Maybe then he could figure out how to deal with his heartache.

* * *

Alexei Markov settled his hand on Holly’s waist with a deep sense of satisfaction. She was here. He was here. No one was going to arrest them. He knew it was an odd worry, but he’d had to worry about being arrested for so long that being able to not worry about it was freeing. No cops would come between them. Just one cranky doctor, but he had a plan for dealing with him. Yes, Alexei Markov was a damn lucky man. He’d come through hell with only a few scars.

Bliss had given him back his life.

“Have you healed up? The last time I saw you, you were still in pretty bad shape.” Holly looked down at his torso where a bullet had torn through his gut.

“I find life is perfectly fine without a spleen.”

Caleb had been forced to remove it and resection a part of his bowel. Caleb Burke had stayed with him through the first terrible moments all the way through the operating room. It had been Caleb’s hands that held him together. It had been Caleb’s cranky voice that had told him he better live.

Alexei pulled her close. Dancing was just a way to get a woman close to a man. He was deeply grateful for whoever decided to have a band and dancing at this wedding. It gave him a brilliant excuse to do what he’d always wanted to do—rub himself all over her.

“How was witness protection?” Holly asked. Her feet moved in time to the music. “I read your letters, but you didn’t talk a lot about what it was like.”

Terrifying. Lonely. He’d been shot at multiple times. It was to be expected when mobsters were involved and prison time was on the line. Alexei had gotten used to the feeling of a Kevlar vest around his chest. He’d become close to the two US Marshals assigned to protect him. Michael and Jessie. Michael was the badass former Marine, and Jessie matched him. Only she did it with a feminine flare. He’d been sad to say good-bye to them.

Except he hadn’t exactly said good-bye. He’d done exactly what Caleb Burke had accused him of. He’d run. The Marshals had wanted him to stay in Florida where he would have become someone named Howard Solev. But he’d always known he would come back to Bliss. He’d always believed he would come back for Holly.

And he owed Caleb Burke. It was a debt he intended to repay.

“It was fine. The motels were roaches, but I watch a lot of television. I learn much of the language. I watch all of your shows. Gilligan’s Island is my favorite.”

A laugh escaped her lips. God, he’d dreamed about those lips. “Tell me you haven’t been learning the language from old sitcoms.”

“What be you talking about, Holly?” He’d liked Different Strokes, too.

She leaned in, her laughter so much more musical to him than the song playing. “Well, this should be interesting.”

“I also watch much reality TV. I don’t like modern shows. Too many murders. I do not need to watch so many shows about blood splatter and the trajectories of bullets. But I like the ones about the housewives. Except for New Jersey. It is too close to the mafia. The womens there could be bosses. But Atlanta is fun. How are your heifers?”

Holly’s eyes went wide. “I don’t have any cows, Alexei.”

Holly apparently wasn’t up on the lingo. “Your friends. Laura and Nell and Rachel and Callie and Jennifer.”

She shook her head and looked around as though afraid someone had heard them. “Oh. Yeah. That’s strictly a Southern thing, Alexei. Seriously. If you call them heifers, the Real Housewives of Bliss might cut off your balls.”

So many nuances. “Well, please to keep balls on body.”

He had plans for his balls. And his cock. He wasn’t about to lose them now.

She flushed, a bright pink color staining her cheeks. She would look like that when she was aroused. Her face would flush, and a fine sheen of sweat would cover her when he worked over her, his cock so deep inside. “Yes. I think that’s best.”

How soon could he get her under him? Was five minutes too soon? He’d dreamed of having her for months. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her face and her smile and her soft body. Holly Lang was the embodiment of everything he wanted out of life. She was funny and sweet. Her letters to him kept him going. He’d risked a lot to stay in touch with her. Every new city he’d been to he’d managed to find a way to mail her letters or send her texts from phones he wasn’t supposed to own.

He wondered if Caleb had even bothered to read the letters he’d mailed to him.

He twirled Holly, loving how her body moved and her eyes twinkled as she took joy in the dance. He pulled her close again and began to maneuver her toward the hallway. He was happy to see familiar faces, but he wanted to get her alone. He wanted there to be no doubt in her mind that he’d come back for her.

“Walk with me.” He couldn’t screw that phrase up.

“All right.” She put her hand in his. She was a voluptuous woman, but her hand was small in his. Trusting. He wasn’t going to let her down.

“Are you in town for a while?” Holly asked as she walked beside him. The hallway that led to the yard outside was deserted. Everyone was inside enjoying the party.

“I am here to stay. Stefan has been kind enough to help me with my citizenship. I would like to make Bliss my home.”

Her hand squeezed his. “Really?”

They passed a closet door. It shook and a low wail came from behind the door. Someone was having a good time in that closet. Damn, but he was happy to be back in Bliss. Had she thought he would only come for a visit? “Really. I talk to Gene at Movie Motel. He agree to let me stay until I find a place to call my own. Gene is very forgiving man. I do have to promise to not murder anyone while I am in motel. Apparently after Ivan killed the girl in one of his rooms, his motel gets called The Murder Motel for a while.”

The Movie Motel had been where he and his former partner had holed up while tracking Jennifer Waters and the painting that held twenty million dollars in bearer bonds. Of course, Alexei hadn’t known that at the time. Ivan had murdered someone he’d thought was Jennifer. It was a death that made Alexei’s heart ache every time he thought about it. If only he’d been back to the room sooner, he might have saved her. He’d only saved Jennifer herself by killing his partner. It had been his one of his last acts of violence.

