Page 58 of Reckless Pawn

“I don't want to hear it." The words stopped him cold as she turned back to the trail and began walking toward the parking lot.

He wanted to stop her, make her listen, somehow make her understand that she was in some kind of denial. Recovery took time and she deserved to be cherished, not mauled by a fucking animal. Unfortunately, he was a little late for that, the damage had been done whether she realized it or not.

Houston trudged up the dirt trail and emerged into the parking lot next to his motorcycle only to find no Izzy. His heart froze as he frantically searched the lot and the surrounding area.

No. No. No. No way.

"Izzy!"

When he received no response a fresh blast of panic surged through him, seizing him. No fucking way anyone followed them here. He would've seen them coming a mile away. Well, except when he'd been in the woods too busy making Izzy come to notice his own goddamned surroundings. He shook his head. This was so not happening again.

"Izzy! Where the fuck are you?"

"I'm in the bathroom, asshole," came a muffled response. "Is that okay with you?"

Houston nearly fell to his knees with relief. The eerie moment of deja vu freaked him the hell out.

"Thank fuck," he whispered. The thought of losing her again immobilized him. He'd burn the motherfucking forest down to the ground before she'd disappear on him again.

He yanked his pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and fished one out. He'd fucked up big time and his nerves were shot. In the absence of any alcohol this was the best he could do. He placed the cigarette in his mouth, flicked his lighter and took one deep drag closing his eyes as he did. He needed to calm down before she came out here. The last thing she needed was to deal with him pissed off because he was an asshole. And make no mistake he was definitely a fucking asshole.

He'd freaked out and hurt her feelings, ruining the moment between them and now that his common fucking sense was finally asserting itself, relentless frustration followed on the heels of dwindling panic. Yeah, she was right to be pissed. He’d give her space to blow off her steam, and then they would have a reckoning.

He took another drag on his smoke and stared up into the sky. Hard to believe just a few short months ago he'd been halfway across the world with nothing else to do than stare down the barrel of his rifle and fuck with bad guys.

He'd been a part of something important then. A team on a mission. Now he was turning into something he really didn't like.

You could be a part of something now, asshole.

Houston cringed at the sound of Axel's voice in his head. They'd been trying to tell him his job here could be as important, if not more so, than what it was in the Marines. If only he could get his head out of his ass and into the game.

Easier said than done with old history weighing him down. And memories. Way too many gruesome memories. Not like he'd forget those. Since returning to Sultan and the surrounding area he'd been seeing that shit play out in his head entirely too often.

Especially the night his mother died.

His fight with Axel that night hadn’t seemed that life altering at the moment. It had, however, made him late getting home and that event changed everything.

Choices were made and consequences were paid. That was a hard learned lesson he shouldn’t have forgotten.

He stared at the closed door to the bathroom that held Izzy. She didn’t know it quite yet, but he wasn’t going to let the pain of either of their pasts dictate their future.

Despite his best efforts to get out and be someone he could be proud of, it had only been temporary. Then he’d met her and another choice had been made.

Since then he'd hurt Izzy twice. First by leaving her and now again by losing control.

And still his obsession to be with her remained.

Like father like son…

Chapter Twenty

Izzy

Humiliation burned through my whole body as fervently as a flash fire. I didn't want to ever come out of this shitty roadside bathroom. Tears tracked down my face faster than I could wipe them away as I relived the horror on Houston's face after he realized he'd just finger banged me against a tree.

Something that for one blindingly brief moment had been about the greatest moment of my life. I was alive and with the man I wanted more than anything as he drove me to heights of pleasure I had never expected to experience again.

It was the most beautiful and bright feeling and I didn't want it to stop.

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