Raw Redemption (Crossing the Line #4)(67)

Ailish wrapped her arms around him from behind. Fresh scent colored the air around him and he sucked it in, sucked it in like a starving man. Her embrace—whatever the reason for it—restored his equilibrium. Allowed his chest to expand for the first time in days.

“You okay?” he asked gruffly, looking over his shoulder but only seeing the top of her head. “Lish. Give me your face.”

When she lifted her head, Henrik swore the answer to every question he’d ever asked in his life was right there dancing in her eyes. She dropped her arms and—in a move that swelled his heart—she wedged herself between him and the car. Not a sexual maneuver, just an I-want-to-tuck-in-here maneuver. “Thank you for saying what you did. About me seeing the good in people.” She laid her head on his chest. “I saw good in you when you arrived on the porch of my cabin. And I still see it. No matter what.”

He rested his chin on the crown of her head. “I’m not going to lie, I’d love to be facing tonight without you. You have no idea.” He knew she had a lifelong vendetta to settle, but that didn’t change anything. Didn’t make her any less of a liability. To his heart. His sanity. “I can’t concentrate with you here. All I can see is that knife your father stabbed into the desk. What he said to you this morning. I thought it was over before it started, Ailish. When he brought us into that office, I almost killed him for nicking your wrist. You don’t have any idea what it cost me to stand there while you bled. What it cost me to hear him threaten your life.”

“I know. I could feel it was hard for you.” She reached down and slipped her hand into his bigger one. “I’m sorry, Growler.”

“But I know it cost you just as much. Maybe…more.” When she stilled against him, he knew he’d surprised her. “This is your fight as well as mine. And you’re strong, baby. Stronger than me—or anyone—has given you credit for. I’m sorry for not building you up when you needed support. That’s on me.”

She tucked her head beneath his chin, but not before he saw the dancing of emotion cross her face. It was a while before she spoke, her question catching him off guard. “What you did to have me released from police custody…why? Why did you do that for me?”

God, he was weak right now. So weak. After having his hands on her in the alley, he was starved out of his mind. And yeah, there was a hint of fear that he would fail tonight. Fail her. The mission. Leaving her without an explanation. “That day in the park, Ailish. You asked me for help. Maybe not with your words…but when you looked up at me? I…I haven’t seen anything but your face since.” He closed his eyes and thought of her, dressed in green, dark circles under her eyes, but surrounded by sunlight. “I didn’t know who you were until you showed up in the interrogation room. But I knew you were good, baby. And I needed to be what you needed. I still do. It’s like a never-ending ache. Need to be Ailish’s man. Protector. I want to cut down everything in your goddamn path. And then I want to take you to bed knowing I earned it.”

She looked up at him, stunned, sending his heart sprinting fast enough for a one-minute mile. “What about me earning you?” Her voice shook. “You haven’t given me the chance to earn you yet.”

Was this woman for real? “I don’t require earning. I require you to keep breathing.”

Her thumb brushed over his wrist, over his hammering pulse, and she made a comforting sound. “I remembered more about the park. I remember thinking you looked as alone as I did.” She kissed his T-shirt-covered chest. “You might be the first person who ever listened to me at all…and you heard things I didn’t even say. Thank you.”

“Ailish—”

“Wait.” She pressed a finger over his mouth. “You saved me. I’ll never forget it. But now you have to let me be part of something bigger than me. You’ve asked me for trust so many times. Now I’m asking for the same.” A heavy pause as she scrutinized him. “Don’t try to cut me out tonight. No matter what.”

“Dammit, baby,” he leaned down and grated against her lips. “If someone hurts you, I’ll level that f*cking house with everyone inside it. You know that?”

“Yes. I know that.”

She opened her lips and accepted his sweeping tongue, so ready to allow more that Henrik had no choice but to tear his mouth away, positive he would die of sex deprivation before the day was over. “Our time is up.”

“No,” she murmured, giving him a final peck on the mouth. “It’s only beginning.”

Heart in his throat, Henrik watched the girl—who’d so casually insinuated they were together for the long haul—walk to the passenger side and climb in. She wanted him, just as he was, but the need to be worthy poured on his head like torrential rain. Could he get them both out alive, with the evidence to earn him back his badge? Make him a man of honor once again?

Only tonight would tell.





Chapter Eighteen


Henrik paced the guest room floor, his gaze straying to the digital bedside clock for the hundredth time that hour. The four tastefully painted walls of the bedroom felt like a cage, and he needed to break free. He hadn’t seen Ailish alone since that morning, one of the armed men accompanying him every time he’d gone to prod her on Caine’s behalf and check on the progress of her work. The hostility radiating from the men in Ailish’s presence was almost too much to take without using his fists to swell their eyes shut. So they couldn’t look at her anymore. Couldn’t show so much disdain for her. They made his skin crawl.