Chapter 21

SARAH

She glanced over at Gabe, his dark hair tousled, his cheeks darkened with the stubble he couldn’t control, and the shadows that darkened his vibrant eyes telling her more about the events of the night than he was willing to.

“What happened tonight, Gabe?” she asked softly.

“We were raiding a house notorious for”—he gave her a wicked smile—“unsavory activity…when we saw that it was rigged with explosives. The sergeant and I were the last to leave the place before it went boom.”

Sarah released his hand to change the gear for the traffic light, looking over at him as he took her hand again. She knew that he had not told her the whole story, and though she wanted to keep asking him about it, she bit her lip not to. Gabe would only clam up if she did. Maybe Seth would tell her when he got home.

“You never told me how you got that scar,” she said instead as she pulled away from the traffic light, indicating the long shiny line creeping from beneath his sleeve.

He gave a fond smile. “That’s Seth’s fault. He got us caught in a hut surrounded by enemy fire with no way out when he had the bright idea for me to toss a grenade into the tank. We didn’t know that the idiots kept their explosives stored in the tank, which imploded like an egg in a microwave oven, sending metal in every direction. If Seth hadn’t pulled me out of the way, I wouldn’t be here today.”

“I’m glad he did,” she said softly. Their eyes met again, but neither said anything. She heard him humming and listened intently as she recognized the song of Luke Bryan playing on the radio. Sarah pulled up in front of Gabe’s house and cut the engine, listening to Gabe sing the chorus softly under his breath, the velvety tones sending whispers of desire through her whole body, each wave culminating in her deepest parts.

~“’Cause I’m hell up here on the high wire,~

~You’re the hallelujah kind;~

~I’m the dust that spins and the gust of wind that’s blowing by,~

~I’m a desert dry,~

~And in my thirsty eyes,~

~You look like rain…”~

He held her eyes the entire time, his gravelly baritone allowing the words to hang between them, making Sarah’s heartbeat wildly in her chest, her nerves vibrating with a life she had never felt in her life.

“Gabe…”

He cupped her cheek, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and stroking a thumb across her cheekbone. Sarah sighed softly at the electricity in his blue eyes as they held her spellbound. “That is my secret for this visit, Sarah.”

The soft way he said her name had her heart melting. He leaned over and allowed his lips to touch hers, so gently, so fleeting that Sarah thought she had imagined the kiss. “Keep the truck with you. I’m off tomorrow so you can let me know what time you need to collect your car and we can take it from there.”

Before she could answer, he had opened the door and climbed out. Before walking away, he looked at her. “Just like Amelia is my glitter girl, Sarah, you are my rain.”

She watched him walk away, unaware that she was crying until she tasted the salty tear at the corner of her mouth. What demons were Gabriel fighting? And would she be strong enough to help him fight them?

GABRIEL

He was so bored. Mandatory leave after the explosion was not Gabe’s idea of fun, but Sheriff Burnsley had not given him and Sergeant Brady much choice. Besides the debriefing that they both needed to attend when they reported for the next shift, Gabe was looking forward to getting back into uniform.

A smile tilted his lips as he remembered Sarah muttering at him in Italian when she had picked him up earlier that afternoon. She had asked him again, way too innocently what had happened the night before, but he had stuck with the story he had told her, not wanting to admit how close it had actually been. With the occasional English coupled with Seth’s name, Gabe figured they were both in trouble. When she had huffed to her car and he had watched her drive away, he had called Seth.

“What did you tell Sarah?” he asked as soon as his friend answered the call.

“Just that you offered to deactivate a bomb then accidentally triggered a five-second timer which nearly took your head off.” He could hear the laughter, and the fear, in Seth’s voice. “Do you think you would still be alive if I did that? Give me some credit, Jiminy.”

“So what did you tell her?” Gabe pushed.

“That she had to ask you because I wasn’t there.”

“That explains why the both of us were lumped as scemo uomo when she picked me up.”

Seth laughed heartily. “That was the aftermath, brother. You should have been here for the fallout.”

Gabe was disappointed he had missed that volcanic outburst from Sarah. It must have been glorious. He could almost see those eyes highlighted by the brightness of her red cheeks and her full lips forming the volatile Italian words.

By appearance, Seth and Sarah resembled their Irish father with their blond hair and height, but beneath the surface, she was a simmering pot of passion that they had inherited from their mother’s side. Gabe had met their Nonna once before she died and had loved the old lady as much as he loved his own grandma, except not understanding most of the words that flowed from her mouth.

