Kiss of a Stranger (Lost Coast Harbor #1) (19 page)

Gabe was gone.

Chapter Nineteen

M
addie stayed on the docks until the sun set and the search was called off.

She walked home, numb. It wasn’t possible. He was too alive to just be gone in a single second. Too warm. Too solid.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this. They were supposed to have their fun, and then he’d leave town. Or they were supposed to argue and bicker and tear each other’s clothes off, and then he would leave town.

Instead, he just left.

Tears welled up, slow and painful, and she wiped them away with a rough hand before they could spill.

God, she was a fool. No job, no savings account, no business degree could protect her from this.

When she reached her empty house, she was grateful for the silence. Erin and Bree would have heard about the explosion by now—the whole town would have heard—but for the moment, they were giving her space. It wouldn’t last. Already she’d needed to turn off her phone to avoid the endless barrage of texts and phone calls.

Maddie curled up on her couch. Gabe’s jacket was still there, the one he hadn’t bothered to take with him the other night. She lifted it to her nose, his scent both necessary and painful. It was such a small part of him. It would linger for a while, then vanish.

Like her memories of him would vanish too. In a year, maybe two, he’d be a sad story, the man who came into her life like a bulldozer, then suffered a horrible fate. She couldn’t mourn a one-night stand, a man she was only beginning to know.

She didn’t believe that for a second. None of it.

Maddie covered herself with Gabe’s coat like a blanket, though she couldn’t get warm. As she settled back into the couch, something jabbed into her back. Shifting, she withdrew the manila folder devoted to Gabriel Reyes.

She opened it carefully, this strange reminder of the man she’d known. Facts and images, all two-dimensional. It wasn’t who he was, not at all.

He was an innocent man who’d been convicted of a horrible crime. All he’d wanted was to prove his innocence, and even that had been stolen from him. No matter what the cops said, she didn’t for one second believe this was an accident.

Whoever was behind this had already taken six years, and now they’d taken his life. They didn’t get to keep the one thing Gabe wanted the most: the truth.

With a new determination, Maddie opened the file and began reading.

Gabe stumbled away from the beach, barely able to stand. He was dripping wet and freezing. His teeth chattered so hard he thought they might chip.

He had to get some dry clothes. Get somewhere safe. Somewhere he couldn’t be found.

Before whoever tried to kill him realized they had to finish the job.

Thirty seconds. That was the difference between life and death. He found the bomb just thirty seconds before it blew up. Enough time to dive into the water and swim faster than he’d ever swum before. He hid underneath the dock, already beginning to shiver, and watched the boat he’d been on moments before explode into tiny pieces. Whoever set the bomb knew what they were doing. It had a small blast radius, and no one else was hurt. He’d been the only one at risk.

There were only two options. Either someone wanted to destroy the boat, or they wanted to destroy him.

The ship had been empty. He’d just unloaded the last crate. There was no reason to get rid of an old shipping vessel, but there were plenty of reasons to get rid of him.

Besides, Gabe had never had great luck. If there were two options, the correct answer always seemed to be the one most likely to screw him.

While everyone ran toward the explosion, he let the current carry him south. Past the public harbor, where the few people there on a Wednesday afternoon were already running the other way.

More than once, the ocean threatened to do the killer’s work for him. He fought its attempts to pull him under, even when the cold dark beckoned and promised him relief.

It might have been tempting, except for two things.

He hadn’t spent six years despising Hastings to lose now. The bastards didn’t get to win. Not again.

And there was no way he could leave Maddie. They’d already hit her office, and they’d probably broken into her house. If they came for her again, he would be there.

The clock was blurry. Maddie blinked several times, clearing her vision. She’d been staring at the documents so long she’d memorized every one of them. The file seemed to contain every detail about the life of Gabriel Reyes, but it was all surface. It identified his tattoos, but it didn’t explain why he chose each design. It didn’t say how much his brother meant to him, or that he still mourned his mother.

