Chapter 15

Lauren took an unsteady step backward, her eyes refusing to turn away from the gruesome depictions of those photographs. Aaron saw her frozen state and stepped quickly over the mattress to reach her, effectively blocking her from seeing the pictures.

"Oh, my God...oh, my God...oh, my God..." she whispered, her eyes still fixated where the photographs had been, only now she was staring at his chest.

Aaron held her face in his hands and lifted it.

"Lauren—"

"Oh, my God...oh, my God..."

"Lauren. Look at me, look at me!"

She gasped loudly, bringing a gaze of panic up to meet his calmer one.

"Shh... calm down," Aaron whispered, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on her cheek. "Breathe now...breathe."

Lauren pulled in a haggard breath, trying to keep her cool. She shook her head in Aaron's hands. She had to wrap her head around this, it was a lot, but she had to take it in. Something twisted was happening in Woodfair. And it had been hidden in her grandfather's mattress.

"What the hell is going on?!" she asked, breaking out of his hold.

Aaron lowered his hands as he watched her pace to his door and back again. He drew in a deep breath, steeling himself for what he was about to do next.

Glancing at Lauren to ensure she was still busy pacing, he turned back to the mattress, dropped to his knees and began to gather the horrific pictures of the sexually violated and murdered girls into a pile. His stomach rolled and he fought it. One picture made his hands freeze and he stared at it. Tied up and bloody was a slim girl who looked barely alive. Besides her three smiling men, raising glasses to the camera.

Aaron's lip curled in hatred. He knew it. The moment they found the photographs, he’d known who did it.

Sick bastards. Aaron clenched his jaw as he set all the pictures in a manila envelope.

"It's the Mayor," Lauren suddenly said.

He turned around to find her staring into space, a frown on her face. Aaron could practically hear the wheels turning in her head as she tried to figure things out. Freak out, she did, but damn, she wasn't wasting any more time on that before she got right back in control.

"What makes you think that?" he asked, tossing the envelope into a drawer and locking it.

Lauren pushed her hair out of her face.

"I... heard him on the phone when he was... well, it sounded like he was ordering somebody to find something that was going to destroy his career?" she said, looking at him quizzically. "It didn't make much sense to me at the time. He told the person on the line to 'go back there' the next day and make sure there was ‘nothing on that property'. I'm nearly certain it was the guy who attacked me."

Aaron rested his hands on his hips and tilted his head at her.

"What?" Lauren demanded. "I'm not crazy! I'll bet you a whole bagel that Mayor Stanford is up to some... diabolical stuff and he's been hiding the evidence in my pops' bed! Where nobody would ever think to look, until, of course, I came along."

She snapped her fingers and resumed pacing. He watched her.

"We can't assume, Lauren," Aaron said scratching his brow.

She turned around and threw her hands up in exasperation. "What else do you expect me to do?! Huh? It's not like you'll suddenly decide to trust me and tell me what the hell is going on here, will you?"

Aaron turned away, his face hardening.

Lauren shook her head. "I didn't think so. Big secret keeper, aren’t you, Aaron? You even managed to keep your secrets right through the trial of my momma’s murder, I hear."

Aaron tensed, his gaze lowering. Her words were sharp and they pierced right through him, but he wasn’t angry with her. He had no right to be.

"Look, all of this... it runs deep. Much deeper than you think, Lauren," he responded and Lauren felt her heart slam at the words, remembering what her mother had written in the journal.

It all tied together somehow.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "I know."

A beat of silence passed as they watched each other.

Aaron looked away first and Lauren tilted her head. He always turned away from her. It made her believe even more that he was hiding things and was afraid she'd see it in his eyes.

The eyes tell everything. Aaron was afraid his enchanting gold ones would give away his secrets. Lauren hoped they did.

"Nobody hears about the photographs, Lauren. Not Grayson or... anybody," Aaron finally warned, lifting the dusty mattress and carrying it toward the door.

She glanced at him. "I'm not stupid, you know."

"Right. That’s why you’re happily stayin’ in Stanford’s house. Also why you innocently ran up to the Reverend’s house in the middle of the fucking night with no protection. Real smart."

Lauren watched him pull open his bedroom door with dangerously narrowed eyes.