With a deep sigh, Gabe absorbed the stillness of the late-night darkness, listening to the night creatures scavenging under the trees surrounding the lake. He could even hear the soft thump of his heartbeat as he sat on the tailgate of his truck. He needed this time to get away and to breathe. He knew he needed to stay away from…them… He had needed to keep busy to avoid thinking of them, so this twenty-four-hour stillness was not helping.

After all that, he was sitting on his tailgate next to the lake, needing to get out of the confines of the house, and all he could think about was that Sarah would have enjoyed the peacefulness of the scene. He missed her laughter and the way she would roll her eyes when he said something dorky. He missed the way she smelled of cinnamon and apple blossoms, the way her breath hitched when he leaned in closer to hear what she was saying, and the way she would lick her lips when he stared at them too long. They had known each other for four months, and though he had been tempted in so many ways to kiss her, he had respected her wishes to preserve their friendship…until the christening…

He could still remember that conversation so clearly, at this very spot, her head leaning on his shoulder, her soft voice whispering across the lake. ~“I am enjoying our friendship so much. It’s so pure and unsullied with complications…”~

Gabe could still recall the way she had wrinkled her nose on the last word. And he had tried so hard to be the gentleman his grandma had raised him to be.

His body stilled when he saw the flash of light reflected on the tree beside his truck, and then he heard the definite crack of a twig behind him.

“Thought I’d find you here.”

His shoulders slumped at the sound of her voice behind him. Think of the devil and you’ll step on his tail, his grandma always said. But in this case, Sarah was an angel who sent the devil into parts of his body that he had no business being in.

“What—” He cleared his throat and tried again when his voice came out as a croak. “What are you doing here?”

“I was actually hoping to speak to you. Seth wasn’t sure what time you were supposed to report, and your truck wasn’t at the department or your house, so I took a chance that you’d be here.”

“It’s that important, huh?”

“Yes,” she sighed as she sat on the tailgate beside him, the heat of her thigh scorching into his.

“Okay…?” What the hell was wrong with him? It felt like he was back in high school, and his crush had realized that he was alive.

“You’re planning on ghosting us again, aren’t you?”

The question hit him harder than the bullet he took in the vest just before he came home from Gaza. It sucked the air from his lungs and made his vision blur. His heart kicked up a beat and he sucked in a deep breath to stop the quivering in his stomach.

“Gabe?”

He looked over at her, and the air left his lungs in a soft whoosh. She was stunning, especially when the moon picked out the gold streaks in her hair and made her eyes sparkle like the purest emeralds.

Her skin shone like alabaster, and he fisted his hands tightly to stop himself from touching it. The earrings with the miniature cooking stuff tinkled softly when she turned her head to him, and the innocent sound turned him on like it was a light switch. His breathing sped up, and he cleared his throat, wiping at the bead of sweat that trickled from his forehead. He needed to move, but he couldn’t find the courage to leave the heat coming from her bare arms.

“Because I’m afraid, Sarah,” he admitted gruffly.

“Of what?” Her question was filled with so much innocence that it scared him even more.

He shrugged, his shoulder accidentally rubbing against hers, and sparks shot to his uncomfortable loins. “Of you. Of me. Of this electricity between us. Of crossing boundaries…” ~Of complicating your purity~, he added silently.

“Oh…,” she breathed. The hitch in her voice drew his eyes to her face, and he stared at the way her tongue touched her lips and slowly caressed them, making him even harder than he already was. When her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth, flushing with blood and making them even pinker than normal, he wanted to suck that swollen lip into his own mouth and tease it with his tongue.

“Gabe.” His name was a breathless sigh.

“Yeah?”

“You’re staring.”

“I’m sorry,” he rasped, but couldn’t take his eyes from those tempting lips.

“Gabe…”

“Yeah?”

“You need to stop staring…”

“Okay…”

“Gabe…”

“Yeah?”

“Never mind,” she said, her voice heavy with frustration. Before Gabe could respond, she straddled his lap, her heat cupping his hardness perfectly and he groaned at the contact. She put her hands on his face, slowly stroking her thumbs across his raspy cheeks, sending all kinds of messages to a particular part of his body that wasn’t missing a beat. He never realized how sexy his scruff could be until Sarah Marshall touched him.

“Gabe…”

“Yeah?” He wasn’t sure how he heard her whisper his name through the thumping of his heart.

“Never mind…,” she whispered again before sucking his bottom lip between her own and nipping it with her teeth. Then she laughed when he growled, the sound vibrating through his body, making his toes curl and his hands tighten on her hips.