Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
“Sweetheart,” I call out, unwilling to take my eyes off this guy for even a second but needing to know she’s okay.
“I’m here,” Autumn says, heels clicking as she steps closer. I feel her presence beside me like rays from the sun.
“Do me a favor, beautiful,” I ask as calmly as I can, trying to soothe her. “Take my phone out of my pocket and call Isaac for me.”
Autumn rushes to do as I ask, fumbling to grab my phone from my pants pocket and flicking to the emergency contacts to find Isaac’s number.
“Who’s Isaac?” She hits the dial and puts the call on speaker.
“A friend who just so happens to be one of the best cops in the city,” I answer, grinning at the guy under me who flails when he realizes he’s got no chance of escape. He can fight all he wants, but I’m not letting him go. He hurt my girl, and he has to pay.
Isaac and I have worked a few of the same scenes before—arson or housefires or crashes—and he’s a good guy. The call connects, and I bark out our location and a very brief explanation to him. With a tone similar to mine, all brusque professionalism and short words, he assures me he’ll be here as fast as he can and tells us not to move.
I badly want to pull Autumn against me and check how she is, make that shell-shocked look on her face fade into calm comfort. I want to touch every inch of her to wipe away this asshole’s fingerprints and replace them with mine.
I can’t do any of that, though, because I flat-out refuse to let said asshole escape.
Thank God Isaac meant it when he said he’d be here soon. Barely ten minutes later, two cop cars pull up, bathing us in blue lights. Beneath me, Autumn’s stalker struggles again, but it’s futile.
Isaac jumps out of the first car, backup following. One of the other officers takes Autumn to the side to collect her statement, while Isaac and his partner relieve me of the job of holding the dude down. Reluctantly, I stand up, only relaxing when Isaac slaps the cuffs on.
Once the attacker is secured in the back of the car, I give Isaac my statement before rushing over to Autumn’s side where she’s finishing up. She’s clearly shaken, a little shivery and breathing shallowly, but the color has returned to her cheeks. There’s a spark of justice in her eyes while we watch the cops pull away.
When the cars turn the corner, out of sight, she sags against me and I wrap her up in my arms. I hold her like that, swaying gently, for minutes until her breaths even out and she’s less jittery.
“You’re okay,” I repeat for what must be the millionth time. “You’re safe, sweetheart. He’s never going to hurt you or scare you again. He’ll never get close to you again.”
Autumn nods, pulling away to look up at me. “I’m so glad you were there,” she whispers, shaking her head. “I can’t imagine what would have happened if I was alone. I…”
The thought makes me wish I got a few more hits in before the guy was taken away. “Don’t think about that,” I say, more to me than her, smoothing her hair away from her face. “You know what will make you feel better?”
“A restraining order and prison sentence?” Autumn jokes, and I laugh, leaning down to kiss her on the nose. Damn, she’s so fucking strong, already joking and grinning despite what she’s been through.
“Not quite what I was thinking.”
“What were you thinking, then?” Autumn raises a brow.
I grin at her, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and tucking her close to me. “Ice cream.”
11
AIDAN
I stand in the doorway, my half-drunk cup of coffee warming my hands, staring down at the beautiful woman sprawled across my bed. The morning sunlight streaks in through the windows, and Autumn is as naked as I got her last night, the sheets rumpled and spread over her, framing her gorgeous body.
It’s been two weeks since the living nightmare of Autumn’s attack, and we haven’t spent a single night apart since. I don’t give a fuck if it’s too soon, there’s no way in hell I’m letting her go back to her apartment alone after what had happened. I refuse to ever take a chance on her safety again.
My buddies from the station helped us move her boxes out of her old place and into mine in the span of a couple of days. Still, there’s not enough storage space for all our combined things, and some of her stuff is still stuck in boxes. I hate that she doesn’t have all the space for her many plush pillows and knick-knacks—my girl should have as many shelves as she needs for whatever the hell she wants.