wanted to thank you. You went through hell, sticking with this the way you did. If you ever need a damn thing from me, I’m yours. I don’t care what it is.”
“I didn’t do enough.” Dru stared at the floor. She’d wanted to find them. Save them all. She’d failed.
“You did more than a million, ten million others would have done.” Vaughnne paused and then said softly, “Maybe even more than I would have done for a total stranger. When you need me, call.” She turned to leave.
A hundred, no, a thousand unasked questions buzzed into Dru’s brain. “Wait!”
Vaughnne turned and looked back, one brow lifted.
“What’s going to happen now?”
“What do you mean?” Vaughnne asked, looking puzzled.
“Just that . . . what happens? I killed Whitmore. I probably shouldn’t have—he had to have information on how to track down the women he sold over the years. How . . .” The question faded away as the guilt rose inside her.
Sympathy glinted in Vaughnne’s eyes. “Jones is probably already working that. He’s got people around who can do things that make what you and I do look like parlor tricks.” She shrugged and then winced, touching a hand to her head. “I’ve got a headache from hell. Look, I can’t tell you not to worry about this . . . I know I’d be doing the same. But you did your part. More than. Jones can handle it from here. And he’s good at it. He won’t let this go, okay?”
Without another word, she disappeared.
Her chest tight, Dru stood up and slipped back into the room. Some of the misery, some of the guilt, shame, and horror inside her chest, melted away. It would linger, she knew. But it was a little easier to bear now.
Just inside the door, she stood there, watching Joss. He was so still, so quiet. His dark skin a few shades too pale against the white of the sheets. Face turned away, the stubble on his face thick, heavy.
Shit.
Her knees went all weak and wobbly and her heart skipped a couple of beats before settling into a rhythm that almost resembled normal.
He was alive.
And he was here—
Joss . . .
Screw that damned dream.
Screw the misery that continued to linger in her chest.
Screw the regret and the shame.
Screw it all.
He was here.
She was here.
That was all that mattered.
Making her way over to him, she sat on the edge of the bed and laid her hand on his chest. Under her touch, he was warm, and she could feel the steady rise and fall of his breathing.
“You’re here . . .”
Startled, she jerked her eyes up and saw him watching her from under slitted lashes.
With a weak smile, she murmured, “Of course I’m here. Where else would I be?”
He lifted a hand, covered hers.
“Tell me you’re not going anywhere,” he said, his voice broken, rough. “I think I’m stuck here for a day or two . . . my . . .” He closed his eyes, shook his head. “I think my head sort of went haywire and I . . . shit. If you leave, I’ll have to crawl after you.”
Dru was pretty sure her heart just about broke. “No.” Bending down, she pressed her lips to his. “I think we’ve done enough chasing after each other.”
“Enough chasing,” he agreed. Catching the back of her neck, Joss held her close. A shudder wracked him. It hurt like hell, and he hoped he didn’t break down and cry—never mind the fact that crying was for pussies. He just might have cried and been okay with it, but crying would hurt. His chest was on fire and every breath was agony. Crying wouldn’t help, even if it was just a way to shed some of the emotion that swelled inside him . . . simply having her here.
She was here.
Finally.
Here.
Safe.
He swallowed the knot in his throat. “We start over. From here on out. Everything starts over.”
She lifted her head, staring down at him.
“Is that what you want?”
“I have what I want.” He closed his eyes. “You. Just you. Always you. Nothing else matters.”
“Then there’s no need for a do over . . . we accept everything that has happened . . . and go on from here.” Her lips brushed his. “This is all terribly insane, you know. Terribly insane. You don’t really know me.”
“I do. I know what matters. I know I waited . . . all this time for you.”
She eased backward and the look on her face made his bruised and battered heart ache even more. “I’ve remembered more. There are . . . pieces that keep trying to come together.”
“And they don’t matter. That life is done.” He closed his eyes as the pain spread. “This life matters. Just this one. And now I have you . . . it’s all I need.”
This life . . .
Yeah. Dru studied his face, saw the pain he was trying to hide. Reaching for the call button, she pushed it despite the fact that he glared at her the entire time.
Ten minutes later, the drugs were cruising through Joss’s system, thanks to the IV, and she sat down by him again, brushed his hair back from his face. “Is it . . . hard?” she asked. “Being in here? Is it too much with all the . . . um . . . however you want to call it, packed into your head?”
Joss smiled, and the grin was oddly . . . off. She decided that was the only way to describe it. Must have something to do with the painkillers. “No.” He leaned his head back against the pillows, that smile still on his face. “The pain did a major reboot—shock and injury can do that. I’m a clean slate right now. Nothing and nobody in my head but me. And I kinda like it.”
“Nothing, huh?”
“Nothing . . .” His lids drooped. “Except you. You’re always there. Always have been. And now you’re here, too.”
“Yeah.” She went to his side. Took his hand. “I’m here, too.” Nothing was certain for her, except that. She was here . . . this was exactly where she wanted to be. Where she’d stay.
* * *
Click here for more books by this author.
Titles by Shiloh Walker
HUNTING THE HUNTER
HUNTERS: HEART AND SOUL
HUNTER’S SALVATION
HUNTER’S NEED
HUNTER’S FALL
HUNTER’S RISE
THROUGH THE VEIL
VEIL OF SHADOWS
THE MISSING
THE DEPARTED
THE REUNITED
FRAGILE
BROKEN
Anthologies
HOT SPELL
(with Emma Holly, Lora Leigh, and Meljean Brook)
PRIVATE PLACES
(with Robin Schone, Claudia Dain, and Allyson James)
HOT IN HANDCUFFS
(with Shayla Black and Sylvia Day)
Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY