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Joyce pulled back, holding
her daughter at arm’s length. “We’re finally free. All of us. We can all move
on with our lives now.”

Rachel sensed that her mother
was referring to moving on with the man she’d left behind, not that she could
blame her. If she had the opportunity to start over with Tucker, she would, in
a heartbeat, but she knew that too much had happened between them to expect a
miracle. She was just happy to be free so she could be a real mother to her
little girl again.

Tucker placed his hand on her
mother’s shoulder. “Ms. Morgan, would you mind if I have some time alone with
your daughter?”

Joyce smiled up at Tucker.
“Would I mind?” She laughed. “We owe you a debt of gratitude we’ll never be
able to repay, Chief Carlton.” She took his hands in hers. “I can’t thank you
enough for everything you’ve done for us.”

Tucker obviously surprised
Joyce by pulling her into a hug. “I think you can call me Tucker now.”

She laughed. “Only if you
promise to call me Joyce,” she whispered, patting his back.

He grinned. “It’s a deal,
Joyce.”

Rachel watched the scene
unfold in front of her, and she had no idea what it meant. Was Tucker reaching
out to her mother just to be kind or because he expected her to be a part of
his life in the future?

Joyce kissed her daughter’s
cheek once more. “Don’t worry about Maddie. I’ll take good care of her until
you get home.” Fortunately, her mother had maintained her apartment while they
were out of town, so they had a place to stay for as long as they needed it.

“Thanks, Mama, for
everything. I couldn’t have gotten through this without you.”

Her mother squeezed her hand
and Tucker’s at the same time. “Love is precious; take it from someone who’s
lived most of her life without it. Sometimes you don’t get a second chance to
get it right, but when you do, you have to take advantage of that.”

Rachel bowed her head,
embarrassed by her mother’s declaration. She had no idea what Tucker was
feeling. It was presumptuous of her mother to assume that Tucker still loved
her, if he’d ever loved her.

When Joyce left, Rachel
looked up at Tucker. “I’m sorry about that. My mother’s been known to get
carried away.”

“Rachel, I’m staying in the
hotel across the street. Could we go to my room and talk?”

“Um… sure.”

Tucker could barely breathe
as they made their way across the street to the hotel. He was relieved she
didn’t have to face the criminal charges, but he had no idea how she felt about
him now. Would she even consider coming back to Brant County with him?

He slid the key card into the
slot and ushered her inside. “Can I get you a drink?”

She offered a shaky laugh.
“I’d love one, thanks.”

He poured scotch into two
highball glasses and handed one to her. “Here’s to your freedom.”

She touched her glass to his.
“I couldn’t have done it without you. I’ll never be able to thank you enough,
Tucker.”

He threw the liquor back in
one deep swallow, savoring the burn as it slid down his throat. He walked back to
the mini-bar and poured a second shot. If she rejected him, he knew these
little bottles wouldn’t even begin to dull the pain.

She sipped the scotch as she
watched him pour and throw back a second shot. “Are you okay?”

He clenched his teeth as he
braced his hands on the wood cabinet. “No, I haven’t been okay since I walked
into your studio and saw that bastard with a knife to your throat. I don’t
think I’ve been able to breathe since then.”

Rachel walked toward him and placed
her hand on his back. “You saved my life. If you hadn’t installed that panic
button… if you hadn’t come when you did, he’d have killed me.”

He turned toward her as that
possibility flashed through his mind. The image of her naked, lifeless body sprawled
across the floor of her studio with blood pooling around her… “Jesus Christ,”
he muttered, pulling her into his arms. “When I think about how close I came to
losing you…”

She pressed her lips to his
neck. “But you didn’t lose me. I’m right here.”

He slid his hands under her
blazer, delving beneath the thin layer of silk covering her skin. “I was an
idiot,” he muttered, holding her against him. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry it took me
so long to get here. I should have
—
”

She cut him off with a kiss.
“I had no right to expect you to be here, not after all the lies I told. I was
so afraid you’d hate me.”

“Never,” he whispered
fiercely, sliding his tongue into her mouth. “I could never hate you.” He
pushed the blazer off her shoulders seconds before he pulled the camisole over
her head. He needed to get her naked, now, to reassure himself that they still
had the same connection they’d found in his bed.

She gripped his head in her
hands as she returned his kiss with all of the pent-up fear, frustration, and
sadness he’d been trying to suppress for days. “I need you, Tucker, now.” She
pushed his blazer off, letting it fall to the floor at their feet.

He gripped her waist as he
backed her up, walking them both toward the king-size bed dominating the room.

She worked his tie, ripping
it from around his neck as she kissed him. “God, I never thought I’d have the
chance to do this again,” she said, freeing the buttons on his shirt as she
spread the fabric to kiss his chest.

He pushed her back on the bed
as he grabbed her high-heeled shoes and tossed them over his shoulder. “I’ve
been dreaming about this,” he said, watching her as she slipped her skirt off
to reveal a white satin thong. “I’d wake up hard, wanting you…”

She moaned as she peeled her
undergarments off. “Show me; show me how much you missed me.”

He spread her legs apart as
he relaxed between her thighs. “God… I’d think about the way you taste…” He
glided his tongue up her moist slit, savoring her unique flavor. “And I knew
I’d never survive without having you again.” He gripped her hips as he consumed
her. He dipped his tongue inside of her only to pull out and glide it across
her clit.

