Kele Moon - Crossing the line

“You cannot tell Wyatt,” Clay repeated as if he hadn’t heard a word she said. “No one can.”

“And what’s gonna happen to Tabitha?” Melody raised her eyebrows pointedly. “Y’all are just gonna go on hating her and thinking—”

“I’m gonna fix things with Tabitha,” Clay said solemnly. “I ain’t really sure how, but I’m gonna try. You’re yelling at me like you’re the only one in her corner, but you ain’t. I don’t want her to hurt any more than you do.”

Melody paused, because that made her feel moderately better. She of all people knew Clay was a good man to have in her corner. She wiped at her eyes again and asked, “H-how are you gonna make things better?”

“I have no idea.” Clay walked over to her and fell down to his knees on the couch. He hugged Melody before he leaned down and buried his face in her long hair. “I promise, Mel. I’ll make sure she knows I’m not mad at her.”

“She’ll know I told you.”

“Then, oh well.” Clay sighed. “But you’re right. It’s not fair to her. I can hardly breathe with how unfair it is, and I hate that I was part of it. We’ll fix it.”

Melody wrapped her arms him and whispered, “Okay.”

The talk with Melody helped.

Tabitha was feeling almost human again instead of a shaky, nervous wreck who saw Vaughn’s face every time she closed her eyes. She made Wyatt dinner despite not being hungry herself because she enjoyed the task. It always brought her comfort. It reminded her of those lost days of her youth when having food in the fridge meant everything was going to be okay—until it wasn’t.

“Hey, pretty girl,” Wyatt said when he walked into the kitchen. He leaned over, giving her a kiss, and looked at the stove, where she had beef stroganoff in one pot, pasta in the other, and broccoli in the third. “You feeding an army?”

Tabitha grinned. “Just about. You eat more than any fella I ever met.”

“Yeah, you should see Clay put away food sometime.” Wyatt laughed. “Or Jules’s brother-in-law. Jesus, that boy is always eating.”

Tabitha turned back to the stove and tried to keep her voice even as she asked, “How’s Jules?”

“Bat shit over being stuck on bed rest.”

Tabitha giggled. “I reckon that’d make anyone stir crazy. How much longer?”

“Five days.” Wyatt wrapped his arms around her. “Can’t come fast enough far as I’m concerned.”

“Then you’ll be an uncle.”

“Yup.” A smile sounded in Wyatt’s voice. “You gonna come to the hospital with us?”

“Nah.” Tabitha shook her head. “I don’t wanna ruin y’all’s special day.”

“You never ruin my day,” Wyatt argued, sounding earnest. “You make my days better. I love you, Tabby. I want you there with me.”

“We’ll see what happens.” Tabitha gestured to the cabinet. “Get the plates.”

He got the plates, and Tabitha took time to make sure the food was presented nicely, which made Wyatt laugh. She even bought parsley for garnish.

“You ain’t eating that much?” Wyatt frowned at her across the table.

“I had dinner at Terry’s.” Tabitha lifted her head and smiled. “I just didn’t think you ought to be eating alone.”

“Yeah, eating alone is never fun,” Wyatt agreed.

Dinner was nice. Tabitha really was feeling much better, and she made a mental note to buy Melody a thank-you gift. It was sweet of her to drop everything and come over to talk.

Even if Clay was mad at her, Tabitha was still so incredibly pleased he’d found such a nice woman to be with. She had always wanted that for him. Something perfect and magical like Tabitha and Wyatt had once had.

They still had it—if she could just keep herself together.

When Tabitha got into the shower, Wyatt came in after a few minutes. Already naked, he pulled back the curtain and looked at her. “Mind if I join you?”

“Don’t mind at all.” Tabitha stepped out of the spray to make room.

She watched him tilt his head back, wetting his hair. It was a very nice sight as she admired his body and the way the water ran over his chest and down the deep lines of his abdominal muscles.

“What’re you looking at?” Wyatt raised his eyebrows and pushed his hair away from his forehead.

Tabitha grinned. “I’m looking at a very fine piece of sheriff.”

Wyatt laughed and reached out to her. He pulled her close, and Tabitha gladly melded into his strong, hard body and tilted her head up. Wyatt caught the invitation and leaned down to kiss her. She parted her lips to him, willing away the last of her stress. This was Wyatt. She was safe. Like food in the fridge, being near Wyatt made her feel like everything would be okay—until it wasn’t.

When he turned her around and pressed her against the shower wall, Tabitha wanted it to be okay—desperately—but she stiffened instead.

“I don’t want to do it like this,” she whispered as she fisted her hands to hide the shake in them. She turned around in his arms and studied his face. “I need to look at you when we do it, okay?”

“Yeah, sure. However you like it, I do too.” Wyatt frowned at her concern. “We don’t have to do it at all. If you’re still feeling ill, we can—”

“No, I want to,” she whispered, because they hadn’t done it since she’d seen Vaughn, and she didn’t want that asshole to take this from her too. She couldn’t feign headaches forever. “I just need to look at you. When I look at you, it’s okay.”

“Is there a reason it wouldn’t be okay?” Wyatt pulled her closer again. “You’ve been jumpy all week. Is there something you need to talk to me ’bout?”

“No,” she said a little too quickly. “I just like looking at you.”

“Come on, Tab.” Wyatt leaned down and placed a kiss against her forehead. “I think we ought to skip it tonight. I can’t do it when I know you’re not into it.”

“But I know it’s not fair to you, and—”

“Darlin’,” Wyatt started with a mirthless laugh. “I was alone for thirteen years. If I survived that long, a few days surely ain’t gonna hurt me. Let’s get clean and go to sleep. Tomorrow’s a new day, right?”