"I’ll ignore the sarcasm. Where are you going?" Lauren asked, eyeing the drawer where he'd thrown the pictures.

They were only photographs, but she didn't want to be alone in the same room as them. Doubtless, the horrific deaths all those young girls suffered would fill her head the moment he was gone.

"I'm gonna get rid of this," said Aaron, indicating the mattress he carried.

Lauren's fingers pulled on each other. "I'm coming with you."

"It's almost midnight. Go to sleep," Aaron said gently, but Lauren shook her head.

"I'm coming with you."

"Fine."

He trudged silently out, leaving her to catch up. Lauren followed, trying not to let every shadow make her jump onto Aaron's shoulders. She looked at the back of his blonde head as they walked. She’d really gone mad. Lauren couldn’t understand what was pushing her to trust Aaron more than anyone right now. He was the last person on the earth she should be trusting! He threw a glance over his shoulder suddenly, making sure she was right behind him. Their eyes made contact and Lauren felt warmth spread through her body.

That.

He made her feel that. The warmth, the safety. The heat between her thighs when he stared at her. That’s why she was starting to trust him.

Shit.

Lauren sighed.

She clutched her hands together as he lead the way into the back yard, where he set the mattress on the ground and started pouring some liquid over it.

Lauren glanced everywhere around them anxiously, her heart skipping a beat with every owl that hooted and every cricket that called.

"Relax. You're safe," said Aaron as he crouched.

She inched a little closer to him, nodding at his statement. He flicked his wrist and the entire mattress became set aflame.

He slowly straightened and Lauren could have sworn she felt more heat from his body than from the fire. His gaze remained on the tall flames that destroyed what was left of the old mattress even as her eyes turned to him.

Lauren stood absolutely still as Aaron stared at the fire. She watched the flames dancing in his eyes and saw the twitch of a muscle in his jaw as he became aware of her staring.

She couldn't understand it. This pull she felt toward Aaron Spencer.

Just a few days ago, she would have been ready to stake her life that he had a special throne waiting in Hell with a big sign that read 'Satan' and now... now, here she was, standing next to him, painfully aware that his body this close to hers made her throb in places she blushed to think of.

But he was Aaron Spencer and even if she thought he might not have killed pops and momma... it really still remained to be proven.

Seriously, it could just be her hormones thinking for her.

Abruptly, Aaron turned and started back toward the house. Lauren took one look at the dark woods nearby and hurried after him because she really preferred the devil she knew. Only God knew what lurked in those woods.

He held the kitchen door open until she'd come inside then closed it behind her. The warmth enclosed them and thawed their souls, frozen from the cold, brutal discoveries they'd made.

Lauren slumped tiredly into a chair, placing her phone on the table beside his and Aaron glanced at her as he pulled open the fridge and pulled out some grapes.

He put them on the table and sat beside her.

Lauren scoffed. "Grapes?"

Aaron cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah. Far too late in the night to be havin' anythin’ heavier. It's not healthy," he murmured seriously.

Lauren stared at him, puzzled. "I can't believe it," she murmured, her mouth twitching in amusement. "Aaron Spencer, the nutritionist."

The sound of her laughter filled the kitchen and Aaron rolled his eyes, fighting a grin.

"I gotta stay fit since I'm a fireman, alright? It comes with the job." he defended, pushing the tray of grapes toward her elbow.

She popped a grape into her mouth a smiled at him. "Mhmm," she said.

Silence fell again and Laura inwardly winced. Did she just make a damn joke and laugh after seeing pictures of young girls strung up like kebabs? What was happening to her?

"What's wrong?" Aaron asked, anxiety nipping at his heart that she had finally remembered who she was sitting with and would go right back to hating his guts, asking to be taken home.

He looked down at the table, waiting for her response.

Lauren shrugged both shoulders. "It's just... those pictures were haunting... but here we are, eating grapes and laughing." she sighed. "Somebody should book us into a mental hospital."

Aaron stared at her. He wanted to respond, but his brain kept getting stuck on the words 'we' and 'us' and how casually she used them referring to them two. It made his throat dry. And annoyed the shit out of him because he was a thirty-five-year-old man acting like a hormonal teenager just because a woman ten years younger than him said 'we'.

For fuck's sake.