“Oh, don’t let him make you feel bad about that. You didn’t kill that girl. And he was booked solid for months. Every ghost hunter in the country came out. It was a huge deal. He upgraded the drive-in screen off that money.”

“Really? He had the Ghost Hunters? How about Paranormal State?” He’d watched those shows as well. Though he did not understand why men would wish to spend time hunting ghosts.

“Oh, yes. A bunch of those shows turned up. And Nell had a shaman from one town over come in and bless the place to rid it of evil. Of course, when they found out there was a real ghost, they all ran. I’ve never seen grown men in coveralls run quite so fast.”

“I am glad all worked out. I like the Movie Motel. It is nice place.” Way nicer than anything he’d stayed in lately.

He opened the door, and the night air hit him. He loved the way the mountains smelled and how dark it was. The sky was lit with a million candles. Each one seemed like a possibility. He’d spent so many years in smoggy, clogged cities plotting revenge. Now he was in a tiny little nothing town and everything was open to him.

And there was nothing he wanted more than the woman beside him.

“Come here.” He tugged on her hand, pulling her toward a picnic bench. He could still hear the sounds of music coming from the reception hall, but they seemed to be alone here. It was a cozy little nest surrounded by the beauty of the night. “Tell me how you’ve been. Tell the stories about your friends—who are not cows.”

She hopped up on the tabletop, her peach-colored dress crinkling slightly. “I’ve told you all the stories. I wrote to you.”

“Yes, and now I hear them from your voice.” He’d forgotten her soft, Western accent.

Her head shook, and he could tell she was slightly embarrassed. She probably wasn’t used to the attention. As far as he could tell, she hadn’t really dated for a very long time. He intended to make her very used to affection. He intended to lavish her with it. “Well, Laura’s in love. She’s getting married next. They haven’t made it official, but Rafe and Cam are living with her. I think they were the ones in the closet.”

Laura was the pretty, blonde former FBI agent. He’d spent a lot of time learning about the people of this town. He’d managed to find out an enormous amount of information on many of the citizens of Bliss. Except for the man named Mel. There were many classified documents concerning him.

“Callie is coming up on her due date. It’s a boy. She’s really ready to not be pregnant anymore.”

“How is your friend Nell?” Holly often talked about Nell.

Her face lit up. “She’s trying to talk Callie into burying her placenta under a tree after she gives birth. She wants us all to have a ceremony to reaffirm our ties to the earth. You can imagine how that went over with Nate and Zane. Oh, and her husband finally reached a breaking point, and he hauled her into a bomb shelter, so now she’s claiming that Henry is a caveman because he won’t let her protest with her breasts.”

“Why does she protest her breasts?” Breasts were nothing to protest in Alexei’s mind. His eyes drifted down. Holly’s breasts were beautiful. How long should he wait before he took her in his arms?

A smile curved her lips up, and Alexei realized she knew what he was looking at.

“I am sorry.” Now he was the one who was blushing. She made him feel like a kid again. The things he’d seen and done during that dark time when he’d pursued revenge should have assured that Alexei would never blush again, but Holly made him feel different, more innocent.

“For what?”

He put his hands in his lap, a reminder to keep them to himself for now. Holly deserved to be wooed. Holly deserved flowers and nice dinners. Holly deserved a man with a job. He had to find a job. “I should be careful. I am to be gentleman around you.”

Her whole face fell.

“Oh, god, not you, too.” She hopped off the table. Her hands went straight to her curvy hips, and those gloriously green eyes narrowed.

“I say wrong thing?” He said the wrong thing all the time. He tried to figure out how he’d insulted Holly. He’d wanted so much for this to go easily with her.

“What is wrong with me? You write me all these letters. You come back here and ask me to dance. I really want to know what it is about me that puts men off. I have nice boobs. They aren’t the perkiest things in the world, but they’re big and soft. And these are childbearing hips, damn it. It isn’t fair. Everyone in this town gets a little something something. Even Stella. Hell, Mel gets laid.” She leaned in, her voice going to a mere whisper. “You told me you thought about me during private times. I guess I thought that meant something dirty.”

Alexei smiled slowly. She thought he didn’t find her attractive. He knew what it meant to get laid. He wanted to get laid with her very, very much. “There is no problem. The private times were very dirty. I think about you in the shower often. Well, I’m in the shower when the thinkings come. And then I come. I just thought you would want something different than a man pawing you.”

“Do you have any idea how long it’s been since a man pawed me? A woman needs a good pawing every now and then.”

Tears had formed in her eyes. Alexei wasn’t going to have that. What had Caleb been doing? He’d assumed that Caleb would date Holly. It had been obvious to him that Caleb had a thing for Holly. When he’d walked in the door and seen them standing close, he’d wondered if he’d missed his chance. Then Holly had been amenable to dancing with him. He got off the table and ran a hand along her hair.

“You do not belong to Caleb?” He had to know. If Caleb had already claimed her, he would have to honor it.

“I don’t think he wants me,” she admitted with a long sigh. “He’s nice to me, but he doesn’t really want me.”

That wasn’t true. If there was one thing he knew, it was that Caleb was crazy about Holly. Even as he’d lain dying on the floor of the sheriff’s department, he’d been able to see Caleb’s love for Holly. But the fact that Caleb hadn’t made a move gave Alexei the door he needed to make his little dream come true.