Page 28 of Protecting Salvation

Chapter8

Hurricane wokewith the first stretches of light across the sky, his body not used to any kind of light in the morning. He stretched and took a momentary inventory of how he was feeling, something he’d started doing since his diagnosis. No pain or blurry vision, so he sat up slowly letting his blood pressure settle before he got up. Hurricane hated that he had to move slowly or adjust any of his actions or reactions, but it was what it was. This was the hand he’d been dealt, and he’d deal with it.

His feet hit the ground and he stood. When his body complied he set quietly about his day, starting with brewing coffee in Peyton’s tiny kitchen. Bertie greeted him and he sank to his haunches to greet the happy little guy with a scratch to his chin, before letting him out to do his business. His gaze caught on the office at the bottom of the garden and he wondered if Peyton would be okay working in there today.

She’d tried to hide her reaction but he’d seen how her body tensed and her skin paled when she talked about it. Her attack had been vicious and going back into the space where it happened would be hard.

Looking around the small house, he wondered if he could do anything to make it easier for her. Mug of coffee in hand, he stepped out into the early morning sun and strode to her office. The door was locked and the blinds were drawn but he knew what it looked like inside. He and Titan had cleaned it up and made it look as if nothing had happened.

He knew he couldn’t erase the memories though and hoped she’d spoken to someone about it but suspected she hadn’t. Doctors made the worst patients, and he had a feeling his stubborn girl was no different. A smile crept across his face at the realisation he’d called her his girl, even if it was only in his head.

He wanted her to be his, but was it fair to her? If he started something and it left her caring for half a man, was that selfish? He’d thought so, but Lotus had made some good points and now he wondered if taking away her choices was unfair. Or was he just looking for a way to have his cake and eat it too?

A yap at his ankle had him looking down at Bertie the little hero dog. “What do you think, fella?”

Bertie angled his head and yipped again as if to say pull it together man.

Hurricane huffed a laugh. “Yeah, good call.”

Heading back inside he heard movement upstairs and his body stirred with images of Peyton getting ready for the day. The shower starting took those images to a very distracting place which had his pants tightening. “Shiit.”

Pushing thoughts of her naked from his brain, he set about making them breakfast. He was humming gently when he felt her step into the room. The air seemed to still and then sizzle. A smile pulled at his lips as he realised she was trying to remain undetected and he let it go, loving that she was watching him. Her eyes on him felt good, made him feel like a man and not a patient with fucked up shit in his head.

“You going to stare at me all day or do you want coffee?”

He turned giving her a wink and caught a blush slide over her skin. Fuck, she was beautiful, but it was her strength that he couldn’t stay away from. He turned back to the plates of eggs he was finishing and smiled.

“Sorry, I was just admiring how nice it is to see a man in my kitchen.”

Her warmth at his back as she made herself coffee had his skin prickling with heat. The need to reach out and touch her was like a physical ache.

He took the two plates to her small kitchen table and she followed, taking a seat opposite him.

“Any man or me?” He regarded her, his face impassive, not wanting her to see how much her answer meant to him.

“You, Warren. I like you here with me. It feels right somehow, or maybe my nerves are shot and I’m a bumbling mess.”

His hand shot across the table and took hers, twining their fingers together, making her look up sharply. He saw every emotion reflected in her grey eyes, uncertainty, desire, fear, longing, and vulnerability, and he wanted to shield her from every negative thought.

“You’re strong and capable, smart, determined, loyal, and so damn beautiful I can hardly think straight around you. What you are not is a bumbling mess, and I feel the same. Waking up here this morning, letting Bertie out and cooking for us, felt right to me. Like it was where I belonged and, believe me, I haven’t felt that a lot in my life.”

Her smile was like the sun coming out and bathing him in warmth, he wanted to turn his face to it and bask in its heat. “Peyton, can I ask you something?”

Her head cocked at his change in tone. “Of course.”

“If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?”

He reluctantly let her hand go and motioned at her breakfast and she began to eat, as satisfaction moved over him.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe on a beach some place, watching a tall sexy man with huge muscles rub sun lotion into my skin.”

The growl of jealousy died in his throat when she winked at him and forked a mushroom into her mouth, the tines disappearing slowly and making him think of what else he wanted to see in her sweet mouth.

Her voice was flirty and light and he loved that, and even more that she felt relaxed enough to show him he was the sexy man in this imagining.

“Do you know where I would be?”

Peyton shook her head.