Page 149 of Stormswept Colorado

I wasn’t sure I could ever forgive myself for trusting Finn Mackie. Not seeing what was actually in front of me. But he’d managed to do an excellent job of hiding his true self, and I was far from the only person he’d fooled.

One of the brief times I’d been away from Ayla was to give my condolences to Seth Duncan’s brother, who arrived the day before yesterday to collect Seth’s remains. His brother would hold a funeral and lay Seth to rest in their hometown in the Midwest.

I wished I had gotten to know Seth better. Ayla felt guiltyabout his death, though she didn’t bear any of the blame, and she had spoken over the phone to Seth’s brother as well. She’d made a large donation to a charity for law-enforcement veterans in Seth’s honor.

Ayla also had a brief conversation with Paul Ruxton’s father, the owner of her record label. Of course, that subject was more complicated. I hadn’t wanted her to talk to Ruxton at all, but Ayla had insisted.

When she’d told the official interviewers about her ordeal, she’d been stoic. But alone in my bedroom, she’d given me more details of how it had felt. How afraid she’d been when Jarod locked her in that basement.

And when she’d realized what he wanted from her.You and I belong together.

If I could’ve gone back and killed Jarod again, I’d do it. Unlike Ayla, I didn’t have it in me to be merciful toward the man.

But I was awed by her bravery. She’d gotten away from him. Bought enough time for me and my reinforcements to show up. If Ayla had still been down in that basement, we would’ve had a hostage standoff, and she likely would not have made it out alive.

Fuck. I couldn’t breathe around the mass of anger and regret in my chest and throat. My thoughts were going around in circles.

“Teller?” Ayla murmured. “You alright?” She rubbed my sternum.

I blinked, smiling down at her. “Yes. I’m here with you. I love you.”

“Love you too.” She inched up my body to kiss me.

We were making it through this, together, one moment at a time.

Of course, outside my bedroom, the world had continued to turn. And the future, the big unknown of how we would make this relationship work, kept speeding toward us.

There’d been a lot of more urgent logistics to deal with. Several of the officers in my department, including myself, had been involved in the shooting. Which meant a CIRT investigation.Sheriff Douglas had been involved too. It was a bit of a mess, and we had state authorities crawling all over the place to help untangle it.

Thank goodness Susan Nichols had stayed back at the station. That had been foresight on my part. I’d named her acting chief in my absence.

And you know, Chief Nichols had a pretty nice ring to it.

Since I’d brought Ayla back to my place, the O’Neals had been a constant presence. Emma, Ashford, and Maisie had shown Ayla so much love. Callum had brought guacamole and cracked jokes, while Grace and Dane had brought food from the ski resort’s elegant restaurant. Piper and Ollie had come to see us too. They were doing well after the break-in, back home after some repairs to their house.

I’d been conscious about tiring Ayla out with visitors. Maybe I’d been a touch overprotective. I know,me? Ha. But having our family and friends around had been making a difference.

Ayla’s friends from LA had called a lot too, and Hayleigh had sent a massive box of gourmet chocolates that Maisie and Ollie had loved sampling.

One step at a time.

In my bed that third morning, we kept kissing. “Want you,” she whispered.

“Then you’ll have me.”

My hands wandered beneath the T-shirt Ayla had worn to sleep in, dipping between her legs and finding her wet. We’d actually been having a lot of sex in the past three days. As if getting as close as possible physically could speed along the healing, and it certainly wasn’t doing any harm.

I pushed down my pajama pants and kicked them off. My erection sprang up, thick and eager. Spooning her from behind, I slid my cock inside her, rocking our bodies gently together in a slow, sensual rhythm.

After our mutual orgasms, we managed to get out of bed.Lingered in the shower for more kisses and caresses. After we got out and dressed, Ayla went out to the living room.

I heard her gasp. “Teller!”

I rushed out to follow her. And found her grinning ear to ear.

“It’s snowing. It’s so beautiful.”

A late spring snowstorm. “It is.” I circled my arms around her and pecked her cheek.

---