34. Maddox

I watched Ryan’s lithe form as she moved around her bedroom, folding and shoving clothes into her suitcase. Her long hair brushed across her bare shoulders. My eyes dropped, following the curve of her waist and traveling down her toned ass before lazily taking in the smooth skin that covered her long legs.

My phone buzzed with a text, and I reluctantly tore my eyes away from the most enticing show I’d ever seen.

Connor: Meet me at your place. We need to talk

Sighing heavily, I pushed off the bed, shoving my phone in my pocket. I crossed the room to Ryan, leaning down and capturing her lips in a quick but heated kiss. As much as my dick was perpetually hard around her and I could spend every fucking second buried inside her, sometimes real life called. “I’m running next door to talk to Connor. Bring Quinn and come over when you’re done, and we’ll head to the airstrip.”

She nodded, smiling against my lips. I was having a real fucking hard time making my body move away from her. “We won’t be long,” she promised, her voice somewhere between a purr and a whisper that shot straight to my cock. No one had ever affected me the way Ryan did.

Pulling back, I let my eyes drift over her one more time before turning and leaving the room. I wasn’t sure when it happened, but I didn’t like to be away from her even for short periods of time. When she wasn’t with me, life was colder, less expressive, more empty. I hated it.

I’d never been dependent on anybody, but Ryan made me reliant on her happiness and warmth. She was sexy and confident and fun in a combination unique to her, one I wanted to get completely fucking lost in. But for now, I had shit to do, so I had to rip myself away.

It didn’t take me long to walk through the front door of my house, Connor was already comfortable on my couch sitting across from Sebastian and Griffin. I lifted my chin in greeting before flopping down onto an empty spot on the plush sofa.

“What’s up?” I asked, leaning back into the cushion and resting my arm across the back of the couch.

“We have an update on Yates,” Connor announced, nodding at Sebastian, who leaned forward and clasped his hands together, resting his elbows on his knees like he had a secret he wanted to confide.

“He had his bail hearing this morning, and the judge granted him home detention, but his parents refused to let him come home after what he did. So, essentially he’s stuck in jail until the trial,” Sebastian explained, and a slow smile stretched across my face.

“Serves the asshole right. He tried to use Ryan as a goddamn hostage. He deserves to rot in jail for fucking ever for what he did,” I fumed, the firey licks of anger kicking up in my veins.

“I’ve gotta admit, watching her kick his ass was the highlight of my year so far,” Connor noted, a huge grin taking over his face.

“Same,” agreed Griffin, leaning over to pat me on the back. “Your girlfriend is hot as fuck, bro.”

“Stay the fuck away,” I growled, and he laughed, holding up his hands in surrender.

“I’d never touch her. Bro code and all that. Just saying,” Griffin backtracked, and I glared at him, daring him to even try. The thought of Ryan kneeing him in the balls loosened the intensity of my anger, and I almost laughed. Because if he tried to make a move on her, there was no doubt that’s what she would do.

“If you two are done, I want to talk to you about something else.” Connor shifted, so he was directly facing me, his observant eyes boring into mine. I’d known him long enough to know he was watching for my reaction to whatever he was about to say, which put me on guard.

My shoulders tensed, and I sat up straighter. “What?”

“I know Ryan wanted to become a cop, but I want her on my team,” Connor started, studying my face as he let the words fall slowly from his lips as if he was afraid I’d lose my shit on him for suggesting my girlfriend go work for him.

“Huh.” I turned his words over in my mind, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I didn’t know if it was what Ryan wanted, but I thought she could fit in well with the guys. “Are you sure?”

Connor’s eyebrows shot up. “Am I sure that I want someone on my team who has the balls to take down a grown-ass man? Who isn’t afraid to work hard? Who’s completely loyal to the people she loves and trusts to the point she’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep them safe?” he scoffed. “Yeah, I’m pretty fucking sure.”

I sighed, rubbing my rough stubbled cheek with my palm. My eyes flicked over to Sebastian. “And, your guys are fine with a girl joining the team?”

“Don’t look at me, man. She could kick my ass, and she’s not stepping on my toes. I’m happy to have her join up if it’s what she wants. If Connor trusts her, I trust her. I know the other guys feel the same.” Sebastian’s eyes shone back at me with his truth, and I knew he meant what he said.

Turning my attention back to Connor, I was struck by how much everyone around him trusted his instincts. He was so careful who he gave his trust to that when he deemed someone trustworthy, we all followed. He was a powerful and formidable ally to have, and I’d never been more glad to call him my friend.

“The question isn’t are the guys okay, which they are. The question is, are you okay with her doing this? Because she’s going to be in danger. If she’s on my team, I’ll protect her as much as I can, but she’ll be the one sticking her neck out and protecting the people we work for. I need you to understand that,” Connor pointed out.

“Look, I know she’ll be in danger. But I trust that she can handle it. She wanted to be a cop. At least this way, I know you’ll do everything you can to make situations as safe for her as possible. And I know you won’t send her into anything until she’s trained and up to your standards. I’m not the type of guy who’s going to hold her back from doing what she loves. She doesn’t need my permission. But if something happens to her, I reserve the right to kill you.” I leveled him with my hardened, unblinking stare making sure he got my fucking point.

“Noted,” he agreed, an almost smile tilting his lips up.

