Kat tucked away those memories as she pulled up to the cabin, shut off the bike, and took her flashlight out of her saddlebags. She hadn’t been there since she came home and she wasn’t even sure it would still be there. It was an abandoned cottage that a man had built for his wife after returning home from Vietnam in the early seventies. They lived in it for thirty years before they both got too old to stay so far away from town and doctor’s offices and hospitals. Kat knew them from the bar. They used to come in every Friday night and call it “date night” when she was a little girl. She thought it was silly then, but now that she was grown…and alone…she could appreciate the romanticism of it.

The man had passed away first when Kat was in her late teens and the woman passed not long after. Kat had been shocked when she got a visit from an attorney who told her they had left the old cottage to her in their will. They didn’t have any children and they’d taken a liking to Kat. The old man used to tell her that he liked her “fire.” The place wasn’t much even then, but Kat had it in her head that someday she and the man she fell in love with would live there. It was a place she’d finally taken David after that first night they made love, and it was where they had ultimately conceived a child that he was never supposed to know about. The mixture of good and painful memories associated with the old building was almost overwhelming, and she had to concentrate on breathing as she approached it.

It sat crouched into an overgrown, grassy embankment and gave the impression that it was trying to hide. The roof shone in the moonlight, though, and the hand-built chimney rose unevenly against the dark sky. It was made from bricks and stones, mismatched and uneven, but its oddness was what had always attracted her. Kat never went in for the “normal” things. She liked the misfits and weirdos, the underdogs and the people that society labeled with ugly names just because they refused to try to fit in. This place was like that. It was a misfit, an underdog that should have never stood for over fifty years, but despite that, it was still going strong.

When she got up to the door she shone the light up across the top of the doorframe and stood on her toes, looking for the key. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when the door was pulled inward and a harsh light was suddenly in her face. “What the fuck?!” she yelled as she reeled backwards. She stumbled on a loose board and a strong arm caught her around the waist. The familiar scent of him flooded her senses as she realized that once again she was face to face with David.

“Hello again.”

“David? What are you doing here?” She pulled away from him because she was afraid that if she didn’t, she’d curl into him and hold on until he peeled her off.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here and let myself in without asking you.”

Kat was trying to get her brain to work, but now that he’d taken the light out of her eyes and they were beginning to adjust…she could see him. He had always been handsome, but his military-cut blond hair, deep green eyes, and smooth face had always given him a kind of “little boy” look. He used to have hard, sinewy muscles in his arms and legs, but on his six-foot-four frame, covered by his clothes, he’d always appeared slightly skinny and undernourished. His hair was longer now, not below his ears, but he’d let the top grow out and it stood up all over his head at the moment like he’d been dragging his hands through it. Those green eyes were as sexy as ever, but unless Kat was imagining it, they held a more mature, and maybe even harder look in them than they used to. He had stubble across his jaw and upper lip, darker than his hair, and his body had gone from long, lean muscle to something a UFC fighter might be proud of. Kat’s eyes went to one of the biceps that his t-shirt was straining against and she caught a glimpse of colored ink peeking out. David had a tattoo…wow.

“Kat? Are you okay?”

She realized she’d been staring at him and not talking for way too long. It took her another long few seconds to get enough moisture in her mouth to form words. “Yeah…” She cleared her throat. “I’m fine. I was just…startled.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No. Don’t be sorry. It’s okay for you to be here…I’ll go.”

“Don’t go.” And there it was…that tickle of hope in her belly that she hadn’t felt for so long. She didn’t want to feel it because she knew it would eventually leave her feeling like she had a knife in her gut that she couldn’t remove. “I’ll go.” And there that was…he didn’t want her to stay so they could talk or cuddle or any of the stupid, romantic things that had flashed through her head. He was going to leave her there…alone.

“No, really, it’s okay. I was just mad at Dillon, but I should get back before he loses the bar in a bet or some shit.”

David chuckled. “I haven’t seen Dillon in a few years, but it sounds like he hasn’t changed.”

“Not a bit, unfortunately. It was good to see you, David…”

“Kat. “She’d already turned to leave. He had no idea how hard it was for her to look at him and be so close to him. The memories threatened to tear her apart. Turning back around slowly she said:

“Yeah?”

“I hope you’ve been taking care of yourself, and I hope you’re happy.”

What was she supposed to say to that? Should she tell him she left Hollywood because she screwed up a stunt so badly that someone had almost died? Should she tell him that she’d slept with a hundred men in the past five years, but not one of them more than once? Should she tell him that he was the only man she ever loved and there was no way she could ever be happy without him? She’d lost everything that she’d spent her life working toward and she was only twenty-five years old. Maybe she should tell him that sometimes late at night she hated herself so much that she thought about ending it all. Opening her mouth, and not knowing exactly what would come out, she heard herself say:

“I have been, and I am. You too, okay?” David nodded, but his green eyes looked as sad as she felt. She was halfway to her bike when she realized she hadn’t seen a car anywhere. When she looked back at him, he was still in the same spot with his hands in his pockets, watching her. “Where’s your car?”

