Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 147415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 737(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 491(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 737(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 491(@300wpm)
“Hey, hey.” I cup her face in my hands, marveling at how beautiful her eyes are in the dawn.
That green I haven’t seen in ages is back, shining through the blue.
Barely two months.
That’s how long we’ve known each other.
Does it matter?
Fuck no.
In that short time, she’s hooked her way under my skin and in my heart and there’s nothing I can do about it except man the fuck up and accept it.
You don’t keep playing games after staring the reaper dead in the face.
And I try, even as she’s swiping at her eyes.
“Sweetheart, don’t cry.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t. Don’t call me sweetheart unless...”
“Destiny—”
“I remember what you said, Shepherd. When the storm hit, I get it, that was the least of our worries. But now that it’s over... I can’t. I can’t be nothing to you.”
“I know. Fuck, you’ll never know how much I understand.”
“Then what am I?” She looks up at me, tears dousing the sparkle in her eyes. “Before all this happened, you told me you wanted me to leave Home Shepherd. You thought we should never see each other again. What changed?”
I hesitate, but I can’t hold back the growl boiling up my throat.
“Almost losing you.” I drop my forehead against hers. “Destiny, goddammit. I almost watched you slide out that door. It fucking murdered me.”
Now, I’m the asshole who’s trembling in her arms.
She steps back, searching my eyes, still in my embrace. Just far enough away so she can see my face.
So she can read the emotion there, the sincerity.
Can’t she see I’m offering her all of me?
Everything.
Because that’s all she’ll be to me.
It’s too late to go back now and carry on with denials. This lie that we could ever walk away, that what we have needs a time limit because we’re too wrong for each other.
I’m officially done trying to bullshit myself into believing it.
“I love you,” I say. Full stop. “Dess, I fell so damn hard, so fast. When I think about how quick it’s been, I still don’t understand it. I never will, and I’m okay with that. No one’s done what you did to me, woman. I’d rather drown forever than ever let you go.”
“Don’t say it unless you mean it.”
“I mean it, sweetheart. Just didn’t want to accept it before.”
“Shepherd.” She takes a shaking breath and a tear tracks down her face.
I brush it away, hating myself for being the reason behind it.
I never want her to cry again. Especially not because of me.
“This is real,” I tell her. “I can’t go another minute without telling you.”
Her eyes glisten and her lips quiver.
“I never should have thought about letting you go in the first place. Never should have thought it’d protect you.” It’s pouring out like venom from a wound. The most honest words I’ve ever spoken, wrenched from my chest. “The best way for me to protect you was always to stay with you. I know that now.”
If I let her go, there’s always another door, another flood that might take her away even if it’s not literal.
How could I let that happen after this?
If she’ll have me, I’ll make sure nothing ever harms her again.
And I’m going to bring the full weight of justice down on Adriana Cerva until she’s flatter than a crêpe.
If she’d only fucked with me, that would be one thing. She isn’t the first and she won’t be the last.
But she dragged Destiny into this, and if it wasn’t for me, she’d be dead.
If it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t have stepped on this damn boat to begin with, and none of this would have happened.
Now, I know there’s no safer place for her than right by my side, where I can protect her.
“I don’t need an answer now. You’ve been through a hell of a lot,” I say, touching her face. “Still. I had to tell you right the fuck now.”
“O-okay.” The beginnings of a smile touch her face.
“Okay?”
“Okay,” she repeats, leaning up to kiss me.
It’s all I need.
Her lips taste like salt, tangy and wild. At first, her mouth is gentle, asking a question I can only answer with assurances.
Yes.
Yes.
Fucking hell, yes.
The kiss changes, charged with energy that crackles across our skin. I put everything I can’t say into the kiss, telling her how glad I am that she’s alive.
How much I want her.
How much I need her.
This is only the kind of kiss you get after a near-death experience.
It’s electric, heart-torn, messy and biting and hands down, the best ever.
Her lips take my entire soul.
When I break away to breathe again, I’m actually dizzy.
Too spent and exhausted for words.
There’s just Destiny Lancaster and her arms, her small hands on my face, her mouth on mine.
We both gasp for air at the same time, and I still want to kiss her again.
Again.
I’m a shameless addict.