Page 86 of Keeping Eveline

She was as still as a statue.

He reached her side and grabbed her hands, pulling her away from Gerald’s crumpled body.

She didn’t need to see the aftermath. Irish had rushed off, and hopefully, he’d gone to get a towel to wipe the blood and brain matter off Eveline.

“Baby, it’s me. Look at me.” Ox brushed the back of his fingers down her cheek.

Her gaze was blank, devoid of all emotion. Shock had set in, and he wasn’t surprised, given everything that she’d gone through.

The police officers, Angel, and Growler moved around him, dealing with Gerald.

When Gerald had lifted his gun, Ox had raised his own, his finger ready to pull the trigger.. Then the man had jammed the gun under his chin and fired.

Whatever Ox had expected to happen, Gerald killing himself hadn’t been on the list.

“Eveline. You’re safe. I’ve got you.” He repeated the words over and over, and slowly her dazed and disorientated look disappeared.

“Kyle?” she whispered.

“Yeah, baby, I’m here.”

Irish wrapped a blanket around Eveline’s shoulders.

Ox threw his teammate a grateful look, then pulled her close, needing to have that contact.

The past eighteen hours had been the longest of his life. He hadn’t slept.

He’d been drugged. His head pounded, but all of that faded away because he had the woman who owned him, heart and soul, in his arms.

“You found me.” Her words were muffled, but he heard them, as if Eveline had shouted them.

Ox released his tight hold on her and looked down at her, pleased to see color was coming back to her cheeks. “Always. I will always find you. I love you. I can’t live without you.”

Tears filled her eyes. “I never thought I’d get to hear those words again. I love you, too.”

“You’re going to get a lifetime of them, baby. Every day. Every night. I will say them to you. I’m yours.”

“I want to hear them every day, and I will say them to you, too. If you are mine, then I’m yours.”

The police would want to talk to Eveline, but they’d have to wait. Now that Ox had his woman in his arms, he was going to tell her and show her all the love he had for her.

“You know I love you, but this is the depth of what I feel. What you do to me. You are the air I need to breathe. I can’t imagine living without you. I thought I was living a good life. Then I met you, and everything went topsy turvy. It didn’t straighten out until you stormed my office months and months after our night together and demanded I listen to you. You are my everything, Eveline Durville. One day very soon, we’re going to make it legal.”

A soft smile curved Eveline’s lips, and his heart lifted that she’d gifted him with something beautiful, after everything she’d been through. “Is that a proposal?”

“It’s a promise.”

Eveline’s hand covered his heart. “I like that.”

“Me too.”

“Just so you know, I’ll say yes.”

Ox pulled her even closer. “Good,” he murmured before he lowered his head and captured her lips.

There was still so much that needed to be done after what Eveline had been through. Protocols and endless questions. None of that mattered. All that mattered was the two of them, and Ox kissed her hard, pouring all the love within him into the kiss.

He’d found his person, and he wasn’t going to let her go.

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