Page 97 of Chains
A slight smile danced across his lips. “The badges are looking into it. Anyway, he’s got a raging infection. We thought he’d be back home in a week, and now the doc’s saying it could be a lot longer.”
“Is that the friend you visited today?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
Sadness spread across his face, and Autumn scooted closer and leaned into him, her hand still holding his. “You should’ve told me. We could’ve rescheduled today.”
“No, babe, I wanted to be here with you. I needed to get away. Eagle’s”—he looked down into her face and stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers—“hooked up to a bunch of tubes and shit. He’s out of it right now.”
“Is he in ICU?” she asked.
Another pause, this one longer than the first. “Yeah,” he whispered.
“Actually, that’s the best place for him to be. His doctor’s flushing him with antibiotics, and he has a real good chance of pulling through just fine. I know it’s hard to see someone you care about suffer, especially when you feel so helpless.”
“Yeah—it pisses me the fuck off that I can’t help him.”
“Is he in your club?”
Chains nodded. “We go back a long time—we’re real tight. Fuck,” he said, pounding the spot next to him with his fist.
Autumn ran her fingers through his thick hair. “After we’re done here, let’s go to the hospital. I’ll stay with Thor while you spend some time with your friend.”
She felt Chains stiffen beside her, and his hand slid to her neck, pulling her head back. His lips were close, his gaze intense, then his mouth claimed hers possessively.
“Autumn,” he kept whispering between fervid kisses.
She stroked the side of his face, feeling the faint rough stubble of his beard. Then, his lips trailed along the side of her neck.
“Oh Chains,” she whispered. “I want to make it all okay for you.”
“You are,” he rasped.
She glanced across the lake and saw the couple from earlier sitting on some rocks, watching their children play. “The family’s still by the shore. I don’t think they’re planning on leaving.”
Chains pulled away, then looked over and groaned. Autumn smiled and patted her thighs, and he lay down on his back with his head in her lap. As she ran her fingers through his hair, his lids fluttered shut, and she moved her hands over his face, lightly tracing his dark brows, full lips, and strong jawline.
Sitting on the warm blanket, listening to his deep breathing mingle with the small waves that gently lapped against the shore, Autumn had never felt closer to a man than she did to Chains. Crazy? Perhaps. But it felt right, like it was meant to be.
She gazed down at his worry-free face and unadulterated love spread through her. It was one of those moments in time that held the promise of what might be, and Autumn wished she could freeze-frame it, hold it close and never let go.
“I’ve been waiting my whole life for you,” she whispered.
The slanting rays of the late afternoon sun streaked through the trees and bounced off the ripples on the surface of the lake.
