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Chapter Thirty-Two

There was a polite knock on the front door. I wasn’t expecting Bruce to be polite.

“Get into the kitchen, now. Open the kitchen door. Either Simon or Roan will be there,” Beau told me.

“Are you going to answer the front door?” I asked. “Scratch that, of course you’re not. He has to break in.”

“Maddie, get into the kitchen and open the door.” Beau was getting pissed.

I ran to the kitchen. As I did, I heard Bruce pounding on the front door. I didn’t like leaving Beau.I

He’s a Marine Raider, Maddie!

I wished that calmed me down. I immediately went to the Patterson’s kitchen door. I put my hand on the deadbolt and got ready to turn it.

“Maddie, let me in.”

I jumped. It was Roan’s voice through the comm. I’d forgotten we were all linked.

I unbolted the door and let him in.

“Stay here,” he said as he skirted around me.

“Whatcha got?” he asked into his mic.

“Bruce is still pounding on the door, but I see him getting ready to break in the glass beside the door,” Beau answered.

“He’s got a gun,” Simon said.

He must have been at the house's front, watching Bruce.

“I see him,” Beau acknowledged. “I’m good.”

Roan left the kitchen with a gun in his hand.

I heard glass breaking.

“He’s reaching in and turning the doorknob,” Beau whispered.

I really wanted to see what was happening at the front door, but I wasn’t going to look. My job was to stay put and not get myself accidentally shot like a dumbass.

“As soon as he crosses the threshold of the house with a gun, we’ve got him,” Roan whispered.

“He’s mine,” Beau growled.

He sounds sexy when he’s all growly.

I heard a loud noise, then a grunt, and something that sounded like a crack and a thump.

“I’ve got his gun. He’s down!” Beau yelled.

“Hands behind your head!” Roan yelled.

“He’s out. He can’t move, Roan,” Beau laughed.

“Can I come see?” I asked.

“Yeah, baby. You can come out now,” Beau said. I could still hear the smile in his voice.

When I sprinted out into the hallway, I saw Roan putting zip-ties around Bruce’s wrists.

“Is it really over?” I asked Beau.

“Oh yeah,” he said as he put his arm around my shoulders and kissed my temple.

Simon walked through the front door. He was putting his phone into his back pocket. “The police will be here momentarily. Good job, everybody. He’s going to go away for a long time.”

I looked down at Bruce again. Lying on the floor with Roan, Simon, and Beau standing over him, he looked insignificant. I really wished Eli could see him like this, and know that he was really just a bug, and he would never hurt him again.

“We’ll talk to Eli. He won’t have to be afraid anymore.” Beau promised me. “Plus, I have a lead on Sparks.”

“You do?”

What couldn’t this man accomplish?

He squeezed me tight, his eyes bright and filled with love. I couldn’t wait to get him home.

* * *

It wasn’t until nine-thirty that we made it back to my place. First, we’d talked to the police, then I’d called Oliver. He was not happy that he hadn’t been kept in the loop. After I’d tried to defend myself on my phone for over three minutes, Beau had finally taken the phone out of my hand and given Oliver a piece of his mind. He’d handed my phone back to me, and Oliver was suddenly extremely thankful for all that I’d done.

After that, we went to the animal shelter in Pigeon Forge, and they took us back to see Sparks. He was in a cage that was not near any of the other dogs. As soon as we got close, he growled. When he saw us, he started barking like crazy. He was pissed.

Beau squatted down in front of his cage.

“Hey, Sparks, do you remember me?” Beau crooned.

Sparks continued to bark as if Beau were the enemy.

Beau looked up at me. “Honey, you have your Kindle with you, don’t you?”

“Yeah, why?”

“This is going to take more than a minute. Why don’t you go out to your Jeep and read for a while? Sparks and I are going to get reacquainted.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if it were me? After all, it was a man who beat him.”

“Just give me some time. I have a thing for dogs. I partnered with a dog for a while when I was overseas. I don’t know if I can get through to Sparks, but there is no way we can let Eli near him when he’s in this state.”

I nodded. It was true.

I squeezed Beau’s shoulder, then left the shelter for my Jeep. I really hoped Beau could accomplish something.

I was halfway through a new book when I heard some noise and looked up. Beau came out with two women. They were locking up. He looked tired, but he still smiled at me.

When he got into the Jeep, he leaned his head against the headrest.

“How’d it go?”

“I got him to take a treat from me. So, there was progress. But I won’t be here long enough to gentle him before I leave.”

“Beau, you can’t fix everything.”

He rolled his head and looked at me. “I want to.”

“You’re too soft-hearted to be a social worker,” I teased.

That made him grin. “Take that back.”

“Nope. Just calling it the way I see it. Now, do you want to eat out, or do you want to pick something up for dinner?”

“Let’s order pizza and pick it up on the way home.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

After he was done ordering the pizza, he dialed another number. I gave him a quick questioning look before I turned my head back to the road.

“Kai? Yeah, it’s me. How are you with dogs?”

There was a pause.

Beau laughed. “She does, huh?” He looked over at me, then put the phone on speaker.