She needed to contact Mateo. His number was in the file. But it was after midnight, and Gabe would still be dead tomorrow. There was plenty of time for them all to grieve.

Sighing, she set the file on the coffee table and stood. She stretched, working out the kinks from hours of sitting. Maddie moved between her various plants, whispering to each one and checking the soil, finding a bit of comfort in their presence. They were a tiny reminder that life went on, that there was a chance she would heal from this.

It was hard to believe that day would ever come.

Maddie tried acting like it was any other night. She took her usual shower and stayed under the stream a little too long. She deep conditioned her hair and shaved her legs, anything to delay that moment when she’d lie in bed with her eyes wide open, unable to think of anything but Gabe.

Wearing a pair of white pajamas covered in daisies and with her hair braided for sleep, Maddie sat on the edge of her bed. She turned off the light on the bedside table, preferring the darkness. She rubbed lotion into her arms, legs, and feet, just like she always did. The movement felt mechanical.

Maddie broke. The bottle clattered to the ground. Her head dropped into her hands, and loud, desperate cries clawed their way out of her throat. Long minutes passed where she struggled to even breathe around the sobs.

Betweens gasps, she heard the distant sound of the back door creaking open.

Maddie’s head shot up, her tears drying as a surge of adrenaline hit.

Someone was downstairs. Not any of her friends. Bree had a key, but she’d use the front door.

No, this was someone else. Maybe the same person who already searched her home and office. Whatever they wanted, they hadn’t found it yet.

It had to be Gabe’s file. It was the only item whoever ransacked the office had been unable to find. She hadn’t uncovered anything incriminating in the folder, but they couldn’t know that.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, then slid out of bed and swung her closet door open. Maddie groped in the corner until she found the baseball bat Charlie insisted she kept. He hadn’t wanted her to keep a gun in the house—probably feared she’d shoot him if she learned what he was up to—so this was the best weapon she had.

Maddie crept down the stairs, avoiding every spot that might creak or groan.

Whoever it was, they were still there. Sounds came from the laundry room, of all places. If they were stealing her underwear in addition to Gabe’s file, she’d make sure to swing the bat at the pervert’s head, then upwards between his legs.

Still stepping carefully, she moved silently through the dark living room.

There was no light in the laundry room, but she could make out a dark silhouette. It looked male. He was definitely going through her clothes.

Caution fled as rage claimed her. She rushed into the laundry room, already swinging the bat.

The man ducked with a curse, and the blow just missed his head.

“Fuck, Maddie. It’s me.”

The bat clattered to the floor. “Gabe?” Her voice broke on the word. It wasn’t possible.

She groped for the light switch, afraid to even breathe.

He stopped her. “No.” His voice was raspier than usual, the sound of someone who’d swallowed too much seawater that day. “There’s a window in here.”

She didn’t understand until he dropped the blinds and twisted them fully shut. No one could see in.

Maddie turned on the light, and her breath caught. Gabe looked awful. His pants were long gone, and he wore only boxer briefs and white socks on the lower half of his body. His shirt was a flannel, one she hadn’t seen before. It was a size too big and filthy. He’d buttoned it all the way up to his neck to hold in any warmth he could. Gabe wore no shoes or jacket, no hat or gloves. It was no wonder he still shivered, even in her warm house, and why his lips had a blue tint.

He looked awful, and he was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

Maddie flung herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rose on tiptoe, needing his lips. She tried to warm him with her touch, to give him the heat that always rose between them. She pressed her body against his, willing him to take her warmth.

His arms gripped her with the same desperation. Gabe took everything she offered and more, his kisses so hungry they bordered on desperate.

Maddie tugged at his shirt. He helped her, grabbing the hem and pulling it over his head. She stepped back just enough to see his body, to confirm he was solid and whole and
alive.

He was, but he was also filthy, covered in dirt and sand from whatever ordeal he’d suffered that day. Even with her touch, he still shivered.

“Come with me.” Maddie took his hand, not wanting to go a single moment without touching. She led him up the stairs and into her small bathroom. She turned on the shower and waited till it was hot enough. “Get in.”