Lauren glanced at him, saw him glaring at the table and ignoring what she said. She poked him in the shoulder.

"Hmm?" said Aaron as he turned to her.

She inched closer, intrigued. Aaron wished she wouldn't. There was some scent around her, he didn't know what it was, but it was fucking with him.

"What are you thinking?" Lauren asked suspiciously as she inched closer to him, resting her elbows on the table.

He stared down at her face an inch away from his shoulder and swallowed, turning quickly away.

"You're thinking about the Mayor, aren't you?" Laura accused, offended that he left her out of his thought processes.

Aaron sighed, squirming a little.

"Knew it!" said Laura and jabbed a finger into his shoulder. "What do you think? That I'm some delicate little china teacup? I'm not going to crumble, Aaron, I need to figure this out too! Plus I found that first picture, so I claim rights on any new discoveries you make."

She leaned back and popped a grape into her mouth, unaware of him taking the first breath since she'd leaned so closely into him.

Aaron was sure he'd felt her breasts brush against his arm and he knew she'd done it accidentally and it really was a tiny brush, but Lauren could have stripped and climbed into his lap for the way he became so hard.

"It's not safe," he murmured, his irritation with his own body making his tone sharper than he'd intended.

Lauren snorted. "Yeah, I think I figured that out tonight."

He turned to her. "About that, you still didn't explain what you were doing there so damn late, Lauren."

She crossed her arms and gave him a side-eye. "It's my house, so I think you should explain first. What were you doing there?"

He leaned back in his seat and ran his tongue over his lips to moisten them. A tiny dent appeared toward the top of his cheek and Lauren focused her eyes on it until it disappeared.

He was quiet for a while and her heart thudded. Why was he hesitating?

"I know what the Mayor's up to," he finally confessed quietly.

She blinked. "What? What's he up to?"

Aaron sighed heavily and got up, walking over to the sink. Lauren immediately got up too.

"See, that's where I can't take you," said Aaron, shaking his head.

She squinted at him like he was insane. "What the hell do you mean? I just got attacked by some brute and then found disgusting images in my grandfather's bed! This is all related to my grandfather, I can feel that! So, wherever 'it' is, you're taking me there!"

He turned to her with narrowed eyes. “You don’t even know what any of this is about, Lauren!”

She stilled. Aaron’s eyes softened as he looked at her. Before she could say another word, he closed the distance between them.

A hand whipped around her waist and Lauren gasped as Aaron spun her face him with her back to the sink.

She stared up at his frowning face, trying and failing to regulate her breathing. His hand remained around her. Lauren couldn’t find the will to remove its warmth. He pulled her close until she could feel the imprint of his body against hers.

His gold eyes sought hers out and when she lifted her gaze to his, Lauren’s heart swelled with a feeling she couldn’t name.

He looked at her so tenderly, like she was the most precious thing in the world to him. The tenderness, the reverence in his eyes had Lauren’s throat drying.

Aaron caressed a finger over his soft cheek.

“Lauren... I need you to be patient for me, alright?” His plea was gentle, but she heard the desperation behind it. “It’s dangerous. Those people are dangerous, I just want to protect you. I promise.”

Lauren bit the inside of her cheek and gave him a nod. “Okay.”

He nodded back and when his eyes dropped to her mouth, Lauren tensed. Her heart rate tripled as she watched him fight the desire pulsating between them.

With a sigh, Aaron stepped away from her. “I’ll be right back.”

She watched him stride out of the kitchen with wide eyes, before sinking back onto her chair. The kitchen suddenly seemed cold and dark without Aaron there, but Lauren fought against that feeling. She wouldn’t be pathetic. She wouldn’t let herself rely so totally on him, even if... even if he looked at her like she was his everything

A vibration made Lauren start and she looked down at her phone, but it was Aaron’s screen that was brightly lit.

It was a phone call. Lauren frowned at the caller ID. Stace. Who was that?

Her fingers tingled and Lauren looked up at the empty kitchen. Was it his girlfriend? Biting her lip, Lauren reached for the phone, but before she could pick it up, the call was cut off. Her hand froze and she sighed. She had no business answering his calls anyway.

Suddenly a text appeared on his screen. Lauren read it and felt her body go cold.

