In Zach's Arms (Once a Marine, Always a Marine Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

then he took her breath away.
    “What did you find out this afternoon? About the break-ins?”
    The heat coming off the fire couldn’t dispel the chill her question caused. She hated that she was still so freaked out, but couldn’t stop the dread.
    “What makes you think I know anything?”
    “Because you are who you are.”
    Zach moved to the couch and sat on the floor, his back reclined against her knees. With a blanket over her arms and lap, and Zach’s warm back against her legs, the frosty feeling of dismay that had been with her all week slowly gave way.
    It was safe here.
    As he stared into the flames, Zach rubbed his back against her. It was like a large bear trying to scratch an itch against a tree. Smiling, Elizabeth untangled her arms from the blanket and scratched the middle of his back. A rumbling grunt of approval reached her ears as he leaned his head forward and goose bumps spread over his skin.
    “You have no idea how good that feels.”
    “Tell me about your phone calls,” she asked, rubbing her palms up to his shoulders to work out the knot of tension he carried there. “Do they have any suspects yet?”
    “No. They don’t have any usable prints. The guy wore gloves and the DNA results aren’t back yet. Those tests take time.”
    “I guess I hoped this was some random thing. Maybe a junkie with a criminal history, someone easily caught.” Leaning forward, Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Zach’s neck and nestled her head between his shoulder blades. “Why is this happening to me?”
    Zach reached up and threaded his fingers through hers. His hands were big and warm and gave her a little tingle. “I don’t know, but you’re safe here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
    “I know.”
    It was so easy being with Zach. It always had been. If only he didn’t want more than she could give him. More than she could give anyone.
    “Did you leave because of me?”
    “To the Marines?”
    “Yes.” Her voice caught. She was digging at an old wound, but like something infected, it needed to be ripped open and cleaned. It continued to cloud their relationship, making it strained. Even now, she felt it like a shadow, lurking in the back of their minds.
    “I asked you to marry me, Beth. You can’t even say the words.”
    There it was. Raw and angry. Even though his voice held no inflection. “We were too young.”
    “I knew what I wanted.” He unthreaded his fingers from hers and moved away to shuffle the logs around in the fire.
    The warmth moved away with him. She slumped back against the couch and ran a hand through her hair. “We could have still been together. You know I wanted that.”
    “That’s just sex.” He turned and speared her with a look. “I wanted more than that from you.”
    “You know how I feel about mar—commitment,” she gulped. He was right, she couldn’t even say the stupid word. “It’s nothing but a trap. Look at the divorce rate in this country. It’s more than fifty percent. It’s old-fashioned and outdated.”
    “Well, I guess I’m old fashioned. I’m not your asshole father, Beth. And you sure as hell aren’t your mother.”
    “Leave my mom out of this.”
    Zach frowned, but continued. “She’s part of the reason you feel like this. You try to lay all the blame on how your dad treated you both, but the fact is, she could have left any time. She didn’t. She stayed and kept you both in that hell.”
    She shied away from thinking about them. Better to focus on her and Zach. “You never answered the question. Is that why you left?”
    “Partly.”
    She waited when he got quiet. The room was toasty warm now and the sun was setting. Finally, he looked her in the eyes and answered.
    “I needed to get away from you. I could have taken the sex, but it wouldn’t have been enough back then. And I was angry.” He shrugged and shook his head. “I knew I needed discipline and I needed a sense of family. Foster care didn’t give me either of