Indigo Ridge (The Edens, #1)

by Devney Perry

One look at her beautiful face, and for a moment, I forgot to breathe.

Winn’s blue eyes broke from mine, and the moment her gaze dropped to my mouth, I was done for. I leaned closer. “What are you doing?” she whispered. “I have no fucking clue.” Then my lips were on hers.

We passed two men, tourists based on their polo shirts, jeans and unscuffed boots. They both looked Winn up and down. It wasn’t subtle and her mouth pressed into a line as she ignored them, her eyes aimed forward. Brave men, not only because she was wearing a gun, but because I was a possessive bastard. With one glare from me, they each dropped their eyes to the sidewalk.

My skin craved the heat from hers. My fingers twitched, desperate to thread through her hair. My arms ached to hold her as she fell asleep. I missed her blue eyes. I missed the freckles on her nose.

Except then he’d walked through my office door with flowers and suddenly all I wanted was more. More nights. More weeks. More.

Griffin raised his eyebrows, then with two long, stomping strides, he planted his hands on the desk, leaning so far down that the fury in his gaze hit me like a heat blast. “I don’t fuck two women at the same time.”

“Don’t take your mind for granted, Griffin. Or your heart. They are your gifts. And they are not guaranteed from one day to the next.”

In a sea of people, above the noise and below the lights, one look from him and the world had melted away.

One morning spent in a rocking chair, and the world had shifted. Like going for a ride and veering off the main path to get a look from a different angle, and then discovering that the trail you’d been on was lacking in every way imaginable. I was in it with this woman. So fucking in it.

Except that evening, surrounded by my family, a piece was missing. I hadn’t realized until late in the evening, when I’d glanced across the arena and found Winn at the fence, that the missing piece was her.

I stepped close and took her face in my hands, my fingers threading through the wet strands of hair at her temples. “I’ll hold you. If you have a nightmare, I won’t let go.”

I was in it with this woman. So fucking in it.

I hadn’t even realized what we’d lacked until I’d met Griffin. I hadn’t understood what it was like to crave a person. To long for their voice, their scent, their taste. Eight years with Skyler. One month with Griffin. I’d choose Griffin every time.

“If you want to keep that hand attached to your body, you’ll take it off of her right now.” The deep rumbling voice behind Skyler sent a shiver racing down my spine. The thud of boots echoed before Griffin stepped onto the porch and came to my side. The glare he aimed Skyler’s way brought a smile to my lips. Jealousy on Griffin Eden looked incredibly sexy. “I don’t know who you are or what you’re doing, but I’m having a conversation with Winnie,” Skyler said, standing taller. “And I’m here to give her an orgasm before dinner. Let’s find out which one of us she’d rather have stick around.”

“You lost her.” Griffin’s voice had an edge unlike anything I’d heard before. An edge that made me glad I was standing on his side, not the opposing. “You fucked up and lost her. She’s mine. And I won’t fuck it up.” Mine.

He claimed me. One sweep of his tongue and those words he’d told Skyler raced through my body. She’s mine.

Mom had told me once that we worried for those we loved most. For Winn, I’d always worry.

“Hey, baby.”

“You have me twisted up, woman. So fucking twisted up.” “Want to unwind? Call it quits?” He leaned away and his hands moved to my face, his fingers threading through the hair at my temples. “I don’t think I could quit you if I tried.” “Even if we fight?” “Especially when we fight.”

She’d told me that one day, she hoped I’d find a man who’d fight with me. Who’d love me even when he wanted to strangle me. Who’d never quit fighting because what we had was worth a few angry words.

“Hey.” His thumbs caught the two tears that escaped. “You can’t cry, Winn. It destroys me. Don’t cry, baby.” I sniffled away the sting in my nose. “It’s just been a long few days.” “Lean on me.” He kissed my forehead, then hugged me again, squeezing so tight that if my knees buckled, I wouldn’t drop an inch. I leaned on him. And for the first time in a long time, I knew the man holding me tight wouldn’t let me fall.

She’d leave each morning, and the daily worry about her would settle in as an underlying current to the day. The distraction of work helped, but I wouldn’t really breathe until she was here. Under my roof. In my bed.

“Baby,

Winn was going to be a part of my life—no ifs, just facts—and

“They’ve claimed you now.” She locked her eyes with mine. “Have they? And what about you?” “Oh, I claimed you a long time ago.” The night I’d met her at Willie’s. I hadn’t realized it at the time, but from that night on, she’d been mine.

Where the fuck was my Winn?

“We have so much ahead of us. But I need you to wake up.” In the days that I’d been here, I’d begged her countless times. Because maybe if she could just hear my voice . . . “Find your way back to me. Please. You can’t leave me yet.” There was so much I had to tell her. So much good she’d done that she deserved to celebrate. “Winslow.” I closed my eyes. “I love you. We’ve got a lifetime together. But you have to wake up, baby. You have to wake up. Find your way back to me.”