but instead falling
into the ice gaze she once swooned for. His eyes, the color of a deep ocean,
framed with a black outline of a color only found in space, far from any light.
Emotional pain tumbled into her body, a past hurt shattering through her
erected shields. She heard him curse and then his grip wrapped around her wrist
as he drew her into his arms. She went and let out a long-suffering shudder,
and felt as if she had just come home.
“Mackenzie…” The word drew out on a sigh.
“Bari...”
His arms simply drew her in closer, their
bodies pressed so tight the air itself couldn’t come between them. He felt
better than anything, the shelter of his body holding hers. Peace she hadn’t
known for so long stole into her. Like homemade apple pie, a soothing comfort
and churning lust, all wrapped up into the strong arms of this man.
“I don’t trust myself not to say
something we may both regret, Mac.” His deep voice rumbled in her ear as her
head lay on his chest and she nodded, at a loss for speech.
She hadn’t wanted to touch him, tried to
fight off the impulse but in the end, she’d been unable to resist. Thank God he
hadn’t hesitated either because she didn’t know what she would have done.
Barely understood why she was even here. There had been a time when he could do
nothing but touch her. Where had that gone? When did things change so much?
Now, his scent wrapped around her, and as she shifted against his body, she
felt him react. It was only normal, right? A man being gone for so long,
deployed for months at a time as he’d been. Or was it their old memories
bringing that back?
She sighed at the questions and shifted
her face, nuzzled against his chest.
He shifted on the bed, moved his arm
beneath the covers to adjust his straining erection, which was pressing into
her. Heat stole up into her face as she realized that it probably had nothing
to do with her, that it was simply a natural male reaction. She pushed the
unsavory thoughts away. The time now wasn’t about that but instead about the
comfort two friends were trying to give one another. Two friends that relied on
each other for far too much.
“Things are going to be okay, Mac.”
She could only hope he spoke the truth.
Chapter
Eight
After being checked out of the hospital
by a very witchy woman, one who glared at him, tried to get more answers, and
one who abruptly shut up as soon as Tyler rounded the corner, they headed out
the front double glass doors and to the car. Bari glanced over at an unusually
quiet Tyler and wondered exactly what was going on between him and Bethany. The
two fidgeted more than ants preparing for winter when they’d been together, and
the tension in the room was palpable, almost visible in fact.
Driving along the highway, Tyler was
thankfully quiet, giving Bari a chance to look around at where he had grown up.
It was weird, almost as if time had somehow frozen in some places and sped up
in others. For the most part Nantucket was how he remembered. Long open spaces,
little shops and colonial houses. Children played in parks and fields while
people walked the street, taking it all in.
People lived in Nantucket for a few
reasons, one being there was hardly any crime. It was a place where the town’s
police officers helped the elderly cross the street. Bari scrutinized everyone
he saw, trying to decipher if they were human or demon, good or bad. Sight was
almost worthless to him, not giving him any answers. He wasn’t picking up
anything from the car so he narrowed his eyes, tried to focus in order to try
to get something, anything to give him a clue. Heaving a deep sigh he sat back
in his seat, resigned that maybe he wouldn’t know, or perhaps, not quite yet.
“You’re gonna give yourself a headache.”
Bari had a ton of questions, though he
didn’t know if he was ready for the answers he would get. Denial rose up in his
veins. He didn’t want to ask because he still didn’t want to
into the ice gaze she once swooned for. His eyes, the color of a deep ocean,
framed with a black outline of a color only found in space, far from any light.
Emotional pain tumbled into her body, a past hurt shattering through her
erected shields. She heard him curse and then his grip wrapped around her wrist
as he drew her into his arms. She went and let out a long-suffering shudder,
and felt as if she had just come home.
“Mackenzie…” The word drew out on a sigh.
“Bari...”
His arms simply drew her in closer, their
bodies pressed so tight the air itself couldn’t come between them. He felt
better than anything, the shelter of his body holding hers. Peace she hadn’t
known for so long stole into her. Like homemade apple pie, a soothing comfort
and churning lust, all wrapped up into the strong arms of this man.
“I don’t trust myself not to say
something we may both regret, Mac.” His deep voice rumbled in her ear as her
head lay on his chest and she nodded, at a loss for speech.
She hadn’t wanted to touch him, tried to
fight off the impulse but in the end, she’d been unable to resist. Thank God he
hadn’t hesitated either because she didn’t know what she would have done.
Barely understood why she was even here. There had been a time when he could do
nothing but touch her. Where had that gone? When did things change so much?
Now, his scent wrapped around her, and as she shifted against his body, she
felt him react. It was only normal, right? A man being gone for so long,
deployed for months at a time as he’d been. Or was it their old memories
bringing that back?
She sighed at the questions and shifted
her face, nuzzled against his chest.
He shifted on the bed, moved his arm
beneath the covers to adjust his straining erection, which was pressing into
her. Heat stole up into her face as she realized that it probably had nothing
to do with her, that it was simply a natural male reaction. She pushed the
unsavory thoughts away. The time now wasn’t about that but instead about the
comfort two friends were trying to give one another. Two friends that relied on
each other for far too much.
“Things are going to be okay, Mac.”
She could only hope he spoke the truth.
Chapter
Eight
After being checked out of the hospital
by a very witchy woman, one who glared at him, tried to get more answers, and
one who abruptly shut up as soon as Tyler rounded the corner, they headed out
the front double glass doors and to the car. Bari glanced over at an unusually
quiet Tyler and wondered exactly what was going on between him and Bethany. The
two fidgeted more than ants preparing for winter when they’d been together, and
the tension in the room was palpable, almost visible in fact.
Driving along the highway, Tyler was
thankfully quiet, giving Bari a chance to look around at where he had grown up.
It was weird, almost as if time had somehow frozen in some places and sped up
in others. For the most part Nantucket was how he remembered. Long open spaces,
little shops and colonial houses. Children played in parks and fields while
people walked the street, taking it all in.
People lived in Nantucket for a few
reasons, one being there was hardly any crime. It was a place where the town’s
police officers helped the elderly cross the street. Bari scrutinized everyone
he saw, trying to decipher if they were human or demon, good or bad. Sight was
almost worthless to him, not giving him any answers. He wasn’t picking up
anything from the car so he narrowed his eyes, tried to focus in order to try
to get something, anything to give him a clue. Heaving a deep sigh he sat back
in his seat, resigned that maybe he wouldn’t know, or perhaps, not quite yet.
“You’re gonna give yourself a headache.”
Bari had a ton of questions, though he
didn’t know if he was ready for the answers he would get. Denial rose up in his
veins. He didn’t want to ask because he still didn’t want to
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