Her hands trembled. “Go away,” she shouted through the door. “Get out of my room.”

“I’m not going to hurt you.” She could hear Wyatt pacing on the other side of the bathroom.

“I don’t know who to trust. Please go.”

She looked at the unfolded pile of clean clothes in the laundry basket. At least she could put on something to wear. She threw the silk nightie in her hamper and reached for a rust colored sweater and a pair of jeans.

“Wyatt?” she called, wondering if the silence meant he had left.

“Yeah?”

She sighed. He was still there. But who was he? What was he?

She had seen the look in his eyes when he barged in and found Mitchell holding her to the wall. There was a sense of utter protection and devotion emanating from his body. She had felt safe the instant she saw him. Somehow she knew Mitchell wouldn’t hurt her with Wyatt in the room.

She cracked the door. “I’m coming out.”

“Good.”

She stood in front of him, not sure what to say. When she awoke in his arms this morning she had felt as if they were tied together. She knew his secrets. Only, there were more he hadn’t shared.

“I swear I won’t hurt you.” His eyes pleaded with her.

“I didn’t think Mitchell would hurt me either, but he just tried to strangle me.” She could still feel where his fingers had pressed into her throat.

Wyatt grunted. “He’s a damn tool. I wouldn’t expect much.”

Her eyes shot to him. “What did he mean that you were a trained killer? Why did he say that? What the hell was he talking about?”

He shook his head. “I can’t believe you’ve been with that asshole two years.”

“Agreed but don’t try to change the subject.”

She sat down on the bed and he followed facing her. Ready to bare his soul to her. Ready to share his secret.

* * *

“I left the Army a week ago.” He gripped at her hand, drawing strength from her to keep talking. “I was in Special Forces as a Green Beret. I never thought I’d leave. I never thought I would be anything other than a soldier.”

“What happened? Why did you leave? I need to know.”

He continued with his story. “I had been in Bhazni for three years.” He closed his eyes recalling the details from his last night in the country. “We parachuted into our target. It was standard. Quieter than a chopper,” he explained. “I landed on the ground with seven men on my team.”

Aly’s eyes were wide. He could see the shades of brown glowing with growing concern.

“But I didn’t leave with all seven.”

He felt her hand clutch his. “Wyatt…”

He kept talking. “They were the men I had called brothers. The men I swore to protect. The men who protected me.”

“What happened?” Her voice was quiet and soft.

They were the memories he had fought to forget. The ones he buried under his skin and the fibers of his being. The ones that had pushed him into the wind and down the road.

“We were used to attacks.” He shook his head. “We were trained for them. It happened all the time. But not like that one. It wasn’t like anything we had ever seen before.”

“How was it different?”

Wyatt thought about the in-processing he completed when he returned to Washington. They had put him in an office with an Army psychiatrist. He had to be cleared before they would let him leave the Army. He knew how to answer the questions. He had been trained so well he could evade mandatory counseling.

He hadn’t wanted to tell the man with the thin nose and square glasses about what he saw in Bhazni. It wasn’t any of his damn business. He didn’t care if he had to fill in a box on a checklist. So, Wyatt had told the man what he wanted to hear. Enough to get a clean bill of health and complete his discharge papers.

Being next to Aly stirred something in him. The man in him needed to tell her. He wanted to finally let go of everything he had been carrying on his shoulders.

He lifted his eyes to her. “The entire village was part of the ambush. Every building. Every car. Every street. All of it was lined with explosives.”

“Oh my God. What? Why?”

“They knew we would be there. One of our field agents was working against us. By the time my Green Beret team and a Ranger team showed up, the village had been evacuated. But we didn’t figure it out in time. They blew the whole thing up. There wasn’t anything left.”

“But you survived?”

He nodded. He knew he shouldn’t have. He should have been part of the embers like everyone else, but he had survived. His ability to heal quickly helped him escape the flames and smoke. He had the kind of strength and stamina no other man had.

“By the time I figured out what had happened, it was too late. I tried to pull some of the men out, but they were already gone.” He clutched his fingers together. “They were all dead. Every last one of them.”

“How did you get out of there?”

“My radio worked. I called in for backup. I searched the buildings while I waited. I wanted to find who was responsible, but there was no one in town. No one to take in. No one to make pay for what they had done.” He felt the anger surfacing with the memory of scaling the burning village for the cowards who had sabotaged the mission.