“Oh please, Tucker… I need to
come… now!”  

Tucker didn’t have time to
tease and torment her, not when his cock was throbbing, threatening to explode.
He tickled her clit with the tip of tongue mercilessly, savoring the ragged cry
of his name on her lips as she flooded his mouth with her delectable sweetness.

He positioned his body over
hers, looking down into her eyes. “I love you, Rachel. I love you so much. I
want you; I want your daughter… I want us to build a life together.”

A tear slipped down her
cheek, falling onto the pillow as she wrapped her hands around his wrists. “I
want that too, more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”

He held her close as he slid
home, his face buried in her hair, inhaling her scent, memorizing everything
about her, about this moment. He never wanted to take her or their connection
for granted, not after he’d come so close to losing it. “You’ll come home with
me?”

She threaded her hands
through his hair. “Yes, of course. I never wanted to leave Brant or you. You
must know that.”

Tucker stilled. “Damn it, the
condom.”

“It’s okay.” She brought his
mouth down to meet hers. “We don’t need it. It’s not the right time for me to
get pregnant…”

He was almost afraid to ask,
but he had to know. “Will it ever be the right time for us to have a baby,
Rachel?”

“I want a life with you,
Tucker.” She smiled. “I want a house full of kids, but it’s going to take some
time for us to get there.”

He could wait because he knew
the reward would be worth it in the end. He closed his eyes and got lost in the
moment as she gripped his shaft and met him stroke for stroke. “Yes…” He
clenched his teeth, trying to hold off, desperate to give her what she needed
before he surrendered to the power of his own release.

“Come for me,” she whispered.

He smiled when he realized
she was using his own words against him. “I want you to
—
”

She pressed her finger to his
lips. “You’re going to have the rest of our lives to satisfy me, Tucker.” She
smiled. “I want tonight to be about you.” She gripped him hard, clenching his
cock in her velvet sheath. “I want to show you how much I love you, how much I
appreciate you, how much I need you.”

He closed his eyes and
allowed her to lead him to the apex, knowing she would always be his soft place
to land. “I love you, baby.”

She grabbed his hand when he
reached between their bodies to stimulate her. “We’ve got all night,
sweetheart. Please, just do this for me. Come for me. Don’t think about what I
need. Think about what you need, what you want.”

Rachel was incredible. Gorgeous,
brave, strong, selfless, and she was all his.

When he finally grew weary of
fighting his body’s demands, he abandoned all pretense of control as he came with
her name on his lips. He emptied inside of her, waiting until the last drop was
lost before withdrawing and settling in beside her. “I love that,” he
whispered, kissing her cheek as he pulled her close. “Tell me I can come inside
of you from now on.”

She smiled as she snuggled
against him. “I think that can be arranged, Chief.”

He kissed her shoulder. “Move
in with me.” He didn’t want to be without her another night.

She sighed. “I wish I could,
but I need to find out what my mother’s plans are, and you and Maddie need to
take some time to get to know each other. She’s been through a lot, Tucker. It
will take a while for her to learn to trust you. Of course, your position in
the community will help, and children are incredibly resilient, but I don’t
want to push her too hard. You understand, don’t you?”

He smiled. “I love that you
put your daughter first. It shows me that you’re going to be the kind of mother
I want my kids to have.”

She turned into his arms. “I
know Maddie will learn to love you as much as I do.”

He kissed the top of her
head. “I want to be someone she can count on. I hope to be everything that
prick could never be for her.”

Rachel tilted her head back
to look at him. “Are you saying you want to be a father to my daughter?”

He hoped he hadn’t
overstepped by bringing this up too soon. “Unless you have a problem with
that?”

A tear glided down her cheek.
“You’re exactly the kind of father I’ve always wanted for my little girl,
Tucker. You’re decent, honest, and hard-working; you take care of the people
you love. You’re the perfect example of how a man should treat the woman he
loves.”

He kissed her forehead.
“We’ll have to get that son of a bitch to relinquish his parental rights for me
to adopt Maddie.”

She leaned into his chest,
wrapping her arms around him. “I can’t imagine him doing that.”

“He’ll sign the papers if I
beat him within an inch of his miserable life.”

She giggled. “How can you do
that if he’s behind bars?”

He grinned. “Cops have been
known to look the other way for one of their own, sweetheart. If they knew his story,
what he did to you and your little girl, I don’t think they’d mind giving me a
few minutes alone with him.”

Rachel kissed his lips. “My
hero.”

He stroked her face. “You
never have to worry about your safety or Madison’s again. He’ll get out one day,
but I can promise you that when he does, he won’t even think about coming
within a thousand feet of you. I’ll make sure of it, baby.”

“I know. I trust you with my
life, Tucker. More importantly, I trust you with my daughter’s life.”

He knew that nothing meant
more to her than Maddie, and the fact that she trusted him with her daughter
solidified their future more than a band of gold ever could.

He brushed his lips across
her damp cheek. “I’ll never let you down, Rachel.”

She smiled up at him. “I
know. That’s why I love you.”

About the Author

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author visit
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Thank
You

Brant County Series

Book One -
Backdraft

Firefighter, Dave
Briar, is devastated when he finds his high school sweetheart, Maya, in bed
with his best friend, Craig. He's able to forgive his friend when he beats the
drug addiction that led to their betrayal, but even after a decade, he can't
forgive or forget the girl who broke his heart.