“You’re on speaker, Maddie’s listening. I’ve got a favor to ask.”

“Hi, Maddie. What’s the favor, Beau?”

“One of Maddie’s kids has a dog that was abused right along with the kid.”

“Is this Eli?” Kai asked.

“Yep,” Beau answered.

“So, what’s the favor?”

“He’s currently in a no-kill shelter in Pigeon Forge. He’s not in good shape. Pissed at the world. I finally got him to take a treat from my hand. He’s Eli’s dog, but after all the abuse he took from Bruce, I don’t trust him with Eli, and I just don’t have the time to gentle him.”

Kai laughed. “I get where you’re going with this. Marlowe loves dogs. You’ve both met Chaos, Marlowe’s Bernese Mountain dog. He’s a gentle beast. Chances are, she’ll do better gentling this dog than I will. But I’ll check things out. I’ll see what I can do about having him transferred to somewhere here in Jasper Creek. We’ll work with him. We’ll make sure Eli and his dog are reunited.”

I could feel tears starting to well, but I blinked them back so I could concentrate on the road. Dammit, my man really did intend to rescue the Western Hemisphere.

“Thanks Kai, I appreciate it.”

* * *

If it weren’t for Beau, the pizza wouldn’t have even made it to the fridge. I was fine with leaving it on the counter. For some reason, I was coming apart. Seeing Sparks and how damaged he was because of Bruce and knowing that Eli had been just as damaged. Knowing that Beau was leaving me again, no matter how much we loved one another. Even the stress of what the guys were calling the ‘op’ even though it had worked out. It all seemed like too much, and I needed Beau’s arms around me.

“Hey. What’s going on?” Beau asked when we reached the bedroom.

I dropped my head to his chest and shook my head.

He put his knuckles under my chin and lifted it. I hated he could see the tears in my eyes.

“Maddie? Honey? What’s wrong? You gotta tell me, so I can fix it.”

“Hold me?”

“Always.”

He wrapped his arms around me, and I slid mine around his waist, holding on like I’d never let go.

“I’ve got you, Maddie. I’ll always have you.”

God, I prayed that would always be true.

I don’t know how long we stood there, just breathing, just being. A moment? A minute? Forever?

Then, like he could read the shift in me, Beau moved. He scooped me into his arms and laid me gently on the bed, following me down like it was the most natural thing in the world.

My emotions were still spinning out of control, and Beau was my only anchor in a world gone mad. I desperately grabbed at his shirt, trying to yank it over his head. He caught onto my need. This time there was no laughter, only quiet acquiescence in the face of my desperation.

Soon we were both naked, but it wasn’t enough for me. I needed… something. I didn’t even know what. Just more of him. Of us.

“It’s going to be all right, Maddie. I promise you,” he crooned.

“You can’t know that. You can’t promise that.” My whisper was desperate.

His hands stroked boldly up and down my body, proving he knew me, that I was his. I arched into his touches.

“You’re right, Maddie, I can’t promise that. But I can promise that I will always lay down my life for you. You will always come first in my world.”

“No,” I wailed. “I don’t want anything to ever happen to you! That’s not it. I just want… I want…”

Fuck! What did I want?

His mouth captured mine. It wasn’t a gentle kiss. It was commanding. He took total control. In a flash, my desperation was gone as I melted into the man who was my world.

Beau.

Just Beau.

He continued to kiss me like his life depended on it.

His hands were everywhere. Our teeth clashed. Our tongues dueled. He bit my lip, and I bit his. He grasped my chin and kissed me harder.

Then he was trailing kisses down my jaw, licking my neck, going down further until he had my nipple in his mouth. He sucked and licked.

It was sublime.

He shoved a leg between mine, and heat blossomed in my core. I pushed up and started to ride his leg, trying to catch the perfect rhythm. I wanted to come.

He lifted his head. “No. You don’t get to climax until I’m inside you. I know what you need. You need to know we’re together. You need to know that it’ll always be the two of us, no matter what. You need to know that, don’t you, Maddie?”

Did I? Was that it?

I spread my legs and gripped his butt. “Inside me,” I panted. “I need you inside me.”

“I know you do,” he agreed.

I heard the nightstand drawer open, and then he was pushing my legs farther apart. I couldn’t help but smile; despite my desperation, he touched me between my legs to make sure I was aroused enough to take him.

“Now, Beau! No more waiting.”

In one smooth thrust, he was locked deep inside me. I reveled in the connection. He waited, looking into my eyes. He must have seen what he was looking for, because he began to move, slowly at first, but then faster.

He was hitting all the right spots inside me. I wasn’t going to last. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he pushed in and I squeezed him tight. I was getting so close, and I could feel the telltale tremors in his body. We were both so close.

“Now, Maddie,” he shouted.

I went over the edge into a magical universe of light and color that I had only traveled with Beau. Caught in this amazing universe, I felt a level of serenity that I had never achieved before.

“Maddie?”

I smoothed my hand down Beau’s back. “I’m here,” I whispered. “I’m right where I’ve always meant to be.”

And I was. I’d found my anchor. My soul had just found its home.