He had been raging with fury. He’d never felt anger sear him like it did that night. There wasn’t a damn thing he could do to save anyone, or find justice for their murders.

“I don’t know how long I waited before the helicopter touched down. I stood in the middle of the town watching it burn down around me. An entire village gone. They sacrificed their homes and schools just to ambush us. I’ve never seen anything so vile and dark.” He lowered his eyes as the pain ripped through his chest.

Aly’s hand slid to his cheek, warm and soft. “I’m so sorry, Wyatt.” He closed his eyes, trying to absorb the silkiness of her palm as a tear dropped from his lids.

“They were all gone.” He let the memories seep in. He remembered their faces. The jokes they used to make. The stories they told about their families. “Just gone,” he whispered.

“I know. I know.” She pulled his head to her shoulder and wrapped her arms around his bare back. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t know why I didn’t die with them. I should have died. I shouldn’t be here. I don’t deserve it.” He flinched. “I don’t deserve you, Aly.”

She rubbed her hands against his skin with gentle strokes. “Don’t say that. Don’t ever say that.”

“It’s true. I should have been able to save them. Someone.”

She shifted on the bed so she could look in his eyes. “Why would you think that was your responsibility? I know you did all that you could. You are a survivor, Wyatt. A true warrior.”

“Surviving is my burden,” he groaned.

“No,” she whispered. “It’s not. I promise.”

He stared at her. Fuck he loved her so much.

“It’s true that I was trained to kill. All of us in Special Forces are. But when my contract ran out after I got back, I decided to let that part of me go.”

She was silent.

He took a deep breath. “I thought I would just wander forever until I found St. Claire. Until I found you, Aly.”

He touched her cheek.

“I didn't tell you because you were already promised to someone else and I didnt want to burden you. I mean you were engaged up until about twenty minutes ago.”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “Right.” Nothing made sense, but at the same time she had clarity she hadn’t felt since she met Mitchell.

“Nothing has changed for me, Aly.” His blue eyes pierced her soul. “I want you just as much as I ever had. I want every part of you. I want to give you everything you need.” His hand lingered against her cheek. She wanted him to touch her as much as she was afraid of it.

“I was running. Hell-bent on escaping the memories. But I know the reason my bike broke down in St. Claire. It was to meet you.” His touch sent fire across her cheek. “I was in a black hole until I saw you.”

“I can’t even think.” She tried to push off the bed, but his hands gripped the side of her face, drawing her lips to his.

She groaned when his tongue slipped in her mouth. He kissed her hungrily, biting and sucking. The fever began to sweep between her legs. She clung to him as the kiss deepened.

Wyatt cradled her face in his hands, drawing her close to him. He savored the taste of her as their tongues twined. He drew a moan from her throat as he sucked and bit at her lips.

His hands slid to her hips.

“God, you’re fucking beautiful.” He stared at her breasts, ripe and round. Pink and soft. Puckering for him. Begging to be sucked.

He gripped one before his teeth landed on the nipple. He tugged and toyed, while his tongue flicked against her skin.

“Ohh,” she moned, fisting her hands at the back of his head.

The nipple perked under the heat of his mouth. He blew across it. He kissed between her breasts, then moved to the other side, sucking hard until he heard the moans from the back of her throat. His teeth raked against her skin as he sank to his knees, kissing and licking against her flesh.

He wanted to cover every inch of her. Taste her. Suck her, and fuck her until she was screaming his name.

His eyes flashed up to hers. Her gorgeous brown eyes misted with lust and want. It was all he needed to see. And in an instant he peeled the panties from her hips, dropping them to her ankles. She stood before him, flat against the wall. Her head reeled back. Her legs spread wide.

He didn’t ask. He knew exactly what he wanted. What he wanted to feel. His hands moved between her legs, spreading her slick folds wide for him.

“Ohh,” she whimpered.

With each moan and rock of her hips he felt his cock grow more solid.

“Aly?”

“Oh God.” Aly pushed off his massive chest. Her face flushed with want. “Yes?”

Jenny was knocking on the office door. Aly rushed to meet her. “We have a guest ready to check in.”

“Oh, right. The Sneldermans were supposed to be here at ten. Thank you.” She turned to look at Wyatt.

“We’ll talk later.” She collected herself and walked out, plastering a smile on her pink face. “Hi. Welcome to the Long Pine Inn.”