Tabitha nodded, still feeling distant. “Right.”

“Jules and Tino got into an ice-cream fight. I think I’m still sticky from it, and I washed up twice at her place.” Wyatt turned around and grabbed the soap. “I swear that bed rest has pushed her round the bend. Can you imagine what having twins is gonna do to her? She thinks she’s stressed out now. Jesus, she must’ve forgotten what pains in the ass we were as kids, and I can only imagine what we were like as toddlers.”

Tabitha giggled at the thought of Wyatt and Jules as toddlers. “Your poor father.”

“That ain’t a lie.” Wyatt laughed with her.

By the time they got out of the shower, Tabitha was feeling so much lighter. Wyatt had that way about him. It was one of the things she’d missed most profoundly during their long separation. That easy charm that smoothed over even the most agonizing hurts.

Needing it desperately, just to prove to herself that Vaughn hadn’t taken it from her by showing up in that hardware store, Tabitha crawled over Wyatt. He was lying over the sheets, a towel still wrapped around his waist, and anyone with eyes would want to take advantage of what a beautiful image he presented.

“Let’s do it like this.” Tabitha pulled off her towel and tossed it aside. “Does that work?”

Wyatt shifted under her and laced his hands behind his head as his hot gaze ran over her naked body. “Works for me. I like looking at you too.”

Tabitha smiled and leaned down to kiss him. Wyatt parted for her, letting Tabitha take the lead, which was exactly what she needed. He was almost too accommodating, which scared her a little when she considered him using those keen sheriff senses to figure out what her real issue with sex was.

But she pushed it to the back of her mind.

Things had been beautiful for four months. She had already proven to herself she could still love like any other woman when she had feared for years that had been taken from her forever.

Kissing like they were, it didn’t take Wyatt long to get hard. He’d always been very responsive, and Tabitha seized the moment rather than drag it out. She shifted over him and reached down to put him in her because Wyatt still had his hands laced behind his head.

When she slid down on him, Wyatt closed his eyes and groaned. “Fuck, you feel good, Tabby.”

“You do too,” she whispered.

And he did. He felt amazing in her, stretching her with his thick cock that made pleasure dance over her skin with every subtle movement. She fell forward and grabbed the headboard, using it as leverage to arch into him, forcing him deeper.

Wyatt finally reached out for her, running his hands up her rib cage. “Is this okay?”

“Mmm,” she agreed as she started moving over him, slowly, as she allowed herself to savor being with him.

Wyatt started moving with her, matching her easy pace until they were both breathless and sweaty. He didn’t force her to go faster. He didn’t roll them over and start fucking her hard the way he was apt to do before the hardware store. Wyatt just let Tabitha take from him, and it was exactly what she needed.

He pulled her down, forcing her to fall over him, and then he licked and kissed at Tabitha’s neck. His breath was warm against her ear as he whispered, “Love you.”

“I love you too.” She tilted her head, giving him better access. “So much.”

“I won’t let you leave again.” He wrapped his big arms around her, forcing their bodies tightly together. “You hear me, pretty girl?”

She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “I hear you.”

Wyatt moaned. He tossed his head back against the pillow as he thrust his hips up, making Tabitha moan with him. The buildup was slow, but the climax was powerful. Tabitha stiffened first, and she clung to Wyatt when the pleasure slammed into her. It shook her entire body, spreading out into her limbs in warm waves that made sharp gasps of ecstasy burst out of her.

She wasn’t surprised when Wyatt came with her. It had been almost a week since they’d done this. She liked the sounds he made, low grunts of masculine pleasure that washed over her soul like a balm. Then they lay there in companionable silence as Wyatt caressed her bare back, and she fought to catch her breath with her face buried in the curve of his neck.

When they did pull apart and crawl under the sheets, Wyatt didn’t want to let her go. Instead he wrapped his arms around her, spooning her from behind, and clung to her tighter than usual. She was safe. She kept reminding herself of it as she closed her eyes and finally gave in to the exhaustion hoping that Wyatt would be able to chase away the demons in her dreams too.

* * *

Wyatt didn’t go to sleep.

He just lay there, his body tense, waiting.

Every other night this week, he’d been dead asleep by the time Tabitha jerked awake next to him, sweaty and shaking. He knew he heard things before then, fragments of sentences that filtered in past his hazy consciousness, but he was always too dazed to decipher them. By then, Tabitha would recover and tell him it was just a bad dream. She’d brush off his concern and then fall back against the pillow, snuggling up against him as if nothing was wrong, but he knew she didn’t go back to sleep.

He didn’t either.

The two of them would just lie there with the demons choking the air out of the room, pretending to be asleep for each other, when it was clear they were both haunted.

He was done with the demons.

Tonight just proved he needed to yank open all the closet doors and then deal with the consequences, because he couldn’t take this shit anymore. As he lay there in the darkness, Wyatt finally forced himself to acknowledge what he’d known since the day he’d opened that letter.

Something had happened to Tabitha.

A part of him had always known. At twenty-one he hadn’t been able to face it. But he wasn’t twenty-one anymore, and he sure as shit wasn’t going to let these demons, whatever they were, eat Tabitha alive like they’d been doing.

He knew his girl. She was hurting, and he’d rather cut out his own heart than let her hurt just to protect him from whatever it was she thought he couldn’t take.

He was waiting for it, but he still jerked in shock when Tabitha screamed. He held her tighter, and she fought his embrace rather than wake up.