Page 169 of Fire Fight

“Will you stay?” I asked, my tone borderline begging, which I wasn’t above doing. I’d get on my goddamn knees for this woman—and had, numerous times. “You can go off on your investigations as often as you want, as long as you always come back to me. As long as Dusk Valley is home.”

Aspen shook her head, though she climbed onto my lap to straddle me on the couch. Closing her tiny fist around my hand and the key, she brought them between us and kissed my knuckles.

“Home isyou, Crew. Wherever you are, that’s where I want to be.”

Those were the sweetest words I’d ever heard.

After my ordeal, I also encouraged her to contact her parents, reminding her we never knew when our time was up, and how shitty she’d feel if she lost one of them without ever speaking to them again. The conversations were short and stilted at first, but she’d managed to open up to them in a way she hadn’t before, and I think it all went a long way toward repairing the damage done in the wake of Lola’s death.

Therapy had a lot to do with it. Once a week, we drove up to Boise to meet with our respective therapists. Personally, I’d been making incredible strides in dealing with some repressed feelings regarding my addiction, and Aspen had been able to come to terms with the fact that all the bad things that happened to her were not her fault. She’d also started writing a book detailing the case and our part in it all, which she was callingThe Shadows of Dusk Valley.

We were healing together, which only made our relationship stronger.

I was about to make the damn thing permanent if she’d have me.

Oh yes, I had an ulterior motive for taking this ride today.

The sun dipped toward the horizon as we crested the final hill, which flattened into a grassy plateau that overlooked the valley. In the distance, town was visible, the water tower jutting up toward the sky. Aspen and I dismounted, and I led Rascal over to a stand of trees, draping his rein over a low-hanging branch and offering him an apple as a thank you for getting us up here safely.

Then I took the basket I’d hooked on the side of the saddle and led Aspen to the center of the field. The country grasses were tall enough to brush Aspen’s knees, mingling and twining in the breeze with vibrant and numerous wildflowers. Setting down the basket, I shook out the blanket I’d tucked through its handles and placed it on the ground.

Aspen sat as I knelt and laid out the spread.

“Crew Lawless, did you have your mama make all this?” she teased once everything was unpacked.

I grinned sheepishly. We both knew I was a more than capable cook, but I wasn’t above asking Mama for help when the need arose. There were sandwiches, a tub of potato salad, crunchy homemade dill pickles kept safe in a jar, and thick slices of Mama’s cheesecake for dessert.

“Maybe.”

Aspen unwrapped the wax paper from one of Mama’s turkey clubs and sniffed, sighing happily before taking a big bite. Around the mouthful of food, she said, “I ain’t mad.”

All I could do was chuckle and shake my head as I settled next to her with my own sandwich. We chatted idly about nothing while we ate, and when we were finished, I cleared up the garbage. Before we tucked into the cheesecake, I withdrew two individual sized bottles of sparkling white grape juice from the basket, handing one to her.

“Fancy,” she giggled.

“It was the best I could do under the circumstances.”

“What are we toasting?” she asked.

I took a moment to study her, to brand this moment into my memory for the rest of my life. I never wanted to forget the way the fading sunlight glowed on her skin, or how the sky behind her head was a gorgeous ombre from pale orange at the horizon to deep purple high above. How brightly her cinnamon eyes shone, glinting with what could only be described as pure happiness and love.

Love forme.

This woman was my entire fucking world.

The scene was something out of a dream, a fantasy miraculously and magically brought to life, which was the only thing that could explain Aspen McKay being here with me.

“We’re toasting to us, my love. We’ve been through hell and back to get here, but there isn’t anyone else I’d rather tackle all life throws at us with than you.”

Aspen grinned, leaning in for a kiss, and I greeted her hungrily.

In deference to my injuries, we also hadn’t had sex in nearly a month, and I was a man starved.

Her hands came up to my shirt, fisting the olive-colored material and dragging me closer as our tongues tangled, our lips sliding together and breaking apart, teasing and taunting, waiting to see which of us would break first.

I’d never get tired of the way she tasted, like love and light, safety and serenity. She was my soft place to land, my partner in crime, my best friend and the love of my life. There wasn’t a damn thing I wouldn’t do for her. Hell, I’d take a fucking bullet or walk headfirst into the flames for her if she asked, and I knew the feeling was mutual.

Reaching up to cup her chin, I pulled back, both of us gasping for breath.