"But if he's so determined," she added, pulling away when reality intruded, "he'll just follow me to your place."
Raith's answer was a hard smile. "Oh, I hope he does."
Willow had to shiver again. But this time it was a quiver of awareness. There was something incredibly sexy about a man turning savage in order to protect his woman. His concern for her felt nice, too. She liked thinking he might actually care. And then, to cinch it, he reached out and touched her face softly.
"No one's going to get past me, DeVane. I won't let anything happen to you."
No way could Willow deny him after that. Convincing her parent it was the best idea, though, was another ordeal entirely.
But Raith stood rooted by her side as she told her parents she was going home with him.
"No, you're not," her father answered. The look he sent the man next to her dared him to disagree.
But intimidation didn't faze Raith. He merely said, "Yes, she is."
The judge lifted his brows as if he couldn't believe some young, punk cop dared to differ with him. Knowing her father could have Raith fired in a heartbeat or at least seriously hamper his career, Willow took a very small, protective step in front of him as if she could somehow shield him. It was such an insignificant move, she didn't even think anyone would notice it. But Walter DeVane blinked in utter shock and opened his mouth.
She must've given him a look that said she wasn't going to change her mind because he let out a frustrated mutter and whirled back to Raith. "I don't like this."
"Well, he is a cop," her mother said.
The judge speared his wife with a scowl as if he wanted to throttle her. "We have a top of the line security system at our house. I think we can keep our own daughter protected."
Brenda sighed. "Honestly, Walt. What do you think's going to happen if she goes with him? He can't get her pregnant again."
Raith's face turned bright red and he treated Willow to a horrified look.
"What?" she said, wondering why he appeared to have just swallowed a watermelon whole.
"They know?" he asked from between unmoving lips.
Willow shrugged and nodded. "Well... yeah... They're my parents."
After that, Raith was unable to meet her father's gaze. His face flushed a little, but he stuck firm to his decision to take Willow home with him.
And in the end, he got his way.
As Raith made arrangements for her mother to pick her up in the morning and stay with her, Willow sat huddled in the passenger seat of his truck.
Since her father's big surprise party was the next night, Willow had already taken the day off to help decorate her parent's home.
It seemed everything was working out for everyone. Raith got his way, and Brenda got hers, and even Willow got what she'd been craving for nearly a month. She got to spend one more night with Deputy Malloy.
Twenty Two
Raith lived in a small, two-bedroom bungalow-style house.
As Willow followed him through his back door, her eyes immediately set about inspecting her surroundings, surprised he lived in such a tiny place. She knew cops didn't make as much as lawyers, but this was just little.
Size didn't seem to matter, however. As soon as she entered his kitchen, she suddenly felt completely safe. It smelled exactly like Raith. Willow drew in a deep breath and glanced at him.
He watched her from hooded blue eyes as he set her luggage on the table. "It's not much, but—"
"I like it," she said and smiled as she rubbed her hands over her arms. "It's comfy."
He lifted a brow, but didn't comment. "The bedroom's this way."
"I can sleep on the hide-away," she told him, stalling to keep from going to his room and seeing the bed he slept on every night.
"I don't have a hide-away."
"Then I'll sleep on the couch."
His jaw bunched. "You didn't survive a murder attempt just to sleep on a damn lumpy old couch."
Her chin lifted. "Well, I'm not sleeping with you."
"It's a queen size bed," he roared. "I think we can both fit on it just fine. It's not like you've contracted any rare disabling disease from sleeping next to me before."
"No," she agreed. "I only got pregnant."
He growled out a curse, threw his hands in the air and started to march from the room. But he no sooner reached the doorway, when he stopped in his tracks and swung back around.
"I'll sleep on the goddamn couch, okay?" When she didn't thank him soon enough, he huffed. "I didn't bring you here so I could get laid, you know. And I didn't do it so we could fight either."
"Then why did you?"
He opened his mouth, but the words didn't come. "The bedroom's this way," he mumbled and started out of the kitchen. Willow stared after him with wide eyes, wishing he'd just tell her what he really wanted to say.
~ * ~
She had to be the most stubborn woman on the entire planet.
Raith paced his living room as Willow stalled in the single bathroom, getting ready for bed. Her mother had neglected to pack anything she could sleep in, so he'd loaned her one of his oversized t-shirts.
As he stalked from one end of the floor to the other, he cursed her from head to toe. The frustrating female. Couldn't she see he only wanted to make sure she was all right? He had to make sure she was okay. His very sanity depended on it.
The bathroom door opened. He stopped and lifted his face. She paused in the doorway, wearing a t-shirt that came nearly to her knees.
"Do you need anything before you go to sleep?" He growled the question with ill-concealed impatience.
She shook her head. "No. Thanks."
"Good night then."
"Night."
She moved toward his bedroom and shut the door behind her after entering. He went back to pacing. Allowing a good half hour to pass, he stayed in the living room like a good gentleman. Then he couldn't take it any longer.
He pushed inside, braced for her to kick him right back out. But she was already sound asleep. He stopped at the foot of the bed. The light from the living room spilled over her sleeping form.
God, she was so precious to him. And she could've been killed tonight. The relief finally came as he drew closer and was able to examine her the way he'd been aching to all night.
Remembering what a heavy sleeper she was, he slowly pulled his sheets off her, marveled a moment over the picture she made in his bed, and then went to work, inspecting her for bruises, marks, or scratches. He found a few on her arms, probably received when she'd pushed the cabinet in front of her bathroom door.
