Page 18 of Scars Run Deep

“We got what we came for,” Aurora said, as I slipped into the driver’s seat and shut the door. “That’s what matters, what we need to focus on. The mission was a success.”

I nodded and sank against the seat, taking a beat for a moment.

Then I blew out a breath and started the car. “Time to head home.”

4

~Aurora~

I’d had to shower twice just to actually wash tonight off me.

Blood and mud stains could be more than just a little stubborn.

As I stepped out of the shower, I finally felt clean again.

I’d hoped the warm water and the luxurious soaps and shampoos would’ve worked in concert to soothe me as well, to bestow a sense of calm on me that I hadn’t been able to access since all hell had broken loose when those Heretics had attacked the house.

No such luck.

I was still wired.

The guys thought I’d fallen asleep on the hours-long drive back, but I hadn’t.

I’d just closed my eyes, not wanting to talk about what had happened.

Quite the opposite.

I’d wanted to start the whole compartmentalization process of shoving it down deep and sealing it there forevermore with a big, fat, impenetrable lock.

Well, not the part where Asher had pulled me out of that ravine.

Where he’d saved my life.

Where he’d pulled out all the stops and even hurt himself in the process, all to protect me.

No, that was living rent free in my memory, replaying over and over.

The look on his face, an intense mix of balls-to-the-wall determination and naked, all-on-the-line fear.

I’d experienced and seen a lot since I’d started down this dangerous, twisted path three years ago.

But what he’d done… the sheer feat that it was… I’d never seen something quite like that.

It was beyond even mind over matter.

His strength of will was unbelievable.

Completely indomitable.

Absolutely awe-inspiring.

And… shocking.

Because it had been all for me.

I mean, I knew he’d grown to care for me, that there were real, indisputable feelings there.

The way he’d reacted to my confession of growing closer to him, Killian, and Jonah had made that clear, and so had the way he’d come to treat me.

---