“Easy.” The word is rough. “Just… Go slow. You’re safe.”
You’re safe.
The words hit a raw, vulnerable place deep inside me, making my chest tighten and my eyes burn.
I remember the snow. The ambush…
Stryker’s heroic arrival.
And…
The way one of the bad guys raised his gun.
I had no thought other than protecting the man who meant more to me than anyone ever had.
Desperately I grabbed the unfamiliar rifle and clenched my frozen fingers around the trigger.
I had to do it.
The recoil slammed through my bones.
Then he was falling…
The way his body—God?—
I whimper and turn my face away.
I’d had to do it. But how will I ever live with myself?
“Allie.” His voice drops lower, coaxing, grounding. “Look at me.”
I don’t want to.
If I do, I might fracture into a million pieces.
“Allie. Please.”
Another breath trembles out of me, and I force my eyes toward him.
His brow is creased, and there’s pain flashing through his expression. “You scared the hell out of me.”
I shake my head, and pain ricochets through it.
He did all the dangerous things…leaped off a moving snowmobile, drew gunfire to protect me. “I scared you?” My voice is barely a whisper.
His jaw flexes. “Yeah. You did.”
My throat closes. I don’t know what to say. And I’m not sure I even remember how to breathe.
Slowly, slow enough that I could pull away if I wanted, he reaches for me.
He brushes a strand of hair from my cheek, fingertips grazing my temple, and that’s all it takes.
My emotional dam breaks.
Hot tears tumble down my face.
I cover my eyes, ashamed, overwhelmed, unraveling faster than I can stop it.