In her sleep, she turned his way and murmured his name. He smiled and let himself believe she was sleeping so easily because she knew he would keep her safe.
Brushing his fingers over her hair, he leaned down to whispered, "I'll take care of you."
After pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek, he backed toward an old Lay-Z-Boy he had sitting in the corner of the room and sank down. He sat there for a long time, just watching her and thanking God she was alive. Glad she slept so peacefully, he eventually closed his eyes and drifted off himself.
~ * ~
Willow woke in the middle of the night because of a nightmare.
Raith's nightmare.
At first, the thrashing sound coming from across the room scared her half to death. She didn't know the time or even where she was. But it didn't take her long to pull her senses back together.
As she sat up, the blankets pooled around her waist. In the glaring streetlights pouring through the window, she picked him out immediately, huddled in the huge chair in the corner and tossing his head back and forth.
Willow set her hand over her heart when he started to moan as if in pain. Then he whispered her name in a panic as if he was trying to find her before a spasm rippled through him.
Scurrying out of bed, she hurried to him and nudged his shoulder. He woke so abruptly, surging alert, she gasped and jumped back.
"Willow," he said, his voice hoarse and ragged. Then he wiped the sweat off his face and looked up at her. "What's wrong?"
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him his uneasy dreaming had woken her, but at the last second she answered, "I had a nightmare," and crawled into his lap.
His arms immediately latched around her. His warmth soaked through her, and she sighed, content. She could tell he sought comfort as much as he gave it.
"Want to talk about it?" he asked, his voice rumbling through his chest and echoing into her ear where she kept it pressed against his heartbeat.
"Do you?" she countered.
A shiver went through him as he finally caught on. "I woke you."
She lifted her face. "You said my name."
He made a choked sound of denial. But then he confessed, "I dreamed he got into your bathroom, that he got you... and it was my fault."
"It wasn't your fault," she said, stroking his beard stubble.
"Yes, it was. I didn't take you seriously enough the first time. I—"
"Shh," she coaxed and kissed his chin. "You sent in the other deputy to finish checking my rooms even though you didn't believe me."
"But I did believe you." He closed his eyes as he leaned his face against her shoulder. His hands shook as he began to rub his trembling palms up and down the sides of her arms. "I was just upset, jealous... stupid."
She smiled softly. "I've missed you."
He searched her eyes, not sure if he could believe her. Then he sighed. "I don't deserve it."
"I don't care." To prove it, she kissed him.
His mouth was warm and responsive and what she'd been wishing to feel all night. Nothing had helped her forget the horror of what had happened in her bathroom like falling into Malloy's bed and being enclosed by his smell. She had wrapped herself snuggly in his blankets, imagined he was there next to her, and fallen unconscious within seconds.
"He's going to come back for me, isn't he?" she asked, clutching his bare shoulders and curling even further into the chair with him.
"Shh," he answered and pulled her tight against him. "He's not getting anywhere near you. Do you hear me? I won't let him."
She shuddered with fear and desire. The desire won. "Make it go away. Make me forget."
Willow would've been happy to straddle his thighs and take him right there in the chair, but he stood and carried her to the bed, laid her gently on the mattress, and came over her. She tugged him down to cover her completely, making her feel safe and protected.
He kissed her up and down, moving so softly and gently Willow kept looking at him to make sure it was really Raith loving her. It was him all right, and his soft side was even more powerful and erotic than his rough, hungry side.
Every touch, every kiss, every lick sent bolts of electricity through her. When she didn't think she could take any more, he stopped and scooted toward the side of the bed.
She lifted her face in confusion. "Where're you going?"
"My condoms," he explained, pulling a box from the drawer of his nightstand.
Willow rolled her eyes. "Malloy." She sighed and shook her head.
He stopped and glanced back. "What?"
"Like my momma said…" She took the box from his hand and tossed it across the room. "You can't get me pregnant again."
Raith halted in his tracks and gaped at her. "Holy shit. You're right."
When he didn't make a move toward her, just stared in amazement, Willow said, "So what are you still doing over there?"
He shook his head. "I've never gone... without before."
Willow frowned a second in confusion and then said, "You mean, without a condom?"
He nodded.
"But you were married."
He lifted a shoulder. "We were never ready for kids and... well, Deb didn't want the responsibility of having to remember to take a pill every day."
Finally, Willow smiled and then crooked her finger. "Then why don't you come over here and find out what it's like. I promise to be—"
Raith leapt on her before she could finish the sentiment. His mouth was hungry, his fingers impatient. Willow laughed as he rushed to peel off her panties. But he quieted her with a hard passionate kiss, his tongue diving deep. Before she knew it, he was inside her.
He gasped and moaned as he slid all the way to her core. "Oh, God. Oh... This isn't going to last long."
And thank God for that. He felt so warm and close, she lit up in his arms.
She cried out as he thrust again, his expression determined and confident. As she met his gaze, her breath caught in her chest. He looked so serious… and tortured.
"Willow," he groaned, pressing his forehead to hers and cupping her face in his large hands. "God damn it, why do you have to feel so right? Like I was made to fit inside you. Only you."
She just about went cross-eyed as he hit a spot that set her nerveendings on fire. "I don't…" she choked on the words, too steeped in pleasure to speak a moment before she tried again. "M-maybe you were made just for me."