Text (Take It Off #4)(43)
Author: Cambria Hebert

Between us, little Lucy barked.

I laughed and pulled away to scoop her up. “Do you feel left out?” I asked, nuzzling her oversized ears.

“She probably needs to go out.”

“I’ll take her out in the backyard.”

The lower level of my house was comprised of a laundry room and a family room that I used as my office. Inside the room, all my book covers hung on the wall in poster size; a bookshelf lined the far wall and was filled with my books and the books that I loved to read. Also there was a desk and cabinet where I kept all my swag (promotional items) and a small couch where sometimes I liked to curl up and read.

“Is this where you write?” Nathan asked, looking around with curiosity on his face.

“It’s my office. I tend to sit at the kitchen table upstairs when I write. It’s closer to the coffee.” I slid open the sliding glass door and stepped out onto the very large piece of slate that was lying on the grass. I sat Lucy down and she sat there and looked up at me.

“Go pee,” I told her. She just sat there. “Lucy!” I said excitedly. “Go do your business!”

She waddled out into the grass, sniffing everything she could. I watched her as she explored.

Nathan stepped outside and wrapped his arms around me from behind. “How’s your ribs?”

“They hurt.” They hurt almost constantly. It was actually really annoying. “I’m going to take another pain pill before bed.”

“You should go inside. It’s cold out here. I don’t want you to catch pneumonia.”

“You can keep me warm.” I sighed and leaned into him a little bit more. Nathan pressed a kiss to the side of my head. “Thank you for Lucy. She’s perfect.”

“I wasn’t sure what kind of dog you wanted, but when I saw her, I thought of you.”

“I still can’t believe you bought me a dog.”

“Like I said, life’s too short to deny yourself the stuff you truly want.”

I turned in his embrace and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Does that go for all things I truly want?”

“And what do you want, Honor?”

“I want you.”

He studied me closely for long moments. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been so sure.”

“After what he did to you…” Nathan said, his voice taking on a hard edge. “I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t even want me to touch you.”

“I think I proved earlier that I like when you touch me.”

He chuckled. “That was totally hot.”

“I want more,” I whispered, ducking my face into his neck. “I want you.”

The muscles in his body contracted and he groaned. “You make it really hard for a guy to resist.”

I pulled back and looked up at him. “You want to resist me?”

“Oh, hell no, I don’t. But I want you to feel safe with me.”

“I do feel safe with you. I’ve never felt safer.”

He lowered his head to kiss me, but behind us Lucy started barking. I spun around and looked at her. She stood in the center of the small yard, looking at the privacy fence that separated my yard from the trail.

“Lucy,” I called, thinking her little puppy barks were awfully cute and not intimidating at all.

She glanced at me but then turned back the fence. The wind ruffled the single tree in the yard and golden yellow leaves shook free and spiraled toward the ground. Lucy took off after one, romping on it when it hit the ground.

“C’mon, you silly thing,” I called, laughing at her cuteness.

She didn’t listen, of course, but continued to attack the leaf like it was some sort of menacing object.

Nathan released me and stepped out into the grass. “Lucy, come.” He squatted down and she came running over to greet him.

“C’mon, Killer,” he said and scooped her up. I took her from his arms and kissed her head.

“Lucy,” I corrected.

He grunted and we went back inside, Nathan sliding the door shut behind us. “Did you write all those books?” he asked, motioning to my covers lining the walls. To date, I’d written ten novels. I was close to finishing one and then I was supposed to start another.

“Yeah.”

“I’d make a pretty good cover model, don’t you think?” he asked, striking a pose.

Actually, he would be great on a book cover. “I’ll take it under advisement.”

“Maybe you should just write an entire series about me,” he said as we went up the stairs.

I made a choked sound. “And call it what? Tales of an Egomaniac?”

He laughed.

“You know,” I said, putting Lucy down on the carpet, “I actually thought about writing about what happened to me.”

He nodded thoughtfully.

“I could add in the part about the heroic Marine who shows up to save the day.”

“You saved yourself, Honor,” he corrected. “You managed to get that phone. You didn’t give up hope. You fought like hell to get away from him. I just showed up to help.”

“You didn’t even know me. Yet you came.”

“Baby, I would go anywhere for you. I would drop everything and come running.”

“But you didn’t know me,” I insisted.

“It didn’t matter.”

I knew that he would have come regardless; he would have gone out there for anyone who was in trouble. I actually felt kind of lucky it was me.

Was that sick? Did I need therapy?

“What’s the matter?” he asked, studying my face.

“Do you ever wonder,” I asked, “why things happen? You know the saying: ‘there’s a reason for everything.’ Do you believe that?”

“I didn’t used to, but I’m starting to believe that now.”

“I do too.”

“So what’s your reason, Honor?”

“I think the reason I was kidnapped, the reason my texts went through to you, is because I was meant to meet you. You’re my reason, Nathan.”

The look on his face was sort of priceless. A million emotions crossed over him all at once. Shock, wonder… joy.

“You sure make it hard,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“Make what hard?”

“For me to keep my hands off you.”

“So don’t. I want them on me.”

This strained look came across his face, almost like he was in pain. “But what he did to you…”