Loving On the Edge 5-Book Collection: Crash Into You, Melt Into You, Fall Into You, Caught Up In You, Need You Tonight. Roni Loren

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СКАЧАТЬ choked sound that could’ve been an attempt at a laugh escaped him, causing him to wince. “Look forward to it.”

      He went quiet and anxiety clawed at her as his breath turned shallower, but she couldn’t let Reid sense her fear. She channeled every ounce of her remaining strength into her voice. “You stay with me, Reid. I don’t care how bad it hurts. You’re not allowed to go to sleep. You understand?”

      His lips quivered into a hint of a smile. “I’ll try.”

      “Trying isn’t good enough,” she said, keeping her tone firm. His commands had always cleared her mind, sharpened her focus, and she hoped to God it would work the same way for him right now. “I’m done losing the people I care about. You don’t have permission to leave.”

      His mouth curved into a full grin, even as his skin took on a sickly shade of gray. “Yes, ma’am.”

      But right as the paramedics thundered down the stairs, the grip of his hand on top of hers went slack and the smile faded from his face.

TWENTY-THREE

       now

      Brynn shifted in the hospital’s vinyl-covered chair, pulling her knees to her chest and setting her chin on them. The change in position relieved some of the pressure on the healing welts striping her back, but irritated the ones on her front side. No matter. She’d survive.

      The monitors at the nurses’ station continued their steady beat, lulling her into a near catatonic state. She hadn’t slept in days. Couldn’t. Reid’s surgery had gone well even though he’d lost a lot of blood, and the doctor had said he should make a full recovery. But watching Reid lie in bed for two days—only waking up for brief, drug-induced moments—had her on edge. She needed to hear from the man himself that he was okay.

      She closed her eyes, the insides of her lids feeling like steel wool scraping against them. The scene in the basement kept playing over and over in her mind. All the things she could’ve done differently. How if she had just stayed and talked to Reid instead of running away to the party, everything could’ve been avoided.

      Running. Always running. It’s what she did best.

      “Ma’am.” The nurse’s hand on her shoulder made Brynn jump. The older woman smiled down at her. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

      Brynn dropped her feet to the floor and shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Just waiting for visiting hours to start.”

      She nodded at the door. “You’re all set. Doctor just finished with him. You can go in now.”

      Wiping the bleariness from her eyes, she stood and thanked the woman, then moved past her and through Reid’s door. She had expected to see the same scene from the previous two days—darkened room, beeping machines, and a pale, sleeping Reid.

      But instead, she was greeted with a lopsided grin and a gravelly voice. “Hey, sugar.”

      Her heavy heart buoyed in her chest. “You’re awake!”

      “So it seems.” He shifted higher on the angled bed, wincing

      a bit. “How come every time you get near a weapon I end up in pain?”

      Awake and sarcastic. She wanted to drop to her knees and thank the heavens. “’Cause you’re always standing too close to the bad guy.”

      He nodded, some of the humor leaving his face. “So are you.”

      She headed toward the visitor’s chair, but he patted the side of the bed instead. She sat on the edge near his feet, trying her best not to jostle him any. “How do you feel?”

      He shrugged with his good shoulder. “Like I’ve been shot.”

      “Right. Stupid question.”

      The corner of his mouth tipped up. “I’m okay, I think. Doc said the bullet missed all the important stuff.”

      “That’s good.” She wondered if the doctor had told him how close to hitting his heart it had been. Her breath left her thinking about the scant inches, the sliver of a miracle that had saved him.

      Concerned eyes scanned her head to waist. “And you? Are you… okay?”

      She nodded. “The welts are healing.”

      He stared at her, as if trying to find the answer to his next question on her face. “Did he—?”

      “No,” she said, cutting him off before he could say the words. “He was going to, after he finished the beating, but you got there before he had the chance.”

      He closed his eyes briefly. “Thank God.”

      She grabbed his right hand and squeezed. “Thank you. You didn’t just save me from that, you saved my life.”

      His Adam’s apple bobbed. “The nurse said Jace is all right?”

      “Jace’s fine. Davis knocked him out, but he only had a con­cussion.”

      “And Kelsey?”

      She looked down at her hands and sighed. “The police intercepted Roslyn and got Kelsey to safety, but she’s been through a lot. Davis posed as the dom who was supposed to be training her and brought her to his cabin.”

      “Oh, no.”

      “Yeah, The Ranch assumed Kels was a no-show, but Davis had her on-site for three days—fooled her into his bed. She figured out he was lying when he started asking questions about the evidence. When she tried to escape, he hauled her off to stay with Roslyn at the lake house and came back to pursue me for the information instead.”

      “Jesus, is she going to be okay?”

      She twisted the ring on her right hand over and over. “Kelsey’s tough. Right now she says she’s fine. She’s even willing to cooperate with the police on both this case and the one with the dealer. But I think when she slows down, all this is going to hit her pretty hard.”

      “And what about you?” he asked quietly.

      “I’m just glad to be alive at this point.”

      Reid released a long breath. “I thought I’d be too late again—that I’d lost you for good.”

      She fought against the lump forming in her throat. She’d thought she’d lost him forever, too. The moment the second gun had gone off had been one of the worst of her life. “Nope. You still have to put up with me every day at work.”

      His fingers laced with hers. “What if I want to put up with you for more than that?”

      She stared at their locked hands, the simple connection both warming her and bringing sadness all at once. Her mouth twitched. “You’re pumped full of pain meds and not thinking straight.”

      “No, I’m serious,” he said, СКАЧАТЬ