Page 81 of Regal Queen

Twenty-Two

I felt abso-fuckin-lutely amazing.

Alive.

I hadn't felt this way in... well, forever.

I could breathe easy, like I had my whole world ahead of me.

As soon as it was confirmed that Dimitri was dead, Bourbon ordered Knight and Dante to be in charge of clean up, and Coulter and Bourbon drove me and Torian back to the house.

A calmness settled over me, a happiness that I couldn’t describe.

The asshole was dead. I’d looked into his eyes and done it myself. A small part of me felt crazy for not even feeling a little bit bad about it, but the whole rest of me was just relieved.

We got to Bourbon’s house and the doctor we had on call ran out, meeting up with us to help bring a disoriented Torian into the house. As soon as we were all inside, Coulter stepped in front of me, a small smile on his face. “You did it.”

I grinned, unable to to hold back. I nodded. “I did. And that asshole will never hurt anyone again.”

His grin matched my own, and he reached forward to bop me on the nose with his finger. “I always knew you had it you.”

I grabbed his hand, bringing it up to my chest and stared into his face as the warmth of his affection flowed through me. “Thank you, Coulter.”

We grinned goofily at each other for a long moment, then his gaze slid to his brother, who was standing next to me. “I’m going to go help the doctor.”

Bourbon nodded, and Coulter leaned down, kissing the top of my head and mumbling, “take care of him.”

I nodded as he stepped back, turning around and disappearing through the hallway towards the kitchen. Bourbon pulled on my side, tugging me towards the stairs. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

A few minutes later, we were both standing in a warm shower. I closed my eyes, relaxing as the water moved over my hair, trickling down my body. Bourbon took care of me, gently washing and conditioning my hair, massaging my head as he did it. Then he washed me with a soaped up loofah, and I watched the rest of the dirt and grime and blood slowly slid down the drain, along with the rest of my energy.

I was drained as the adrenaline left my system. When I looked upwards, Bourbon was watching me, like always, with those gorgeous and piercing eyes.

My chest still ached with the thought that he could've been killed.

That I would've had to live my whole life without him.

Reaching forward and staring into his eyes, I took the loofah from his hands, then squirted it with more soap and began to do the same thing to him. Sighing, he pressed his hands to the stone shower wall as I scrubbed every inch of his sexy body.

I had no shadow of a doubt now that I loved him.

That my heart belonged to him.

That I was going to hand it over to him willingly.

That I trusted him with it.

I wanted to see it buried under his rib cage, protected next to his.

When I was done, he stepped under the rainfall shower head, closing his eyes and letting the water wash over him.

God, he was so gorgeous. He had a beauty that couldn't be described, but only felt. I was safe, protected… cherished, when I was with him. Those dark, piercing eyes saw straight through me.

When I was with him, I was alive in a way I'd never been before.

I had the power to go anywhere else in the world now, but all I wanted was to be by his side.

Leaning upwards, I wrapped my arms around his waist and, pressing my naked body to his, kissed him.

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