Page 51 of Mountain Refuge

She was a few feet away from us when Elijah yelled, “If he is on the roof, donotclimb up there. Do you hear me, young lady?”

Huh. Apparently Elijah’s Dad voice was a complete and total turn on. Who knew.

I must have stepped back further into him because he tightened his grip on my hips to stop me.

Belle rolled her eyes at her father. I’d never seen her do that before. Maybe it was a new skill kids learned when they turned eight. “I know, Daddy. You tell meevery time.”

“Well, if you would stop climbing and jumping off thingsevery time, I wouldn’t have to.”

“Fine.” Belle turned and ran towards Corbin’s work shed.

We watched her until we saw Corbin climb down off the roof to meet her. Then Elijah rested his forehead on my shoulder. He let out a low groan. I put my hand up to run it through his shaggy hair. I liked his unruly hair, liked his full beard even better. I was suddenly regretting the turtleneck that blocked his access to my throat.

“Belle’s never seen me with a woman before.”

I found that interesting. She was eight and he’d indicated he’d been there when she had been born. Had he not dated in eight years? Or just not brought his women around her?

“What do you want to tell her?”

“Well, we need to tell her something because we’ve kissed twice, and she’s interrupted both of them!”

I laughed. I hadn’t caught on to that. “Yeah, probably.”

He pressed himself closer to my back. Lifting his head, he took a nip at my ear. “And I need to tell her something if we start sleeping over at your cabin again.”

A shiver ran through me as his teeth scraped against my lobe. “Her daddy is just having an adult slumber party in the bedroom?” I suggested.

He snorted. “You clearly haven’t been around kids much. She’ll hear ‘party’ and invite herself.”

I cringed. “Who saidyouwere invited to the sleepover party?”

He hummed against my skin behind my ear. “If this is a party for one, I demand videos or pictures.”

My cheeks reddened. “Too bad for you, I don’t have a camera.”

I felt his lips twitch into a smile. “Guess I’ll just need to be there in person then.”

I turned in his arms to face him. His eyes were so dark with arousal, I could barely make out his pupils. I needed to put the brakes on this before I lost myself in him again. “We need to have certain conversations before any sleepovers take place, child-friendly or otherwise.”

Elijah leaned forward and dropped a kiss onto my nose before stepping back. I could see he was still aroused, but at least there were no children present where he still needed a shield. “I know you said you needed time. When you came today, you looked so beautiful that you took my breath away. I had hoped you were here to see me. I’d meant to keep my hands to myself until you indicated otherwise, but watching you swing that axe was like watching a porno. I couldn’t resist touching you.”

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one finding new turn-ons. “Your touch was welcome. I did come here to see you.” I took his hand and led him over to the porch chairs. Corbin and Belle were still by the work shed and hopefully Gertie was too busy watching Lucas to overhear us. I kept his hand in mine on my lap.

“I thought a lot about what you told me. Any doubt you may have seen last night was due to my initial reaction to hearing something so horrible had happened, or almost happened, to Belle. I didn’t want to believe she could have been victimized so by her birth father. I came across some malicious and disgusting people while on the force, and it always made me doubt the goodness of humanity every time. The fact that something so heinous almost happened to Belle is beyond terrible.” I didn’t realize I wasn’t looking at him until I saw his hand twitch between mine on my lap. “The law says you did wrong when you took the children from their father—and I use that term very loosely. I’ve never hated a man I’ve never met before so much in my life. There’s a special place in Hell for those who prey on the weak, regardless of age or gender.

“But life is not as black and white as the laws that govern us. I wasn’t there so I can’t pass judgment on whether you were right or wrong, but I saw the fear in your eyes last night when you told me about Belle. I know any action you took was with the intent of keeping those children safe.” I looked up at him, only to realize he wasn’t looking at me. He was staring out into the wilderness that surrounded us. “Elijah, you were so strong to do what you did. I hope you know that and acknowledge it. Your strength may not lie in muscle.” I touched his chest. “It lies in your heart.”

Elijah finally looked at me. I could see the echo of the pain he’d suffered in his eyes. Along with something else I couldn’t identify. “Youbelieve me?”

I squeezed his hand between mine. “I do. What you did was wrong in the eyes of the law but not in mine. There’s no doubt of the love you have for those kids and, more importantly, the love they have foryou. We would be having a far different conversation if I didn’t see the love and respect Belle has for you.”

“Can I ask you a question?” I nodded for him to continue. “You came to your conclusion without verifying my story with Jack or Corbin. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t know what your faith in me means to me, but I have to wonder why you didn’t speak with them.”

“Oh, I still plan on speaking to them.” Elijah’s eyebrows drew down in confusion. I squeezed his hand. “But not for the reason you think. I don’t need to verify your story with them because I do believe you. I believe that those children were in mortal danger, and you rescued them. Don’t forget, I was there that first night. I saw your fear for their lives, saw Belle’s concern for yours. You drove yourself beyond exhaustion trying to protect your kids to the point where your body literally collapsed and required thirty plus hours of sleep to recuperate. Your first question to me when you woke up wasn’t for water or to ask where you were. Your first demand was to know where your kids were.

“And as horrible as it is to admit, I saw Belle’s fear those first couple of days too. That wasn’t some made up fantasy that made a seven-year-old guard her brother so fiercely. She jumped at every sound, refused to sleep herself because she wasn’t sure she could trust me to keep her brother safe. That type of fear isn’t something a child gets from a story someone told her tobeafraid. I didn’t realize the signs at first. Maybe it was because I haven’t been around people in a long time or maybe it was because I didn’t want to believe it. Regardless, as soon as youtold me what happened last night, it all clicked, and I understood her behavior for the first time.”

I reached forward and put my hand over his beard-covered cheek. “Yourbehavior made sense for the first time. I don’t know if you even realize how jumpy you were that first day. Your attention was solely on those kids. It’s a wonder you even noticed me in the room.”

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