Page 14 of Finding Denver

I always feel safe with him.

The sob that escapes my lips has him holding me tighter, and I wish I could wash away my memories. I wishthe tough muscle of a tongue between my teeth could be forgotten; I wish the rich, thick taste of blood filling my mouth could be torn from my mind.

“I’m here.” Ranger’s voice is low against the sound of the running water. “I’m here, little bird.”

I pull back but only to tear off the dress, the material holding memories like smoke in the silk. Once I’m naked, Ranger cleans me. He washes my hair, whispering words of comfort in my ear as he tells me what happened in that room, filling gaps in my memory that both soothe and tear at me. There’s nothing sexual in how he runs his fingers through my hair, or how he wraps his arm around my waist and holds me in silence, or how he dries me and walks me back to bed.

It’s then that I notice his nightstand. The coffee cup, laptop, and both phones on charge.

“You stayed with me?” I ask as he tugs one of his T-shirts over my head.

“Where else would I go?”

I climb into bed, and he folds the thick covers over me. “What about work?”

“I can work from anywhere.”

With the covers pulled up to my chin, I watch him round the bed and climb in beside me. He sits with his back against the headboard and places his laptop on his knee, and he keeps his eyes on his screen as rests his hand out, palm up, for me to take. I trace my finger across the bracelet on his wrist.

“How did you find me in time?”

He grunts. “That’s something I’ve been debating lying to you about.”

I frown. “Do not lie to me.”

“It’s the easier than the truth, believe me,” he mumbles,then exhales. “Colt Harland was the one who made sure you were safe until I got there.”

All words are stolen from me. I stare at my hand in Ranger’s, at the bracelet I made for him years ago, and try to absorb his words.

I’ve spent almost every waking hour searching for the Harland brothers since Wilder killed Ethan, but they’re ghosts. Whispers of Wilder being spotted had me on flights to New York, Arizona, Mexico, even Germany. Each time, I missed him, and even if I’d been within touching distance of Colt, I would never have known. I’ve hired the best PIs, ex-military, ex-CIA, ex-fucking-everything, and no one can get a photograph of him.

“I don’t understand,” I say.

Ranger tips his head in agreement. “Me neither.”

I run my tongue over my teeth, certain I can feel phantom muscle stuck in my molars. “You saw Colt.”

“So did you. The guy flirting with you at the bar? That, my love, was Colt Harland.”

The man’s image comes to my mind, but it’s blurry, fogged by sleep and whatever knocked me out.

“Why now? Why did he let us see him?”

He places the laptop on the nightstand and takes my hand to pull me to straddle his lap. “I don’t know. But I’m dealing with the Eddards.”

“You mean starting a war with them.”

“Yes, I’m starting a war. Someone tried to take my wife.”

I rest my hands on his shoulders. Years ago, I might have attempted to reason with him, to explain that countless people dying to avenge one is pointless. But since putting this ring on my finger, Ranger’s protectivenesshas increased. And even if I had the ability to pull his leash, I wouldn’t. Spider’s men dying is no loss.

Ranger cups the side of my neck, his thumb gliding softly across my jaw.

“I almost lost you,” he says quietly, the deep brown of his eyes aglow in the soft light. “I’ve never felt fear like that.”

I’m not childish enough to think Ranger and I are perfect. We’ve barely been married a year and the tensions between us at times feel buried too deep to pull free. In the hours before I’d been introduced to Dorian, I’d sat in the office in Pulse and wondered whether Ranger could ever let go of the past. He would always be angry with me over Axel. I would always resent him for his lies over Wyatt and my father. Some days I can ignore what we’ve done to each other, but that night … I’d been close to leaving him.

But there are times like this, when he’s the Ranger I fell in love with, and the thought of leaving seems as easy as tearing out my heart.