“I rode my bike.”

“You have a motorcycle now?”

He laughed. “No. My family might be slightly enmeshed with the MC because of Angel and Dax, but I haven’t gone overboard. It’s a mountain bike, and it’s inside.”

“It’s dark.”

He laughed. “I’m a really big boy, Kat, if you haven’t noticed.”

God yes, she had noticed. Even with all the emotions splintering through her body, her panties were still wet. She would have had to have all her senses turned off not to notice. “I just mean…there could be wild animals out here, or anything.”

“If it makes you feel better, I’m probably going to just sleep here tonight, if that’s okay with you.”

“Sure.” His body was pulling hers like a magnet and her head was swimming with things she wanted to say…but couldn’t. Getting her body to turn and her feet to move was like pulling herself out of quicksand. As she climbed on her bike she could see David out of the corner of her eye, still watching her. She wanted to believe that his presence meant he was still trying as hard to get over her as she was him…but then again, she didn’t, because that would be hope again, and fuck that.

Kat didn’t look back as she fired up the bike and took off. She had to get this shit with Dillon wrapped up and get out of Massachusetts again. At least when she was thousands of miles away…it didn’t hurt quite so badly.

* * *

David stood there on the porch for a long time, even after Kat was out of sight. A part of him wanted her to turn around and come back, and a part of him wished that she’d never come back to Massachusetts. His heart hurt, and his head, and they both had been throbbing since Angel told him Kat was back in town. He’d driven out to the ranch that morning to take Angel some things he’d bought for Susie. They were in the middle of their conversation about Kat coming home when Angel was summoned to the meeting. She asked him to wait at the house, but he’d gotten bored and just about the time he wandered down to the clubhouse, he saw Kat storm through the back door. He smiled a little at that. Hurricane was such an appropriate name for her. She “stormed” in everything she did and she left anyone in her path gasping for breath…and sometimes wondering if they would be able to rebuild after the destruction.

He finally went back into the little cabin and lit the lantern he’d brought up with him. He knew the memories would overwhelm him there, but it was the only place he’d wanted to be. He sat down on the floor on top of his sleeping bag and let his mind drift to the past, not to that night…that horrible night that changed all their lives. But instead he lay back, closed his eyes, and thought about the last time he was truly happy and content with his life.

“So, you never told me what you think of my new swimsuit.” It was a Sunday afternoon. David and Kat had gone to church and had breakfast with his family and then they’d ridden on her bike up to the cabin, to spend the day together. As soon as they got there she went into the other room and returned in a bikini…his mouth had gone dry and his hands shook with the need to touch her. Lust raged in his chest and in his loins as he looked at her. She was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen, and sometimes he worried that taming her would be almost as devastating to her spirit as a knife to her heart would be to her body. Her long, black hair was disheveled; she hadn’t bothered to brush it after pulling off her helmet. Her wide, almond-shaped eyes sparkled, her cheeks were flushed, and her lips were red…but Jesus, that bikini on that body was more than any man should be able to take. She did a little dance so that he could see the back of it and he actually felt his cock pushing against the front of his shorts, begging to be let at her. The swimsuit was red, and crocheted or knit or something. There was a black lining under the red thread…and it barely covered all the things he loved so much to look at, and touch. Her breasts weren’t big, but they were perfect and he wanted to lick the swell he could see over the top. The skin over her flat belly glistened with suntan oil and the waistline of that little suit’s bottom dipped so far down that he could almost imagine he saw that sexy little mound of hers. Her thighs were fucking spectacular. A lifetime of being a gymnast had made her body hard…but it was still soft in all the right places. He loved her tattoos too. They were the first thing he’d noticed about her two years before and the first thing his family tried to use against her. But something about one of her arms being covered in a sleeve of colorful ink was unbelievably sexy. “David? Don’t you like it?”

He nearly choked as he tried to speak. “Oh my God,” he sputtered out. “I love it. It’s incredible. You’re incredible. Jesus, Kat, you’re going to kill me.” She giggled and stepped closer, close enough for him to wrap his arm around her waist and pull that incredible body into his.

“I’m glad you like it. Want to go swimming?”

“No.”

She laughed again. “No? What do you want to do?”

“Bend you over and share space with that bikini.”

“Hmm…wow, that sounds hot. How would you…?” He didn’t let her finish. He flipped her little body around and pushed her forward over the chair in front of them. Kat moaned, loudly. David didn’t know why, but she loved it rough. He’d been hesitant to try it that way at first, because he was so much bigger than her and he was so afraid of hurting her…but after two years, they had it down pat.