. You might as well make a billboard that says ‘burglars here, call the police’ with the way you’re stomping around.”

Beth froze in her tracks. The voices were downstairs…but she figured at some point the intruders would make their way up the stairs to try to find more valuables.

A thousand thoughts swirled through her head and she had a hard time deciding what she should do. She fought against the panic attack desperately trying to force its way out of her body. Cade’s home was her sanctuary, where she was safe. But bad guys had infiltrated her cocoon. If she wasn’t safe here, was there anywhere she
could
feel safe?

Yanking her thoughts away from the dark feelings that threatened to overwhelm her and send her into a monster panic attack, Beth tried to figure out where she could hide, but looking around frantically, she realized there weren’t any good spots to hunker down undetected in the bedroom.

Their bed had drawers underneath it, so she couldn’t duck under there to try to avoid the thugs finding her. She tiptoed quickly to the closet and looked in. Cade had brought her clothes over, but she didn’t have a lot of nice clothes that had to be hung up, mostly comfortable, hang-around-the-house clothes that were safely put away in drawers. The closet was a bust. Cade’s shirts and pants hanging neatly in there wouldn’t conceal her in any way.

Beth thought about the bathroom and immediately dismissed it. The clear shower door wouldn’t conceal her like a plastic shower curtain might.

Feeling her breathing pick up at what she knew she had to do, Beth still didn’t hesitate. She reluctantly turned to the window in the room.

The bedroom was on the second floor, but the first thing Cade had shown her when she’d moved in was that in case of a fire—he
was
a firefighter, after all—they could climb out the dormer window and make their way to the side of the house, where a large tree stood. He’d demonstrated how easy it was to grab hold of one of the branches that extended a bit too close to the house and shimmy down to safety.

She’d asked him why he didn’t have a safety ladder, and he’d looked at her in confusion. She’d laughed at his explanation at the time, that he could get out of the house faster by shimming down the tree than bothering with a ladder. But right now she could’ve totally used one.

The thought of leaving the house where she’d thought she was safe was daunting at best. Maybe she could just surrender to the men downstairs and they’d take what they wanted and leave her alone.

“Fuckin’ A, Frank. Check out the girlfriend. I’d tap that in a heartbeat.”