Trace & Tori [The ShadowDance Club 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) (20 page)

Creed thought for just a second that the giant of a man standing in front of him might sag to the floor when he saw him holding Tori. Jamie watched as relief flooded Trace’s expression at the sight of his sweet and uninjured wife, but he recovered quickly, and Jamie handed her off to him. “Hey, man, glad you’re here. I’ll stay by the door and wait for Dylan and crew. By my calculations they are about a minute out. Take Tori in to the living room and get her settled. Watch for shock, but damn, I gotta tell you, that is one hell of a woman you’re holding. She did you proud man.” Creed opened the front door to wait for the surge of people who were quickly making their way up the front walk as Trace moved to the living room with Tori cradled in his arms.

* * * *

Just as Trace had gotten out of his truck, he’d heard two gunshots, and he had nearly lost his mind in the few seconds it had taken him to race in to the house. When he’d opened the door and had seen Creed carrying Tori down the stairs, he had finally been able to actually take a breath. It had taken everything in him to not to drop to his knees in sheer relief. While he’d held her in their living room, he thought back and realized he didn’t even remember walking the short distance before collapsing on to the soft leather sofa facing the warm fire flickering from the fireplace. Just as she had started to shake, Zach appeared at his side and had checked her and asked for permission to give her a small sedative. At her silent nod, the former medic had made short work of giving her the injection, all the while praising her for her quick thinking and her calm during the crisis. Zach had softly explained that Creed had activated his mic and their entire conversation had been recorded. He’d smiled at Tori and congratulated her on her fine shooting skills, too. Tori hadn’t spoken a word since the shooting, she had barely reacted to anything happening around her, until Zach said, “You know, Tori, Alex and I have been thinking that Kat needs to learn to shoot, maybe you and Mia could teach a class?”

Zach’s grin told her that he was only half kidding, and for some reason that seemed to snap her back in to herself, and she looked up at him and smiled before answering, “I think that can be arranged.” As soon as she’d re-engaged, Zach moved on, confident that the beautiful woman resting in her husband’s lap was going to be fine. He wasn’t sure that Trace was going to recover as quickly though. Damn but the man was white a sheet. Moving to the long bar along the wall, Zach poured himself and Trace a glass of his expensive Scotch. When he’d handed one of the heavy crystal glasses to Trace, he had raised his with a nod toward Tori. “Here’s to our warrior wives, damn but I’m so proud of them both.”

Trace heard the words and realized he hadn’t said a single word to the bravest woman he’d ever known to let her know just how much he admired her. He quickly downed the Scotch, letting it scorch its way all the way down his parched throat. He set the glass aside and nodded to Zach in silent thanks for his efforts to pull him back from the edge.

Zach smiled and patted his knee before standing and making an excuse about needing to get back to ShadowDance before Kat had to deal with three screaming babies alone. Trace’s heart warmed each time he thought about the Lamont triplets. It wasn’t often in this age of technology that a baby was able to avoid detection, but that is exactly what little Mary Catherine had done. She’d hidden behind her two brothers until her birthday, surprising everybody with her sudden appearance. Trace realized Tori was looking at him her eyes questioning his goofy grin, so he did the only thing he could do, he kissed her.

Tori remembered feeling like she had fallen into some kind of gelatin because her movements had seemed lethargic and everything was just a little fuzzy around the edges as Jamie Creed had carried her down the hall and made his way down the staircase without so much as jiggling her, and why she had even noticed that was another puzzle piece. Nothing had seemed to be making any sense until she’d seen Trace standing in the doorway. Her heart had nearly stopped when she saw him, and if she hadn’t been floundering around it that blasted gelatin she’d have leaped out of Creed’s arms and into the loving arms of her new husband. Just his touch, his unique outdoorsy scent, and the feel of his cheek pressing against the top of her head was enough to pull her back closer to reality.

He kept her on his lap and just kept touching her as if checking and rechecking to assure himself that she was indeed unharmed. Once her brain re-engaged, Tori had started to shake, and it seemed like the tremors begun in her very core and quaked their way to the surface. She heard Zach Lamont ask her permission to give her something to calm her and help her center herself, and she had only been able to nod her acquiescence. Whatever he’d given her had worked almost immediately, and while it had calmed her, it hadn’t made her groggy, and she was grateful for that.

