Kelly heard the Harley coming up the drive with her stepfather’s truck as the clock flipped over to two in the morning. Her mother had been pacing the house, muttering to herself, worry creasing her brow.
Maria turned to Kelly, her eyes dark as she watched her.
“Are you sure?” Maria asked, her voice soft, uncertain.
“For God’s sake.” Kelly felt like snarling the words. “Mom, have you and Ray lost your minds?” Sometimes Kelly thought the attack had been more traumatic on them in a lot of ways. Kelly was never really certain how she felt about it. Frightened, yes. Terrified sometimes. Knowing her attacker was still out there kept her nerves on edge.
“He’s always wanted you.” Maria had never been comfortable with that. Kelly had known it, though they never talked about it. Just as her mother knew Kelly had always wanted Rowdy. It was like some odd fact of life.
“I’m not a little girl anymore,” she sighed, curling up on the sofa, watching her mother pace the living room as the vehicles shut off. “You know they’re both drunk, don’t you?”
One of Rowdy’s friends had called from the bar. He hadn’t been too sober himself, warning them that the two men were heading home, thankfully being driven by friends rather than driving themselves.
“Ray hasn’t been drunk since before we got married.” A smile curved her mother’s lips, and Kelly swore she looked a little too sensual to suit her. A daughter shouldn’t see things like that, she thought with a burst of humor.
“Well, he’s drunk now.” She winced as it sounded like a load of bricks fell on the porch.
“Hell boy, I thought you were holding me up.” Ray’s voice drifted into the house.
“Thought you were holding me up.” Rowdy’s laughter was muffled.
Maria moved for the doorway and pulled it open with a quick jerk as Kelly rose from the couch to stand just inside the living room.
The two men were attempting to hold each other up as they paused in the doorway to get their bearings. Rowdy’s expression was relaxed, his gaze a little heavy lidded and so darned sexy he took her breath.
As her eyes met his, a slow, sexy smile curved his lips and made her knees weak. He gripped his dad’s arm tighter and led him inside the house. Neither of them were too steady on their feet.
“Maria, he’s a lousy drunk,” Rowdy grunted as his father threw his arm over Maria’s shoulder and planted a loud, smacking kiss on her cheek. “He didn’t even make it through the first bottle.”
Kelly wrapped her arms across her chest, a smile tugging at her lips as Rowdy winked at her.
“He never did, Douglas, you just keep forgetting,” her mother chastised him firmly.
Rowdy winced. “That’s not my name.”
“That’s what your birth record has. I didn’t see a Rowdy there anywhere, Douglas.”
Rowdy gave her a mock glare. “You’re not being nice to me, Maria.”
“That’s not my job,” she pointed out calmly. “Now move your big feet out of the way so I can get him upstairs. You two should be ashamed of yourselves.”
“I can be ashamed later,” Ray piped in as she led him to the stairs. “Hell. We had fun, sweetheart.”
“I can tell.” Maria laughed softly.
Their voices lowered as they moved away, and finally disappeared. A few minutes later the door at the back of the hallway closed and everything was silent.
Kelly watched Rowdy. His hair was still too short. The spiked military cut suited him, but she had loved his long hair when he was younger. The way it framed his face, emphasized his green eyes. He looked like a fallen angel come to tempt mortal women when his hair was long. Short, he looked like the warrior she knew he had to be. A fighter, a Marine. Tall and tough and hard.
He turned to her, placing his hand over his chest, the dark blue material of his cotton shirt stretching across his shoulders.
“Kelly, darlin’, you look like an angel standing there.” His smile was a tad goofy and too damned sexy.
Unfortunately, she knew better. She was wearing another of his shirts, one she had stolen the last time he was home. A pair of loose sweatpants and socks that bunched at her ankles. She looked messy and frightened, and she knew it.
She licked her lips nervously. Facing him after what had happened at the boat earlier wasn’t easy. She wasn’t ashamed, but neither was she comfortable with some of the feelings Rowdy caused to burn inside her. “I missed you, Rowdy,” she whispered, trying to still the trembling of her lips. “I’m glad you’re home.”
His expression sobered as he moved toward her slowly. She forced herself to stay still, not to retreat. But he was so big, and powerful. Strong. The memory of hard hands holding her down, a rough voice muttering in her ear as her face was pressed into the pillow, haunted her.
“So where’s my hug?” He stood in front of her, his arms at his sides, his eyes dark and glittering with hunger.
He still wanted her. She could see the memories of the heated exchange they’d had earlier in his eyes.
“I…” She swallowed tightly, glancing away as her hands tightened on her arms. God, what was wrong with her. She had nearly bared her br**sts for him, but now she felt as uncertain, as frightened as she had the moment she stepped into the houseboat.
“Just a hug, Kelly-baby?” He whispered the words, his lips quirking gently. “I dream of your hugs, darlin’, just as much as I dream of your kiss.”
She stared back at him in surprise.
“You don’t believe me?” He reached out, his arm lifting slowly, his fingers reaching out to lift a strand of curls from her shoulder.
She glanced quickly at where he held her hair, biting at her lower lip as she tried to still the pounding of her heart. She had dreamed of his touch for so long, waited for him, longed for him. Oh God, this isn’t fair, she wailed silently. She had waited for this for so long, now her own insecurities were eating her alive. It didn’t matter that her therapist had warned her to expect this. She felt as frightened, as off balance as she had the first months after the attack.
“Rowdy…” Her throat tightened as she fought herself, the fear and need warring inside her.
“It’s real easy, baby,” he crooned, his dark velvet voice washing over her. “You just lift your arms and put them around my neck.” He let go of her hair, fingers curling around her wrists as he lifted her arms, urging them up until they curled around his neck. “Then you come up real close to me, so I can hug you back.” His arms went around her, slowly, so slowly, pulling her against him until her head rested on his chest.