"You asleep? I wanted to say thanks for today. I forget all my problems when you make me feel good, Aaron. Let’s do it again? See you at the Firehouse.

xxx, Stacy."

Lauren swallowed, moistening her dry throat. Wow. Stacy, huh? She pulled her hands into her lap, hiding the tightening fists. She didn’t care. He could sleep with whoever he wanted, she didn’t give a damn. It was probably some firewoman with huge tits and a big butt. But Lauren didn’t care anyway.

Pursing her lips, Lauren stood up from the table as Aaron walked back in. He had put the photographs in a safe place and was satisfied until he saw the sour look Lauren was giving him.

He halted in the doorway, entering slowly and carefully.

“Is... there a problem?”

She shrugged. “No. Why would there be? Cause you’re a big, hot fireman and you’re most wanted by all women?!”

Lauren crossed her arms, ignoring the puzzled expression on Aaron’s face.

“Uhm...” he began. “I’m... what?”

Lauren rolled her eyes and said nothing, popping another grape into her mouth. With a sigh, Aaron grabbed his phone. The moment the screen lit, Lauren saw his face go pale.

With a muttered curse, he left the kitchen, switching off the light as he did so. Lauren squeaked, plunged into darkness before racing out of the previously cozy kitchen where every shadow suddenly became a monster.

She scurried along in the darkness until she bumped into Aaron's back. He reached out and steadied her. Quietly she followed him back to the room, mentally ordering herself to bring back the matter concerning the Mayor.

He always did that. He'd just ignore her question until she asked another one then he'd give her some half-assed answer and let her believe he’d told her what she wanted to know when, really, he didn't tell her shit!

Well, that was ending today.

The moment she closed the door behind her, she put his fists on her hips and narrowed her eyes on him.

"Speak up," she ordered threateningly.

Aaron merely glanced at her before returning to removing his shoes.

“First of all, Stacy isn’t—”

“Not that,” said Lauren, closing her eyes and raising a hand. He had a girlfriend or lover and it wasn’t Lauren, whatever, fine. She still needed answers. “Why were you at my house?”

Aaron’s mouth twitched.

She stared at him, tapping her foot for two minutes straight and he realized she wasn't going to drop it. He sighed and glanced up at her.

She raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

He stood and walked over to her. Lauren braced herself for the feeling she always got in her stomach when he came so close and tried to focus on his words. This was important.

"Look..." he began hesitantly. “The Mayor's had that man lookin' around your house for a couple of days now. I saw him a few times and ignored it, cause well... it's none of my business."

"How is it your business now?" she asked with a tilted head.

He glared at her and continued. "You been workin' in the place now. Gray told me you were waitin’ for a chance to spend a day alone there, lookin' through stuff. What if he had come on whatever day you went over there and you accidentally caught him? He could have killed you. So I decided to catch him last night and warn him off. And I was right, only I really didn' expect you to go wanderin' off by yourself at night."

Lauren uncrossed her arms and slid her hands into her back pockets. "So...what? You were trying to protect me?"

Aaron flushed a little, shrugged and looked away. "Yes."

She stared at him, that feeling filling her heart again. How did he do that to her? She’d never wanted to kiss a man so much in her life.

He turned away and headed back to his bed.

Lauren was considering telling him about her mother's journal when he suddenly raised his arms and tugged his shirt off.

Her mouth and eyes simultaneously opened wide before she clamped them shut turning quickly away.

"Uh... should I leave?" she asked timidly, still seeing his muscled body behind her closed lids.

Aaron folded his shirt slowly, watching her with a smile as she hunched her shoulders away from him.

"Just where the hell will you go? It’s nearly two in the mornin’."

She sighed and turned back to him, forcing her gaze to stay on his face.

Aaron felt a worry tug at his heart. He didn't like her staying with Stanford's family. Those people were snakes and Aaron knew it even if nobody else did. All blinded by the memory of their lovely priest.

"So... I sleep here?" Lauren asked, shoving her hands under her hoodie. He nodded.

"If you're not comfortable with me on the bed..."

"No, no, it's okay," she reassured him. She wasn't about to kick him out of his own bed. Besides, she didn't mind feeling his presence to feel safe.

He nodded and awkwardly shoved his hands into his pockets.

