With Abandon: With or Without, Book 4

most wonderful thing Aubrey had ever seen. “Aubrey?”
    Aubrey had never felt so much uncertainty in his life. He wanted to take Matt in his arms, to touch
    him…to beg his forgiveness. Would Matt want anything to do with him? Not only had Matt left Georgia
    mad at Aubrey, but this whole thing was Aubrey’s fault. If it hadn’t been for him, Matt would have never been in danger in the first place. Come on, Aubrey, you can do this. He had to try. Aubrey held out a trembling hand.
    Just like that, Matt stepped into his arms.
    Aubrey sighed in relief, feeling much older than his years. Burying his nose in Matt’s neck, he inhaled and reveled in the warm embrace. The tension left his body, making him feel so heavy. He was going to
    spend the rest of his life trying to make up for all the wrong he’d done his mate.
    “I knew my dad would look for me, but— What are you doing here? I mean in New Mexico?”
    “I came to take you home.” Not even caring that his voice wavered, Aubrey kissed Matt’s cheek and
    nuzzled his jaw. “When I realized you’d been taken…”
    “You came after me?” Matt stepped back, cocking his head a little.
    “I’ll always come after you.” The tears finally spilled over, but Aubrey didn’t care.
    “But people will know…” Matt glanced around at his dad, Jake and Rhys. None of them were paying
    attention. He started to turn his head back to face Aubrey, but his gaze landed on Jordan and his shoulders slumped. His entire posture sort of collapsed.
    “Oh, darlin’. Come on.” Aubrey tugged him outside. He opened the door to Chay’s truck and urged
    Matt to sit. “Are you all right?”
    “Jordan wasn’t a bad guy. He didn’t hurt me. He was just— His mate is the guy who attacked
    Keaton.”
    “I know.” Grabbing Matt’s hands, Aubrey squeezed them, needing to touch his mate.
    “He was my friend.” A tear streaked down Matt’s cheek.
    “I thought he’d killed you.”
    Matt frowned and rubbed his thumbs over the backs of Aubrey’s hands.
    Touching his cheek, Aubrey asked, “What is it?”
    “You thought he killed me, but you came rushing in here anyway? Are you crazy? You could’ve been
    killed too.”
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    With Abandon
    Aubrey nodded. “That was the plan.” He cupped his mate’s precious face in his shaking hands and
    stared right into his beloved blue eyes. “I love you so damned much. I couldn’t live without you. If you’d died, I wanted to die too. I could never be happy in a world without you in it.”
    Silent tears streaked down Matt’s face and he swallowed hard.
    “Please forgive me. I’ll do anything… I’m never letting you go again.”
    Matt threw himself against Aubrey. “Promise?”
    “Cross my heart, sugar.”

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    Epilogue
    Aubrey woke to the sensation of being watched. Call it a sixth sense, but someone was staring at him
    and it wasn’t Matt. Speaking of… Matt was no longer nestled against Aubrey’s chest as Aubrey had
    positioned him last night. Nope, this was someone else. Aubrey blinked his eyes open and came face-to-
    face with an angel, or maybe he was a devil for rousing Aubrey into consciousness.
    “Hi, Bree.” Eddie sat cross-legged in front of Aubrey only about a foot away. He tilted his head to the side and a black curl tumbled over his forehead. As he grinned, two dimples appeared on his round cheeks.
    His wispy little brows drew together in a cute expression of confusion. “Why are you still asleep?”
    “Is he awake?” another small voice asked from across the room. Seconds later the bed wiggled and
    Darren was there beside Eddie. Darren was most definitely a devil. He was the spitting image of Matt, but unlike Matt, Darren was full of mischief. There was no mistaking the glint in those dark blue eyes.
    Aubrey smiled at the devil and angel. After staying in New Mexico for a couple of days, he and Matt
    brought the two youngest Mahihkans back to Savannah with them. Matt thought it would take their minds
    off their mother being gone. The boys were going to fly back to New Mexico with Keaton and Chay at the
    end of next week.
    “What time is it?” When the announcement earned him two identical frowns, he added, “Is everyone
    else awake?”
    That gained him a set of beaming smiles—Darren’s minus a front tooth—and bobbing heads.
    Eddie pointed to Darren. “He said we should wake you, but Matthew said we shouldn’t.”
    Darren nodded his