Leave a Trail (Signal Bend #7)(34)

He could tell when she was close; he could always tell, and he always made this particular growly-grunt noise right about the time when her brain stopped working. This time, though, at that moment, he shocked her by pushing his arms under her back and gathering her up as he sat back on his heels. Suddenly, she was sitting on his lap, straddling him, kissing him, and he was thrusting up into her, holding her close, his arms crossed over her shoulder blades and his hands holding her head tight to his.

She flexed her hips and realized that she had a lot of control and range of motion in this position. Her arms over his shoulders, her hands tangled in his hair, she took over a little, finding a way to move that kept him hitting that great spot inside her. After a couple of increasingly frenzied minutes, he grunted and grabbed her hips, taking over and yanking her back and forth on him.

When she came, she pulled on his hair so hard it hurt her hands, but he didn’t seem to mind. He came right after her, his rumbling groan vivid with relief. In the middle of the bed, they sat in that position until they were breathing normally. Then Badger kissed her forehead, lifted her off his legs, and left the bed to dispose of the condom. When he came back, he slid under the covers behind her, folded her up in his arms, and settled into sleep.

As fantastic as that had been, Adrienne was really quite sore now. She needed a break. And she needed him to talk to her, at least a little. These wordless encounters felt weird to her. She wasn’t sure why, but they did. There was a lot that was new. A lot she didn’t know. It was embarrassing how much.

But she did know that if she told him she was hurting, he’d beat himself up about it. And she knew he wasn’t ready to talk. She didn’t want to upset him, especially not now, so soon after his detox.

She wasn’t sure what to do, or what she had a right to do. How much could she ask of him? They’d only been together a few days. Or had they been together for years?



oOo



She moved into the manager’s suite the next day. Shannon sent Show over with pieces of furniture they’d had in their shed, stuff that had apparently been in his house before Shannon moved in. An old, red plaid loveseat. A couple of end tables. A dresser. And the bed that had been in the purple room, the one she slept in when she visited.

It was a twin bed, only room for one. It had also been Daisy’s bed. There was no way she was going to sleep with Badger in that bed.

And she suspected Show knew that. Maybe even planned it. He gave her a look when he’d brought it in and set it up in the bedroom. That look said, See? I told you I wasn’t getting out of the way.

She hadn’t seen much of Show since he’d come up to talk to her that evening in the purple room.

Nearly a week, now. It was like they were both keeping their distance. Adrienne had a sense that there might have been a scene between him and Shannon, because the day after she moved into the B&B, Shannon had asked outright whether Show had said something that made her feel unwelcome.

Yes, he had. Or—no. No, that wasn’t it. He’d made her feel like he was trying to parent her, that he was meddling unfairly, and that had been unwelcome. What she told Shannon, though, was that she loved Show, and he hadn’t done anything of the sort. Shannon had seemed sufficiently convinced, and Adrienne was glad. The last thing she wanted to do was put anything between them at all.

There was something between her and Show, though. Badger. And Show’s stubborn refusal to forgive him. Or just to let her make her own choice about him.

But when Show had parked his big pickup, loaded with furniture, she’d gone out to meet him. He’d reached out his huge arms and brought her close for a smothering hug, and she’d just melted and buried her face in his chest—or his stomach, more like. He was more than a foot taller than she was.

He kissed her head and set her back, taking her hands in his. “You got yourself a stubborn streak, little one.”

“You’re one to talk.”

Though she smiled up at him, his expression was serious. “Maybe so. On this, anyway. I’m not good with what you’re doin’, but it looks like you don’t care about that. I’m keeping my eye out, though. You come right to me if shit starts to go sideways, Adrienne. I’m not screwin’ around here.”

“So you can hurt him again? Kill him?”

“So I can protect you. He already hurt you. He’s a junkie. You think a week locked in a room makes that not true?”

“I think he deserves a second chance.” She took a breath and said something more. “I think something really terrible happened to him—and to you—and nobody will talk about it. I think everybody’s acting weird because of it, and you all deserve a second chance.”

She stopped and waited for his face to do that shuttering thing. But it didn’t. Instead, a small smile pushed the corners of his mouth up a little. “You’re an old soul, Adrienne. A real good girl. I don’t want you to lose that. If you stay here, get dragged into our shit, I’m afraid you will.”

All she could do was shrug. “I love him, Show. I have a lot of things to figure out, but not that. That I know.”

“He’s different, though. Not like he was.”

“Yeah. But he’s still Badger.”

“Christ.” He shook his head. “I’m not out of the way. I’m just making a little room. For you, not him.