Page 149 of Until I Own You

“You can’t promise that.”

“Bridget. I will never let anyone touch you ever again,” he repeats.

He is so adamant I have no choice but to believe him.

“If something had happened to you, I don’t know what I would have done. I would have been so mad at myself.”

“More mad than you already are?” I tease.

His eyes flutter shut. “God, I don’t even want to imagine–”

I press my hands to his ribs. “So, don’t.”

He sighs. Shakes his head.

“So, don’t, Seth. I’m here. And you’re here. And we’re a little banged up, but we’re okay. We’re here and we’re together and–”

“I love you, Bridget.”

I close my mouth tight.

“I love you, and you need to know that.” He swallows, a thick, audible gulp. “I don’t want to just be with you because that’s what people do. I want to be with you because I love you with every fiber of my being, Bridget.”

As if my head wasn’t already full of so much shit, now Seth has to go and say he loves me. What choice do I have? Ignore the thoughts I’ve had over and over, for weeks now? “Oh, lord have mercy, but I love you too.”

Seth gasps into a grin. “Really? You mean that? You don’t just have to say things because I say them.”

“I thought that was the whole deal with the Dom and sub thing?” I narrow my eyes.

“Oh, shut your pretty mouth and kiss me,” he murmurs before pressing his lips to mine.

I want to say it again. Into his mouth so it slides into his body, so he can feel my love forever and ever. Let it become part of his genetic makeup.

Seth lifts his bad hand, then drops it, tearing away to let out a string of curses. “This stupid fucking hand.”

I grab his wrist, pull his broken hand into my lap. “It’s okay. There’s time.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Is there?”

I hesitate. “Well, we should probably try and do things the old-fashioned way. You know. Dating. Not just scening in the Underground.”

“That’s fair.”

The more I think about it, the more nervous I get. “Yeah. And keep it quiet at first. Since it’s new.”

“Yeah, about that…”

I narrow my eyes at Seth.

“I told my mom.”

“What?”

Seth nods.

“You told your mother?!”

“She thinks we’d make a cute couple,” he says with a smug smile.

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