"But I, uh... don't have anything to sleep in."

Lauren cringed at her own words. Ah, damn, it wasn't her fault. She hardly expected to get ambushed by some thug and have to spend the night at Aaron Spencer's house. She silently gasped as he pulled open his wardrobe.

She was spending the night at Aaron Spencer's house! God, Martha would have a fit if she knew.

Her thoughts faded as Aaron held a large jumper up in front of her.

"My mom made it," he murmured. "It's a size too big for me."

She smiled up at him and took it. "Your mom's an angel."

Aaron nodded and turned away, sitting on the side of the bed that faced the window. She stared at his back and felt her belly do a somersault. She was supposed to get naked right here, behind him. Behind Aaron.

Lauren swallowed and kicked her Taylors off before stripping out off her clothes.

She had taken off her bra and dropped it on the pile before she remembered she wasn't sleeping in her own damn bed.

With a panicked gasp, she reached down for it.

"All done?" asked Aaron, making Lauren quickly straighten and hold the jumper over her body.

"Uhh... nearly!"

She cursed and pulled the jumper over her head, praying it was warm enough for her nipples not to show. God, what the hell was she doing? How did it even come to this? Lauren fought back a laugh at her situation and slowly approached the bed.

The jumper came halfway down her thighs and enveloped her in warmth and Aaron's scent.

"Done," she muttered.

He sighed and turned, swinging his legs into the bed. Then he saw her and froze in a weird position. Lauren fingers found each other and fiddled as Aaron's golden eyes turned caramel brown as he stared at her. She saw his throat work as he swallowed.

"Uhm, goodnight," he murmured and turned his body to face the windows.

Lauren quickly and shakily climbed onto her side of the bed and put the bedside lamp off.

They lay stiff as dead birds, facing opposite directions, both wide awake at two in the morning.

Lauren glanced at the back of his head.

“Aaron?”

“Yeah?”

“Uhm... what were you going to say?”

“About?”

Lauren squirmed and bit her lip. “Uhm... Stacy. What were you going to say?”

Aaron smiled into the dark. “That she means absolutely nothin’ more than a colleague to me and I wish she would understand that.”

Lauren turned onto her side, facing his back. “You make all your colleagues feel good?” she whispered.

Aaron sighed. “That’s in her head. She could hug me and tell everyone I made her feel good. It means nothing. Really.”

Lauren was putting all her effort into ignoring the relief that had poured into her heart. She didn’t care about Stacy. With a smile, she pulled the covers up.

“Okay,” she whispered.

Aaron shifted uncomfortably. He was getting hard as rock and the fucking covers kept rubbing against him, aggravating his arousal.

He reached down to take his damn pants off since they were doing more harm than good. Dropping them onto the floor between the bed and the window, he got back into his sleeping position and closed his eyes.

He wouldn't think about Lauren laying behind him, naked beneath that jumper. Soft and ready for his touch. He wouldn't think about it because it would drive him insane.

He thought about how he would fight the war he knew was coming. How he'd manage to protect Lauren and still shatter her heart with what he knew. There was no other way. Whether or not Aaron kept quiet, she would still get hurt. The truth had to come out.

And it would.

*****

They slept deeply from their fatigue, but it was only an hour and a half later with the morning still dark as a lock of the devil's hair, that Lauren shifted in her sleep.

Her body heated and Aaron felt it. He opened his eyes, needing no light to know that Lauren's soft body was entwined with his in the middle of the bed. His arms were wrapped around her body, feeling smooth skin and he realized her jumper had ridden up her body. The feeling of her nearly killed him.

“Uh... Lauren?” he whispered.

Her breath was warm against his neck where the sensation of her lips close to his skin tickled. Her smooth, long legs wrapped around his as she slept and her hand rested low on his abdomen. Dangerously close to his raging hard-on. Aaron fought to keep his breath steady. If he moved, her lips would touch him and that would end him.

Then Lauren shifted again, moaning in her sleep. Aaron shut his eyes tight as his cock hardened painfully. This was wrong. He had to move her.

"Aaron..." she moaned and he froze.

Had Lauren just... moaned his name in her sleep? He held his breath as her neck arched on a deep moan and her lips made contact with his skin.

She parted them... sucked...

"Fuck..."