Page 63 of Sutton's Shadow

“The fear once again consumed me. The attack had affected me in more ways than just losing Liam. I lost my pride. I lost my strength. I lost my courage to do what was right. I’d spent most of my career rooting out injustices, and after documenting the greatest injustice I’d ever experienced, I froze.”

More tears threatened, which angered her. She shot to her feet, needing to move. If she moved, maybe she wouldn’t feel so frozen anymore. If she moved, maybe it would help her shake off the fear. She paced the room as the images from that night played through her mind like a slideshow.

Liam. All those women. She’d failed them all.

The girls... her feet came to a shuttering halt. “Fuck,” she roared. She picked up a knickknack from a side table and threw it at the wall, not even registering which bauble it was. A picture frame containing her favorite photo of Liam was next, the corner placing a nice slash in the drywall. The stupid rock from Afghanistan she used as a paperweight caught her eye. She grabbed it, but Wyatt stopped her from hurling it across the room.

He caught her arm before she could let the item fly, his other arm banding around her waist. He stood behind her, his hold on her the only thing keeping her together.

“Those girls,” she wailed.

She sank to her knees, Wyatt following her down. The rock slipped from her fingers, and he wrapped his other arm across her chest, holding her tight against his body as he knelt behind her. “All those girls, Wyatt. Who knows what kind of horrors they’ve been living because of my cowardice. Those sweet innocent girls,” she sniffled. “Liam. I failed them all.”

“No, baby, no,” he whispered into her hair.

“Oh God, Wyatt. I can’t live with this anymore. What do I do?”

“We’ll fix it, baby. We’ll fix it together.”

“No, I can’t ask that of you. If I release the pictures, they’re going to know exactly who to come for. The woman standing next to him. She was a participant, a friend. She knows I’m a photographer. She’ll know it was me. What if?”

“Not going to happen,” he interjected. “They will not touch you. I’ll be by your side through it all. They won’t be able to get through me.”

She shot to her feet once more, breaking Wyatt’s hold on her. “No,” she shouted. “No, you can’t be anywhere near me. I won’t let you risk yourself for me. You have Bethany now. Think of her. She’s more important.”

Wyatt grabbed her by the shoulders. “You are just as important to me,” he barked. “I won’t just stand by and watch you go through this alone.”

“You have to,” she insisted. “I can’t lose someone else I care about. Oh God. Natalie. Bethany. I have to leave.” She tore herself out of his grip and dashed down the hall to her bedroom. Ripping open her closet door, she reached in for her suitcase, which she flung onto her bed before turning toward her dresser. Wyatt was there, blocking her progress.

“Sutton, stop,” he ordered, grabbing her shoulders again. “Stop and think, baby.”

She was shaking her head and trying to escape his grip, but his hold was firm. “Nothing is going to happen. Not to any of us. Nobody you care about will be hurt.”

“You can’t guarantee that,” she shouted.

“You’re right, I can’t. But that doesn’t mean we give up. You wanna help those girls, you need to stick around and let me help. And I can help.”

“How... how do you mean?”

“I have an idea. It might just keep us all safe. Especially you,” he soothed. “I can’t lose you either.”

Sutton saw the truth in his eyes. He may not be saying the words, but she could see the love. She drank it in as if parched. She hadn’t realized how much she’d needed this, needed him. She’d kept herself apart since losing Liam, afraid of losing someone else. But in doing so, she didn’t realize how she was withering inside, dying a slow, lonely death. With one look from Wyatt, she felt replete. His love saturating each and every desiccated part of her.

“Wyatt,” she whispered.

“I know.”

She fell into his arms, her nose buried in his neck as she breathed in his coffee and sandalwood scent. Her panic receded and her mind cleared as he held her. She could do this. She had to do this. And she had to let him help. Even as the fear of another man she cared about potentially being hurt because of her simmered in the background, she understood this was the only way. It was time for her to grab her big girl panties and get to work.

“You’re not alone anymore, baby.”

Gah, this man.Everything inside her melted. She tilted her head until her lips were pressed against his throat. He groaned and moved his hands lower on her back until they slipped under her shirt. She shivered as his fingers brushed over the skin of her lower back, and a gush of wetness soaked her panties.

She slid her lips up his throat, her tongue seizing little tastes along the way, drifting along his jawline until they reached his mouth. With a growl, he captured her lips, thrusting his tongue past their barrier to tangle with her own. A whimper of desire escaped as his hands moved higher, taking her shirt with them. He broke the kiss only long enough to rip the clothing item over her head. Before she could lose herself in his kiss again, she did the same to his shirt.

With his mouth on hers, he turned them and backed her toward the bed. Shoving the suitcase she’d forgotten about to the floor, he lowered her to the surface and followed her down, his beautifully hard body pressing her into the mattress.

“Shit, I gotta pick up Bethany soon, so I can’t take my time with you the way I want.”

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