Page 4 of Slash
"Take control?" Slash supplied, and something in his tone made her look up sharply. His expression was unreadable, but there was an intensity there that made her breath catch.
She'd read enough romance novels to recognize that look. Had experimented enough at the BDSM club with Savannah to know what it meant when a man looked at a woman like that.
Like he could see straight through to the part of her that craved exactly what he was offering.
"The ride to Grand Ridge is four hours," Slash said, his voice dropping to a rumble that seemed to vibrate through her. "Long enough for you to start learning that some things are better left to people who know how to handle them."
Nicole's pulse kicked up, but not from fear this time. "And you know how to handle things?"
Slash's scarred mouth curved in something that might have been a smile. "Little girl, I know how to handle everything."
The endearment should have offended her. Should have made her bristle with independence and feminist outrage. Instead, it sent warmth flooding through her veins and made her knees weak.
God help her, but after a year of being strong for everyone, the idea of letting someone else take charge was more tempting than it should have been.
"Mommy, come on!" Kayleigh called. "I want to go on the adventure!"
"Coming, baby," Nicole called back, though she didn't move immediately.
Slash was still watching her with those storm-gray eyes, reading her in a way that should have been invasive but felt almost... caring. Like he could see how tired she was, how desperately she needed someone else to carry the weight for a while.
"Trust me," he said simply.
Two words. A promise or a command, Nicole couldn't tell which. Maybe both.
But as she settled into the front seat of Slash’s truck, Kayleigh squealing with delight in the seat behind them, Nicole found herself thinking that maybe, just maybe, she was ready to try.
The last thing she saw as they pulled out of the parking lot was her apartment building disappearing into the pre-dawn darkness. Behind them, the past. Ahead of them, Grand Ridge and whatever came next.
For the first time in a year, Nicole wasn't facing it alone.
CHAPTER 2
SLASH
Ethan "Slash" Kincaid had faced down Taliban fighters in the mountains of Afghanistan, survived IEDs that should have killed him, and earned his nickname because of the large scar he’d been given in battle. But having a four-year-old chattering excitedly behind him while driving was testing his composure in ways that combat never had.
"Are we there yet?" Kayleigh asked for the tenth time in the past hour.
"Getting closer, little one," he replied. His voice came out gentler than he'd intended, surprising himself. When was the last time he'd spoken to anyone with that kind of softness? Not since his sister's kids, maybe, and that had been years ago. Before the deployment that changed everything. Before the scar that made children cry and adults look away.
He glanced over at Nicole. She’d fallen asleep a few minutes ago and he didn't have the heart to wake her. Even in sleep, she didn't look peaceful. Her brow was furrowed, her hands clenched in her lap like she was ready to fight even in her dreams. He recognized that kind of exhausted vigilance—he'd seen it in the mirror plenty of times. He could tell she was a tough little thing. He'd noticed that right away. The way she'dstood between him and her daughter despite being terrified, the exhaustion in her brown eyes that spoke of someone who'd been fighting battles alone for too long. She reminded him of those Afghan women who'd learned to be steel when the world demanded it, but who still flinched when big men moved too quickly.
Someone had hurt her. Badly. And that someone was going to pay for it if Slash had anything to say about it.
The protective rage that thought sparked wasn't new. He'd always hated men who hurt women and children. It was one of the reasons he'd joined the military in the first place, that naive belief that he could protect the innocent. But this felt different, more personal. The idea of someone putting their hands on Nicole, making her flinch at shadows, made his knuckles ache with the need to break something. Preferably the face of whoever had done this to her.
"I’m so bored, this is not a fun adventure after all," Kayleigh announced with the brutal honesty of a preschooler.
"Almost there," Slash promised, taking the exit for Grand Ridge. “You can get out and stretch your muscles in just a couple minutes.” He caught her eyes in the rearview mirror, bright and curious despite everything. Kids were resilient like that. But he wondered what she'd seen, what she'd heard. No four-year-old should know what it was like to pack in the early morning hours before the sun even rose on the horizon and run. The familiar mountains came into view, and he felt some of the tension in his shoulders ease.
Home.
Where his brothers would help him figure out how to keep Nicole and her daughter safe.
Where he could figure out why the sight of Nicole's scared but determined face had hit him like a punch to the gut.
He'd been attracted to women before, hell, he was human. But this was different. From the moment she'd opened that door, something primal in him had roaredmineso loudly he'd barely been able to think straight.