Gabe stripped off his remaining clothes and stepped under the water.

“I’ll get a clean towel.” She took a step toward the hallway linen closet.

A hand wrapped around her wrist and gave a gentle, inexorable tug. She didn’t resist as Gabe pulled her backwards.

“Don’t leave me.”

Chapter Twenty

H
e couldn’t let her go. Not now.

It felt like years had passed since he stepped out of the water. As much as he needed to get to Maddie, he also knew someone had tried to kill him—and his best chance at survival was letting them think they succeeded. He needed to wait till dark, when he could return to her unseen.

The ocean dropped him several miles south of town. There were a few outlying houses set back from the cliffs, and Gabe had passed the afternoon hiding in someone’s shed. At least they left an old flannel shirt behind, though it was little comfort. Every minute he waited for the sun to set was excruciating.

When night fell at last, he dragged his way back to her house, one agonizing step after another. He stumbled along the cliffs, hiding from every car that passed. When the sun vanished, the temperature plummeted. More than once, he wondered if he would arrive at Maddie’s with all his extremities intact.

But if he’d turned into a block of ice, Gabe still would have found a way back to her.

Now that he was here, he couldn’t let her go, not even for a minute.

He told her he had nothing to offer her. Maybe that was true, but he’d give her what protection he could.

There was one other thing he could give her, though he couldn’t believe she’d want it. Himself. Whatever that was worth, it was hers. He was too cold and tired to pretend otherwise.

When Maddie stripped off her pajamas and joined him in the shower, he dared to hope she would accept his meager offering.

For a long time, they stood together under the shower stream, arms wrapped around each other. Her skin and the water warmed him. Only when Gabe stopped shivering did she pull away. She soaped up his chest, then spun him around to do the same to his back.

Her touch was a balm, soothing away the chill and terror of the day. She was there, with him. She was safe.

Maddie stroked him slowly. Deliberately. It felt like she wanted to relearn his body, to confirm that he’d returned to her in one piece. He didn’t tell her that it was her touch making him whole.

Maddie dropped to her knees so she could wash the backs of his legs. She ran her hand along the hard muscles of his calves. “Turn around,” she whispered.

His cock was at her eye level. The damn thing had a mind of its own, because no matter how tired he was, it stiffened when she dropped a quick, playful kiss on the tip. Gabe groaned at the touch.

“Not yet,” she said. She stood, using her hands to help rinse him clean.

Gabe stuck his head under the faucet, wetting his hair, and reached for the shampoo. Maddie beat him to it.

She poured some into her palm. “Lean back.”

He didn’t resist. His body sagged when her hands began massaging his skull, and he needed to brace himself on the wall so he wouldn’t fall against her.

“You’re exhausted,” she murmured, adjusting him so his head was under the stream. The movement placed her body against his, her soft breasts pressing into his back.

With that touch, his fatigue vanished. The desperation that carried him to her house was replaced by another frantic desire. He needed to join with her. To be one.

Gabe spun Maddie against the wall and trapped her with an arm on either side of her shoulders. “Not so tired as all that.”

The hunger that fueled them downstairs roared back, and there was nothing gentle about their kiss. They plundered the other’s mouth, exploring and tasting. Claiming. Maddie ran her hands over the muscles of his shoulders, then gripped his neck, pulling him tighter to her. It seemed impossible that she could want him as much as he wanted her, but only a few hours after he escaped death, maybe he could believe in the impossible.

“Gabe…” she breathed.

“Shhh.” He spoke into her mouth, the words vibrating against her lips. “I don’t want to talk about it. Not now. All I want to hear you say is that you need me.”

Maddie didn’t take a second to think before the words popped out. “I need you.”

Gabe ran his hands across every curve. Her skin was slick from the water. His fingers slid across her breasts and along her stomach, over her hips and thighs before moving between her legs. When he felt how wet she was, he closed his eyes, fighting for control.