Page 85 of Skin Deep

“I’m not going anywhere,” I promised him.

“You could have. Today, you almost…” He made a small, choked sound, one that made my chest ache. “I could have lost you today.”

I leaned down and caught his lips again before resting my forehead against his and breathing him in as my body moved in his. “I know.”

War gripped the side of my face. “I can’t lose you. I…” He swallowed and closed his eyes, kissing me hard. “I let you get under my skin. You don’t get to die now. Do you hear me?”

I groaned, unable to stop myself from thrusting into him. It felt so good, and I was so close; it was getting hard to focus on what he was saying. “Fuck, War.”

“Promise me,” he demanded.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I repeated and closed my hand around his cock. “Neither of us are.”

War let out the sweetest little breathy whimper before he pulled my lips to his. That was all it took before I was coming inside of him. He followed me a moment later, spilling his release over my fist. When we were done, we collapsed together, breathing hard and tangled in each other.

Sound from the movie they were watching downstairs bled through the floorboards along with Charlie’s delighted giggle and Lettie’s muffled voice, probably critiquing the bunny cop’s police work.

For a minute, we moved into the far-flung future, leaving behind the mess of today. I had a vision of what life could be like if we were together like this two, three, five years down the road. I saw us together for birthdays, holidays, school plays. Saw War staying up late to help the girls with their science homework while I fumbled my way through helping with their math. We cooked together, cleaned together, lived together, slept together. Just life, side by side with the man I’d come to love. That was the future worth more than killing for; it was a future tolivefor.

I lifted myself up enough to look down at him, taking in his flushed face, how perfect he looked with that post-fuck haze written all over his face. “Marry me.”

He blinked. “What?”

“I said marry me, War.”

It was crazy, but so were we. It didn’t matter that we were in the middle of a fight that could rip his family apart, or that I had more blood on my hands now than ever. I couldn’t imagine my life without him, and I didn’t want to.

He swallowed. “Are you sure?”

“Saner people have done crazier things in less time. All this recent craziness aside, you’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a long damn time. I love you, the girls love you… What else is there?”

He searched my face, eyes darting from my eyes to my mouth as if he expected me to take it back. I wouldn’t, not in a million years. I hadn’t been this sure about anything in a long time.

War’s throat worked and he nodded slowly. “Okay.”

I smiled. “Okay? I ask you to marry me and all you can say is okay?”

He scrunched his face up in concentration, thinking hard. “I could use a shower first?”

I laughed and kissed him. “You can have as many showers as you need. Just take me with you.”

PaxandIshowered,ate, spent time with Charlie and Lettie, and then put them to bed before falling asleep in each other’s arms. There was no word the first day from Aleksi or Nikita, and when I woke the next morning, no one else had heard anything either.

Our meeting with Boone wasn’t until that afternoon, so I spent the morning stretched out on the sofa with Paxton, reading a book while he scrolled on his phone. Xavier, River, Theo, and Scarlett were playing a vicious game of Uno while Annie and Shepherd were in the kitchen cooking. Yuri sat in his armchair with the day’s paper and a cup of coffee beside him.

It was Xander’s turn to be on watch, and he was out on the porch swing with his phone, texting someone. He’d been attached to that phone all day, probably trying to secure a hookup. I tried not to worry too much about him, but I was his older brother. If I didn’t look out for Xander, who would?

“Blue,” Theo said with a grin, slamming down another draw four card on top of River’s. “Unless you’ve got a wild draw four?”

Scarlett let out a frustrated sigh and slouched, sticking her lip out in a pout. “Dammit.”

“Language,” Paxton growled from behind me.

I glanced up at him. My head was resting on his thigh, but he hadn’t even looked up from his phone. Far be it from me to point out that he cussed like a sailor. Then again, so did everyone in my family, including me.

“In this case, I think you can excuse her,” River said. “Theo’s being vicious.”

Theo shrugged, watching with a smug grin as Scarlet drew eight cards, filling out her hand. “You’re the one who said we should play with screw your neighbor rules, River.”

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