The front door swung open, and Ryan and Quinn shoved through the entryway. The bags and suitcases draped all over them and hung from their arms making it hard for them to move through the narrow opening. Quinn cursed and dropped all his bags at once with a loud thud. Ryan looked at him appreciatively before doing the same thing with a loud sigh. “Good thinking, Quinny.”

She glanced around the room at all of us as Quinn moved into the kitchen and pulled a beer out of my refrigerator. “What’s going on in here?” she asked.

“We were actually just talking about you, Freckles,” I told her, pulling her down into my lap. She shifted as I wrapped my arms around her waist, resting one on her hip. Her ass pushed right against my dick, and I groaned at the feel of her.

She flashed me a knowing smile. “Oh? What about?”

“Connor thinks you’re a badass and wants you for his team,” Griffin stole Connor’s thunder, and the big guy shot him a harsh glare. Griffin just grinned, looking smug as fuck, and I chuckled.

Connor turned to her. “The little asshole’s right. I think you’d fit in with my team, and you’ve already got skills and haven’t even had much training.”

She bit her lip, looking a little lost in thought. I rubbed my fingers along her hip, watching as she shivered beneath my touch. I fucking loved that she did that. “What would I be doing?” she finally asked.

“We’d evaluate your skills, but if I had to say right now, probably guarding like I do.” Connor leaned back, crossing his ankle over his knee and watching Ryan intently.

“And how’s that different from being a cop?” She was absently running her fingers through the short hairs at the back of my neck and driving me fucking insane. Shivers wracked my body under her light touch.

“The training would be similar but in more areas and more one-on-one so it’ll be really fucking intense. Then you’ll get assigned someone to guard. It’ll probably be someone from the band because we all feel more comfortable with people we trust on both sides. But if something comes up like this Yates situation, you might get pulled off of your detail and be asked to apply your skills to whatever problem or case we’re working on,” he told her as she nodded along.

“I like that.” She looked down at me. “And you’re okay with me doing this?”

“If it’s what you want to do, Freckles, I’m more than okay. I think you should do it,” I confirmed, loving how her eyes lit up and sparkled as she considered her new future.

“I want to do it. Yes, I’m in! I’m in.” She was practically bouncing in my lap, and I was cursing the audience we had right now, so I couldn’t take advantage of the hard-on I was sporting.

She jumped off of me and strode across the room, hauling her bag up onto her shoulder while four sets of eyes watched her with curiosity, and I tried to figure out how long it would take me to rip her clothes off. “What are you doing, Freckles?”

“Aren’t we going? What’s the holdup?” She lifted one of Quinn’s bags and dragged it across the room, flinging it at him. He caught it with a wince as it narrowly missed his junk.

Chuckling, I stood up. “You heard the lady. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

It didn’t take us long to gather everything, lock up, and go. I said my goodbyes to Joel, who promised to keep me up to date on finding staff and combining the ranch operations. I was sure that with my someday in-laws living next door, we’d be back to see how things were going for ourselves pretty often.

The drive to the airstrip went quickly with Ryan pushed up against me in the back seat. I could get lost in her anytime and anywhere. She was everything to me, and despite what we went through with Yates, we came out the other side better than I ever could have imagined.

“What are you thinking?” she whispered, her body relaxed against mine with her head resting on my shoulder.

I pressed a kiss to her temple, brushing back the soft strands of her hair. Running my fingers through the dark waves had become one of my favorite things to do. “About how much I love you, how glad I am that I came back and everything turned out the way it did.”

“Who knew you had this sweet, sentimental side to you?” she teased with a soft laugh.

“What can I say? You make me fucking weak, Freckles. In the best possible way.” Turned out, I did have a heart buried under all of my cynicism and anger. I just needed the right girl to make it beat again.

She turned her head, facing me, so our eyes connected. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I’ve always loved you. Thank you for coming back for me, even if it took you a lot longer than I ever expected.”

I captured her lips with mine but didn’t get carried away. “I hope you like having me around because I’m not leaving again.”

“If you do, I’ll kill you,” she said sweetly, her eyes drifting closed as she settled in for the rest of the drive. I believed her. If anyone could plot my death and carry it out, it’d be Ryan. As fucked up as it sounded, that was one of many reasons I loved her.

“I know.”

I stared out the window as the ground shrunk below the powerful engines hurtling us into the air. When I first came back to Texas, I carried a heavy weight on my shoulders of guilt, anger, anguish, and regret. But I was free of that now.

The gorgeous woman sitting next to me helped release me. She smiled and squeezed my hand as I lifted it to my lips, pressing a kiss to her wrist before pulling our joined hands into my lap. I knew we’d be back here, to the place we met and grew up. The place our families still lived. But it wouldn’t be home.

As the plane lifted into the clouds, the past fell away. It would always be a part of me, a part of us. But now we could look to the future, a future that held so much promise. Ryan and I had our whole lives ahead of us. And I was so fucking proud of her. When she joined Connor’s team, she’d be fulfilling a long-held desire to make a difference in people’s lives. I didn’t think anything could make me happier than bringing her joy and experiencing life through her eyes.

Glancing around at the plane full of the people closest to us, complete contentment settled inside me, and for the first time in my life, my soul was peaceful. In only a matter of hours, our new life together would begin, and I couldn’t fucking wait.