Page 51 of Break Away
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By the time Levi made it home that evening,his face throbbed, he had a headache that matched the pain pulsefor pulse, and what he wanted most in the world was to down somepain meds and crawl into bed. He hadn’t had time to get the icepackBrad had ordered, so maybe he’d get on that.
He rolled the motorcycle up to the cabin andset the kickstand. There was no sign of Zoey at the cottage. NoPrius parked in front, no light in the window, no Lucy hanging out.He wanted to see Zoey, figured that alone would make him feelbetter. But telling her that Clauson was back in the area and hadbeen for nearly a year? That would ruin her night.
Since no one was around to hear, he allowedhimself a groan as he pulled off his helmet, which put pressure onhis battered face. Clauson had let himself go and probably weighedin at three hundred pounds. It felt like every one of those poundshad been packed into that ham fist. If Levi hadn’t turned his head,diverted his attention for that short second to yell at theneighbor to get back in his house, Clauson would never have landedthe sucker punch. He’d hit Levi, then moved like a bulldozer andtried to plow past them, but Levi and Monica had tackled him andnow Clauson was sitting on his ass in a cell. Yeah, a cell. Noheart attack. What a surprise.
Levi had a suspicion about what they’d findon the computer they’d picked up with the warrant. All thecomplainants against Clauson had been young, as in teenager young.A bit more digging had turned up another against him by a teenagedprostitute from earlier than when he’d assaulted Zoey. Levi figuredthe odds were they’d find child porn in Clauson’s search history,if not stored on his hard drive.
While sorting through his keys to find theone for the cabin, Zoey’s Prius turned into the driveway. He neededa few minutes to get himself together before facing her with thenews about Clauson. It didn’t look like he was going to getthem.
She got out of her car, opening the back doorto unbuckle the dog. Lucy let out a snuffling woof and loped towardhim. Lucky for anyone Lucy considered a friend, Zoey had trainedthe bear dog not to jump. Levi reached down to scratch her big headwhen she stopped to sniff his pants. She did her leaning thingagainst him while Levi watched Zoey make her way up thedriveway.
“You’re one of her people now.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Leaning is how she shows heraffection.”
“At a hundred pounds that’s a lot ofaffection.”
Zoey turned her face up to his, her browslowering into a frown. “What happened to you?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“I don’t?”
“No.” He sighed. “Let’s go sit inside. I needa couple of aspirin and then I’ll tell you.”
She reached out to his shoulder and whenshe’d pulled him down to her level, she laid a kiss on his cheekbelow the bruise. “Have you had dinner?”
He’d always thought moms kissing their kids’hurts was silly, but now he’d have to rethink that. He shook hishead, and even that hurt.
“Come over to my place then. I’ll give you anicepack for that shiner and warm something from the freezer fordinner.”
He found himself following her back down thedriveway and into her house, where the colors and textures orwhatever it was that made the space uniquely Zoey’s immediatelyhelped to relax him. With a hand on his arm, she propelled him tothe couch. “Take your shirt and the vest off so you’re comfortable,then you can sit, put your feet up if you like, and relax. I’ll beback in a minute.”
When Zoey went into the kitchen, Levi lookedat the couch, thought what the hell, and did as she’d suggested. Hepeeled off his shirt and the vest, leaving on his white t-shirt.His head ached so badly that instead of sitting, he lay back on asoft pillow and, with his feet hanging off the end of the couch,closed his eyes. Lucy flopped down next to the couch and he droppeda hand to scratch her side. There was the sound of the refrigeratoropening, the rattling of ice, and then water running.
The couch dipped and he opened his eyes tofind Zoey sitting next to him, a glass of water in one hand and awhite plastic bottle of ibuprofen in the other. “Sit up for asecond.” He pushed himself up and she shook out three tablets andhanded him a glass of water. He downed the pills and lay down,closing his eyes. He needed to tell her about Clauson, but at themoment he was thankful she was holding off on the questions.
“Here,” she murmured. She placed a coolicepack wrapped in a towel over the side of his face. Her fingerslifted his hair and she pressed a warm kiss to his forehead. “Restfor a minute.”
Chapter Fifteen
Levi opened his eyes and frowned. He hadn’tintended to fall asleep. The icepack had slid onto the pillow andhe set it on the coffee table. He glanced around the room. Lucy hadabandoned her spot by the couch and was doing her bearskinimitation splayed on her belly in front of the cold fireplace. Zoeysat at the little dining table tapping on the keyboard of a laptop.She’d changed into cropped stretchy pants and a tie-dye t-shirt.She had a wide green band around her head, he guessed to keep herhair out of her face. The most incredible smell of something bakingmade his stomach rumble, reminding him that lunch had been a longtime ago. He pushed himself up and Zoey glanced over.
“Hey.” She rose and crossed the room to sitbeside him once again. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” And he was. The throbbing in hischeek had dulled, and the headache was all but gone. He snagged herwrist and, with his eyes on hers, brought it to his lips. Her handsmelled of soap. “Thanks.”
“You looked like you could use some TLC.” Alight flush spread from her neck to her cheeks. It was kind ofsweet that simply kissing her hand could fluster her.
“I guess I did.”
The impulse was too strong to ignore. Heleaned back against the cushion and tugged her down until she wasleaning over his chest and pressed a kiss to her lips. He wasbecoming addicted. To her scent, to that flash of heat in her eyes,to the way he felt centered whenever he was around her. Her handslipped to the back of his neck, and instead of keeping the kisslight as he’d intended, he took it deeper.
She opened her mouth, tongue tangling withhis, the taste of her heating his blood and sending it spiralingstraight south. Her response felt like a slow, smooth slide intoheaven. He shifted until she lay fully on top of him, cradledbetween his legs, a position that brought her hot center intoperfect alignment with his hard-on. She pushed herself up his bodyand he groaned.