Tori finally lifted herself away from Trace after a kiss that was nothing but pure relief. She pulled back just enough that she could look in to his eyes, the love she saw reflected in his expression had her eyes immediately flooding with tears. “It’s over. It’s really over. Oh, Trace, he was such a horrible man. He killed so many women, and he was going to kill me, too. And he wanted to rape me while he made you watch. And I shot him. I did just what Mia taught me. I didn’t even think, I just got in position and pulled the trigger. Maybe it makes me a bad person, but I don’t even feel bad about taking his life. He was so evil. Oh, God, I’m babbling…I know it, and I can’t help myself…oh damn, now I know how Kat feels...” Feeling the tears running in steady streams down her cheeks, she brushed them away with the backs of her hands and took a deep breath trying to get control over her runaway mouth.

When Trace didn’t say anything, but just studied her, she started to panic. Finally she couldn’t stand the silence any longer, and she looked up at him again from under lashes that were heavy with her tears and asked, “Do you still want me? I mean, I’ll understand if you don’t want to be married to someone who killed another person.” Taking a deep breath and letting it out, she looked back at her hands clasped in her lap, too afraid to look at him, terrified she’d just blown her chances at the life she had always dreamed of.

* * * *

Trace had been so totaled by the adrenaline crash that it was a few seconds before Tori’s question fully registered in his mind…
What the fuck? Is she serious? What the hell?
He finally got himself together enough to answer, “Oh, Tori, my love, of course I want you…I am in awe of you. I’m sorry if you misunderstood my silence, I was so far beyond terrified when Creed called and said someone had broken in to the house…and I had to drive all the way home…I have never felt so helpless in my entire life. Every time I blinked, I saw you having to face your worst nightmare, and I felt swamped by guilt for not being here when you needed me the most.” Trace felt as if the floodgates of his emotions had finally opened, and he just needed to let it all out so the amazing woman in his arms understood exactly how much she meant to him.

“When I opened the door and saw Creed holding you safely in his arms, I was so thankful it took everything I had to keep from falling to my knees in relief. And when I finally had you in my arms, all I could think of was how humbled I am to have been given another second chance.” He pulled her tight against his chest and rubbed her back with slow, soothing circles as she sobbed.

Tori didn’t know if she was crying in relief that Trace still wanted her or because everything that had happened was catching up with her, but the great gulping sobs seemed like they would never end. When she was finally totally spent, she sagged against his completely soaked shirt, hiccupping the last of the emotion that had finally drained away.

* * * *

The gut-wrenching sobs had nearly torn Trace’s heart to shreds, holding his snow princess as everything bubbled to the surface was sweet torture. He thanked God again and again for giving him another chance and swore on his life he’d be the best husband that ever lived. When she finally seemed settled, he pulled her back just enough to be able to look into her swollen eyes. He smiled at her and gently brushed away her tears before he spoke. “Tori, you are the greatest gift I’ve ever received. I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you just how much I love you and how grateful I am that you are my wife. I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of how you handled yourself today. You are my life, every breath I take is for you.”

Tori listened to Trace’s sweet words, and her heart melted. He’d just repeated his marriage vows to her, proving that nothing had changed, in a way that he knew would go straight to her heart and soul. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in the warmth of his neck and repeated her vows to him. “I love you. You are the answer to every prayer I’ve ever whispered about the perfect husband. I don’t know what I did to deserve you…but I’m glad somebody up there was watching when it happened.”

THE END

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For years, I was accused of living in “Fantasy Land” so I decided to put it to use and started writing. I enjoy creating characters who are loveable but never perfect, who live in and visit all the places I’d love to go, and who overcome obstacles to find the sexy happily ever after I believe we all deserve. I fall in love with the characters I create and enjoy making them each wacky and wonderful in their own way.

The only consistent trait in my heroines is their inability to cook and that is the only trait they each have “inherited” from me. When I’m not working at my very ordinary job, I am either writing or reading. And even though my family professes to support my writing efforts, I’m fairly certain they are merely glad to see I’ve finally found an outlet for what they considered an over-the-top imagination. 

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