“Peyton look at me,” Rafe demanded gently. Giving him my eyes, I looked into the depths of his mesmerising green eyes and immediately found that comfort only Rafe could offer.
“They understand honey, no one blames you, not you or Addy. Time Bunny, everything takes time.”
Lightly pressing his lips to my forehead, Rafe gently urged me through the large wooden door to the compound, shutting it firmly behind me.
Leaning against the door, I sucked in a lungful of air and pressing my fisted hands to my thighs, willing them to stop shaking.
Only this time, it wasn’t the memory of Justin that was the cause. Nope, this time it was a tall, dark-haired, brooding soldier with a gentle heart behind my rapid pulse and quaking body.
CHAPTER THREE
RAFE
Despite the voice inside my head calling me all kinds of a fool, I had to smile at the car Peyton drove. Her soft pastel pink and blonde hair suggested to an outsider she was a Swift driver or even a cute VW beetle.
Not my Bunny. No, she owned and proudly drove a Ford XR8 FG ute, in periwinkle purple no less. Looking at Peyton, you wouldn’t think she liked the grunt of a V8, not with her ever changing soft pastel hair colours, her dainty and sexy body, and a voice that barely got above a whisper. Peyton was soft and gentle; her preference in cars not so much.
“Are you still laughing at my choice of vehicle Rafferty Walsh?” Peyton demanded, not able to stop the giggle or her serious tone.
“Not me, Bunny, I personally love this car. And I am seriously impressed with the way you drive it,” I replied, watching her change down in gears and take the sharp corner.
“I love driving, always have done. This is my dream car, 6-speed manual, 5.0 litre supercharged BOSS engine. Better than sex, baby,” she winked at me, trying to be all cool and collected, but she couldn’t hide the pulse at the base of her throat or the slight intake of breath when she mentioned the word sex.
And that why I was calling myself a fool. I wanted sex with Peyton, vertical against a door or horizontal in a bed it didn’t matter, just as long as I was balls deep in her warm heat.
Of course, that couldn’t happen for so many reasons, the main one being why I had to leave tomorrow after being away from Peyton for weeks and weeks when all I really wanted to do was stay here with her for the next few days before heading down to Queenscliff.
Just spend time with Peyton.
Fucking responsibilities!
The car turned into Peyton’s driveway, my car sitting under the carport where I left it the day before I left for deployment. A funny tingle started in the pit of my belly at the sight of my car parked there. It was a normal thing, even boring, but still, it gave me a sense of home.
It wasn’t until Peyton turned off the engine and the cab was suddenly silent did I realise how intensely I was staring at my car. Somewhere in the fog of my scattered thoughts did I notice that she had washed and polished the ancient Holden Kingswood wagon I’d bought from the club two years ago.
“I kinda like it sitting there too, but I couldn’t handle looking at the dirt and dust all over it,” she explained as if she was reading my thoughts.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t like dirty cars—”
“No,” I interrupted her, “why do you like it sitting there? How did you know I was thinking exactly that same thing?” I rasped out, turning in the seat to look at her.
“I … I don’t know really. There is a lot I don’t understand about us Rafe, but for some reason, I know what you are thinking at a precise moment, and other times I have absolutely no clue what is going on up here with you.” Tapping her temple with one finger, she looked confused and a little annoyed.
Well, right back at ya, Bunny.
Our connection could be explained because of the night I helped save her, but I knew that was only a small piece of the confusing puzzle. Peyton and I had more to our bond, whether it was right or not. I feared that she was my one, that kismet brought us together, and if that was the case, then fuck, I was in trouble. How did the right girl turn up too late? Why didn’t I meet her before my life turned into a clusterfuck?
I was being punished, that had to be it. God, or whoever was in charge, sent Peyton to me in order to torment me. To dangle her in my face because someone in the universe wanted to see me suffer even more than I already was already.
I stared at the woman who had become like a lifeline to me and really looked at her. Parts of her hair were left blonde with streaks of pastel pink expertly framing her beautiful face. Her hair was long, normally dead straight all the way down her back, except today she’d curled the long tresses, curls of blonde and pink and some a combination of both colours. Her lips were the perfect cupid bow shape, and the natural pink tint begged me to taste them, another torment to deal with as well. Her nose was perfectly straight with the slightest upturn at the tip, and each cheek had a dimple in the middle, but it was her eyes that made her beautiful features so unique.
“You’re staring at my eyes again, aren’t you?” Peyton asked me, breaking the silence between us.
“Yep,” I replied easily. Not caring that I got caught gawking at her … again.
“They are just eyes, Rafe, and my hair is a stranger colour than my eyes.”
“Your hair is pink, Bunny, nothing strange about that. Your eyes, on the other hand, are amber in the middle with a vibrant green ring around the outside and flecks of gold and yellow around the iris. Trust me, honey, your eyes are unique.”
“And they also are the reason the kids called me wolfie all through my childhood.” Her huff and eye roll gave me the indication she didn’t like her eyes all that much.
“Got a lot of teasing, hey?”
“You could say that. I got the idea to dye my hair one time after a particularly bad day of teasing. The first time I attempted to colour my hair, it was an absolute disaster. Instead of fuchsia, it came out more like the colour of beetroot, but it worked. Kids stopped picking on my eyes and concentrated on what I was doing with my hair. I got the hang of the whole dying process and changed my colour once a week.” Peyton reached over the console to my side of the car and snagged her handbag that was next to my leg. “Then it became a game of what colour would Peyton come to school with this week, and pretty soon, my eyes were not all that interesting after all.” Shrugging, she opened the door and slipped gracefully out.
Opening my door, I copied Peyton and got out of the car.
“So you did it deliberately to stop kids pestering you about your eyes?” Leaning my arms on the roof of the car, I waited for Peyton to reply.
“Sure did, what you call unique, the kids at my school called spooky. Having the rarest eye colour isn’t all it is cracked up to be, Rafe. Kids can be cruel.” Her amber eyes flared with what must be hard memories for her to relive. I didn’t want to be the reason for any kind of sadness for her, so instead of pursuing the conversation, I wrapped my knuckles on the roof.
“How about that offer to make me something to eat?” Glad I did when a glint of light replaced the touch of sadness.
“I hope you are in the mood for something sweet, Rafe, because I know I am,” Peyton announced, as she slung her handbag on her shoulder while she walked away from the car towards the back door, her two Huskies, Alaska and Arctic running up to greet her with their usual enthusiasm. I watched Peyton walk off like the pervert I am, her round, fleshy arse bouncing in the tight workout pants she favoured when she wasn’t dressed in her vet nurse scrubs. Fighting with my cock, I stayed frozen in place against the car, willing my hard-on to subside so I could follow Peyton into the house without scaring the fuck out of her.