Man of Honor (Battle Scars #3) - Diana Gardin Page 0,45

tell him exactly what he could do with his bet and turn my back. But with Drake, I don’t want to be the usual Mea.

The usual Mea is lonely, deep down. She doesn’t let anyone get close enough to see the profound slices that mar her heart and the war wounds that afflict her soul. The usual Mea gets by with shallow, surface emotions that are usually enough to fool those around her and deflects questions that get too personal, cut too deep.

But that Mea is bone weary, and Drake is slowly wearing down the wall she’s built around herself so artfully.

I don’t hesitate. Climbing off my ATV, I walk the few short steps it takes to get to him and climb on the back. My arms go around his waist and my face lies against his back. He smells like outdoor air, pine, and scented soap.

It’s becoming my new favorite scent.

His right hand reaches back, curling around my thigh with deliberate possession. When he looks back at me, there’s no humor in his eyes.

“Ready?”

It’s a loaded question. Am I ready to ride on the back of this ATV with him?

Yes.

Am I ready to trust him with my safety?

Yes.

Am I ready to give my body over to him, passionately and with abandon?

Yes.

Am I ready to trust him with my heart?

Not yet.

It’s locked up too tight, and I’m not sure I can even remember where I hid the key. I might have buried it, along with any positive emotions or memories I have of the only other man I trusted with it.

My father.

The man who, as I’m growing closer to Drake, could be released from prison and unleashed onto the world once again.

15

Drake

I can’t explain how it feels. Her arms wrapped around me, squeezing with just the right amount of pressure. The way her thighs press so tight against mine, like she’s using her legs to hug me. It propels me into the future, one where I’m hovering above her perfect, naked body with her legs wrapped around my waist with that same tight press that makes me want to roll my eyes back in my head.

She’s making me lose myself. I almost can’t keep it together, keep us on the trail, keep myself from stopping the ATV and scooping her up. But I know I messed up last night. I don’t know how I can read her so well, but I know…I know she needs time. She needs me to prove that I can be trusted with anything she’s willing to give.

I want her to give me everything.

The expression on Mea’s face last night when she got that phone call, that expression reached into my chest and crushed my heart in its devastated fist. I wanted to crawl through the phone, grab her brother for making her face look so stricken. The urge to comfort, to protect, to claim was so strong it was like a living, breathing thing inside of me. I’ve never felt anything like that before.

And the current of energy around her continued to swirl, swirl, swirl. Her tornado didn’t succumb to her obvious desolation. It just got stronger, angrier, threatening to suck everything around it into its stormy center.

What could have made her feel that way? What scares her that much?

It has something to do with her past. I know that much. There’s something inside of her so dark, so deep, that I couldn’t reach the depths of it even if I tried. If I’m going to know, it’ll be because she drags me down there with her.

But I’m strong enough to swim her up, save her from the current of the secret that terrifies her.

I just don’t think she knows that yet.

Her startled shout alerts me, and I turn my head to see her small hand pointing off into the woods beside us. I cut the engine, and the ATV slows and stutters to a stop. I remove my helmet so I can hear what she’s saying, and she does the same.

With one arm still grabbing my middle, she points with enthusiasm again. “Did you see it, Drake?”

Looking back at her with confusion, I shake my head. “See what?”

She sighs, a happy, dreamy look entering her eyes that I don’t think I’ve seen there before. “It was a deer, two of them, actually. A mom and her baby. They were so sweet, standing there, but they darted away before we got close.”

I can’t help but smile at her expression. The girl is seriously melting me,