30. Knight

30

KNIGHT

I sat at the table long after the sun rose. Fox's words hit me hard, but I couldn't do it. I'd just gotten Kate back. I made a promise to myself and her when I came back that I would never again put Kate in danger. Or our kids.

Fox's story was compelling and I could see why he was fighting so hard to save Cash's brother, but I would not put my family on the line for anyone else ever again.

Soft hands spread over my shoulders, draping around my neck. I felt her soft hair tickle my chest as she leaned over and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

"What are you doing up so early?"

"We had a visitor."

"I figured by the second cup of coffee. I take it he didn't stay long."

"Why do you say that?"

"He didn't drink any of it."

I slid my hand over hers, pulling her closer to me. My eyes slid closed as I relished in the feel of her body pressed to mine. "Don't worry about it."

"I always worry about it. What did he want?"

"To help him with something."

I felt cold the instant she pulled away from me. As she walked around to the other chair and took a seat, I eyed her long legs sticking out from under her nightshirt. I got up and grabbed another cup, pouring her coffee.

"Thank you," she said, taking it from me. "So, what did he want help with?"

I shrugged, not wanting to get into it.

"Garrick—"

I looked up sharply at her. She hardly ever called me by that name. And when she did, it was either because she was terrified or she was trying to prove a point.

"Tell me what's going on."

There was no arguing with her. She had me—heart and soul. She owned every part of my body and mind. "He wants my help getting back Cash's brother and sister."

"They were taken?" she asked, setting down her mug.

"His sister was taken. Rafe went to retrieve her."

"Why do they need you?"

"They don't," I snapped.

"But Fox came here for you. That must mean it's a pretty dire situation."

I sighed, knowing she wouldn't relent. "There's no good way to get them back. I don't even know what he expects me to do."

"Well, maybe you could come up with an idea. Maybe you'll see something they wouldn't."

"Are you asking me to go?" I said, narrowing my eyes at her. "I told you, I won't put you in danger ever again."

"I'm protected here. Besides, this is what you do."

"You're asking me to leave? After everything that happened—after I almost—" I stopped myself, unable to voice the words. I wanted to die without her. She was my life source and I thought she was better off without me. But being alive without her just wasn't worth it.

"If it weren't for Hunter, where would you be right now?" she asked.

"Dead."

She blinked back the tears as she stared into her coffee. "Imagine if no one had come to save you. What do you think that would have done to me?"

"That was a different situation."

"And this isn't worth your time? This is Cash's brother. His sister! Look at what you went through to get me back. Why does his sister not deserve the same courtesy?"

"Because they're not my family!" I shouted, slamming my hand down on the table. "I would give anything, kill anyone to get you back. I would level the earth if it meant keeping you by my side, but I will not ever risk not having you in my life again or put my kids in danger."

She shook her head slowly. "You're hiding. You're so afraid of what might happen that you're giving up on yourself."

"I'm protecting what's mine."

"No, you're protecting your heart. And that's admirable, but it's no way to live. There's someone out there who's in trouble and needs your help. Are you really going to ignore that?"

"Are you asking me to?"

I waited for her to answer, already knowing what she would say. Despite all she had been through, Kate was too kindhearted to ever turn her back on someone in need. Even if it meant I would leave her.

"I'm asking you to do what you know is right."

"What's right is that I stay with you."

"What about when you killed those men?"

I dropped my gaze, knowing she was going to bring this up. "I thought you didn't want me to be an assassin anymore."

"I don't. I—She's just a woman who was taken from her home," Kate whispered. "What chance does she have? If Rafe can't get her back, what hope does she have?"

"Exactly."

Her eyes rose to meet mine. "I've seen what you're capable of, Garrick. You fight for the greater good. It's one of the reasons I fell in love with you."

"It's also one of the reasons you almost died."

"But you saved me," she choked out. "As I knew you always would. I know I'm asking a lot?—"

"You're asking for everything," I cut in. "You're asking me to walk away from you."

"I'm asking you to save that woman's life," she corrected.

"She's just one woman in a whole slew of women who are taken every day."

"And if you take this guy down, maybe ten more women will be saved!"

I could see I wasn't going to win this battle with her. She had been taken, and therefore, she couldn't stand to even think about the atrocities that occurred every day. I knew what was happening out there. I just wasn't willing to put my family on the line for them. I loved them too much. It was a dark and lonely path I went down to get her back. And even worse after I found her.

I could still feel the weight of my decisions pressing down on me, suffocating me until some nights I felt like I would die. It was a struggle to feel worthy of her when she was so good and pure. I was stained—bloodied by the lives I had taken. I wasn't sure I would ever be able to look past what I had nearly done to us.

"Kate…don't ask me to leave you. I don't think—" My throat closed up as emotion overcame me. All it took was thinking of that video—the one where she was shot right in front of me—and I was back in that dark hole, struggling to find the light in my life with her gone. There was only revenge. Not even my kids could save me.

She was in front of me a second later, down on her knees with tears in her eyes. The constant stabbing pain in my chest when I saw her cry only intensified as those dreaded words left her mouth. "Please, do this for me. Save that woman the way Hunter saved you."

"He didn't save me," I admitted, brushing a tear from her face. I hated when she cried. "You…you are the only person in my life who could ever?—"

She pressed her hand to my cheek, then slowly slid her lips over mine. I knew I would go right then and there. I would do anything for this woman. She broke me with her kindness, with her pure heart and willingness to overlook so many of my flaws.

"I'll go."

She nodded, her tears mingling with our kisses. She climbed onto my lap, straddling my thighs as she slid her hand into my pajama bottoms. If there was ever a time I wouldn't want to make love, it would be now. But even as the threat of leaving her loomed, I grew hard the moment she wrapped her hand around my cock.

I sucked in a harsh breath as she stroked me. Sliding my hands up the sides of her thighs, I slowly lifted the hem of her shirt, taking it over her head and tossing it on the ground. Her nipples hardened in front of me, begging me to suck them.

"Garrick," she breathed as she waited for me to take her in my mouth.

The first taste was never enough. I worshiped her body, licking each nipple and sucking it gently in my mouth. Her chest heaved as she rocked her body against mine. I couldn't take the teasing. I needed to be inside her.

"Baby—"

Her hands worked my pants down my thighs as I lifted my ass for her. She took my cock in hand, lifting her body and angling me toward her. She stopped short, staring at me as she slowly sank down on me. There was nothing like the feeling of her body taking me.

My arms wrapped around her back, pulling her in closer. I latched onto her breast as she rocked her body against mine. Her breathy moans filled the air, almost making it impossible to hold back and love her the way she deserved. Soon, the slow, intimate lovemaking was no longer enough. I needed her, needed her to know what she was doing to me.

I needed her to understand what she was asking of me.

I gripped her hips, picking her up and laying her out on the table. The surprise on her face registered instantly, but she quickly wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me in closer.

"Don't hate me."

"I could never hate you," I hissed, sliding deeper inside her. "I love you more than anything in this life, Kate. That will never change."

Her hands gripped my face and she forced me to look at her. "Promise me you'll come home."

I gritted my teeth, hating she was asking so much of me. The promises were piling up, but this one—this one was a promise I would always fulfill.

"Nothing could ever keep me from you." I took her lips with mine, making love to her hard and slow. With her legs wrapped around my waist and my arms holding her to me, there was nothing between us but sweat and love. It was the only way I made love to her. I never pulled away, never put any distance between us. She was mine, and she would know that every fucking time I was inside her.

I pressed a soft kiss to her lips and stared into her eyes. "I will always come home to you, Kate."