Boone nodded. “The case has been sent to Internal Investigations, but with my report, they said they’d likely not be in touch again.”
“Not surprising. We’ve got enough victims to make this case simple,” Hank said, then he gave him a soft smile. “I heard from the hospital a bit ago that all our officers pulled through after surgery and are recovering.”
“Damn good news,” Boone said with a long sigh, slinging his arm around Peyton.
Hank nodded, then moved to Kinsley on the couch and nudged her legs. “Come on, kiddo, let’s go home.” She didn’t move an inch, so he took the blanket off her shoulders and rested it on the couch.
Kinsley barely opened her eyes, but rose enough to give Peyton a wave, kiss Boone on the cheek, and then walk out the front door. Hank gave them both a smile and shut the door behind him.
Boone drew in a long, deep breath and faced Peyton again. She watched him a moment and saw that beneath his tough exterior he looked tired. Maybe even emotional too. And all she wanted to do was make him feel better. This man who, regardless that he thought it was his job, took a life today all to protect her.
Before she could say as much, he brushed his knuckles across her cheek. “Rhett and Asher are searching the bastard’s hotel room now.”
She felt the slight tremble in her arms, the emotion rising to her throat. “For why he came after me?”
He nodded. “There are still some holes that don’t make sense. I can’t put this to bed without having a reason why he targeted you.” Her heart skipped a beat, the room spinning a little at the idea that this might not be over yet, when he gathered her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. “We’ll find out anything there is to find out.”
She kept staring at him. “Are you okay, though?”
He leveled her with his intense eyes. “Tonight, it was me or him walking away from that forest. That man sealed his own fate. He made a choice to attack you and then me. He made a choice to not to drop his weapon. He gave me no other choice than to pull the trigger.” Boone tightened his arms around her, bringing her in closer, resting his chin on her head. “He tried to kill you, Peyton. There’s no forgiveness in that, but I didn’t take the shot because I wanted to kill him for coming after you, I took that shot because I wanted to live to come back to you.”
Tears welled and spilled out beneath her closed eyes. “I wanted you to come back to me too.” She placed her cheek against his chest, embracing his warmth, now understanding that he compartmentalized like she did as a nurse. This wasn’t personal. Boone wouldn’t have taken that man’s life out of revenge or because he tried to hurt her. He fired that trigger only because it was his job to do so. Which, admittedly, made her guilt about how he must feel taking a life lessen some.
Boone pressed his lips against her forehead. “You were all I thought about tonight,” he murmured.
She leaned away and glanced at him. “You’re all I’m thinking about now.” He dipped his chin, his emotion-packed gaze on her. “You have stitches.” She reached up, touching near the spot.
“I’m fine.” He leaned in, bringing his mouth closer to her. “It’s you that I’m worried about.”
She knew what he saw. Her bruises. Hell, even she felt the rawness of her body, including the angry marks that had been left by her attacker on her neck. “Well, I’m worried about you, so that makes us even.”
Boone’s haunted eyes filled her vision as he gently stroked the bruise along her neck. She rose up on her tiptoes, driven by something so intense she couldn’t understand it. A pull that she no longer planned to fight. Because Boone had been there, patient, calmly letting her trust him, and she knew one thing for certain now. He deserved to be loved, and loved hard. And she planned on making sure he knew that. She pressed her lips to his and said against them, “Kiss me, Boone, and don’t stop until we both feel better.”
Emotion flashed hot in his eyes for only a moment before he returned the kiss, dosing her with his usual heat. And soon the kiss turned desperate, needy in ways that she allowed to overwhelm her.
When he finally broke away, he gathered her in his arms, carrying her to the bedroom. There, he watched her closely, carefully, while he gently took off her clothing until he had her bare. Then, in the same way, he removed his clothing, never taking his eyes off her, and she felt bared to him fully and completely, wanting him to see all of her.
She let her gaze follow every curve and dip of his gorgeous muscular body, moving lower until she found him hard and ready, and she felt the desperation slide through her too. This was more than heat; this was the effects of fear, and the realization of truths that maybe would never have been realized without the events that unfolded tonight.
Some things you wanted. Some things you needed. Boone definitely fell into the latter category. And now that Peyton fully opened that door, there was no going back anymore.
“Come here,” he murmured, sliding his hands onto her hips and moving her in front of him. She shivered as he slid her hair over her shoulder. He studied her intently, stopping at every bruise, every mark, like he intended to see each one and remember them.
Once he’d done a full sweep, he pressed his mouth against the bruise on her cheek. “I don’t like these marks.” Goose bumps prickled her skin as he continued down her body, his lips brushing against every mark, until he had kissed every single one of the bruises. “Your body should never have these marks.” Again, he kissed them all, until the heat he brought replaced the slight ache they held. “You understand what I’m saying, Peyton?”
She slowly opened her eyes and found his heated gaze staring back at her. “You’re going to make sure no one ever hurts me again.”
“That’s right,” he said fiercely. “Never again.”
Her heart opened and rejoiced at the boundary they crossed when she cupped his face. He sealed his mouth across hers, kissing her deeply, perfectly, in all the ways she needed. Each swipe of his tongue brought her deeper into his hold. Every move he made connected them soul deep. And when she pressed herself against him, needing more, he groaned against her mouth.
Only then did he break away and lay her out on the mattress. Instead of sliding on top of her, he settled his shoulders between her thighs. Then came his tongue, and she gripped the bedsheets beneath her, lifting her pelvis into the pleasure. He reached for her hips then, pinning her to the mattress, and everything faded away with each slow lick and twirl of his tongue. Coiled, and overwhelmed, she broke apart against his mouth, until he began kissing his way back up her body to reach her lips.
He smelled of her, him, and something even better, them, as his tongue swirled with hers, slowly bringing heat back into all the places he’d satisfied. When he had her moaning again, he grabbed a condom from his bedside dresser and sheathed himself. He gently widened her thighs with his legs as he closed his chest to hers. “I’ve never been as terrified as I was tonight,” he said against her mouth.
She cupped his face. “Me too.”
“I thought I was going to lose you.” He brushed his lips over hers, the tip of his cock teasing her clit.