Page 18 of His Stormy Seduction

Stopping a few paces away, I rake my gaze over her curvy frame, drinking in every detail. She's so achingly beautiful in this light, all tousled hair and golden skin, lips slightly parted in surprise.

"I came to find you," I say simply, letting the weight of that admission hang in the air between us.

Bonnie rises fluidly to her feet, arms folding across her chest. "Well, you found me. Now what?"

Squaring my shoulders, I take another step closer, holding her wary gaze. "Now, I have some things I need to say to you. And I need you to actually listen this time. No biting my head off until I've had my say, got it?"

A faint smirk tugs at one corner of her full lips, and I can't resist mirroring it with a wry quirk of my own. Even when she's all piss and vinegar, that spark of hers still has a way of igniting something primal and possessive inside me.

Drawing a fortifying breath, I plow ahead before I can lose my nerve. "After my dad died, I had one single-minded mission—mitigating every conceivable risk, always having the contingency plan mapped out ten steps ahead."

Bonnie's expression shifts at that, a crease forming between her delicate brows, but I forge on.

"And at first, it felt like I was just doing my job—keeping people safe, preventing tragedies. But over time..." I trail off, shoving my hands into my pockets as a muscle ticks in my jaw. "That mindset became more than just a professional calling. It shaped who I was at my core."

I shake my head slowly. "I became so consumed by controlling every possible variable, by not taking a single chance, that I lost sight of why I started down this path in the first place."

"And what was the reason?" Bonnie prompts.

My throat works as I swallow hard, forcing the words past the lump that forms. "To experience life. To its absolute fullest, without holding anything back. To embrace every thrill and wonder this untamed world has to offer with complete abandon."

Her sharp inhalation at my candid admission is audible. I take another deliberate step forward, holding her gaze as I reach out to trail my fingertips along her jaw in a feather-light caress.

"You reignited that part of me I thought was long buried, Bonnie. Your passion, your lust for adventure... it's a force of nature. Vibrant and unstoppable and so damn beautiful to witness."

I lean in until our faces are a scant breath apart, basking in the way her pupils dilate and her lips part on a trembling exhalation.

"And I don't want to tame that wildfire spirit, no matter how much the controlling part of me might try to resist. I want to give you the freedom to embrace every daredevil impulse, to soak up all the untamed beauty this world has to offer through your talents."

Bonnie's breath hitches at the intensity of my words, her eyes searching mine for any hint of deception. But she'll find none—only raw sincerity and a bone-deep need to finally get this right.

"You make me want to live again. Gloriously and vibrantly, chasing those reckless highs without fear of falling."

Reaching up, I cup her face in my calloused palms, holding her captive in my heated stare. "But I need you to trust me on this—I can't just let you take those leaps without any safeguards in place. Not because I want to control you, but because I can't survive losing you."

The words seem to resonate deep within her, and I can sense the fight slowly draining from her rigid posture as she melts infinitesimally into my touch.

"Let me be your safety net when you need it. A partner, not a cage." My voice drops to a rough rasp. "Someone who lets you embrace all of life's terrifying, thrilling uncertainty... while making sure you'll always make it back home to me."

Chapter 9

Bonnie

Garrett's words hang in the air. For a long, weighted moment, all I can do is gape at this man, at the naked emotion blazing in those dark eyes as he lays himself bare before me.

This is the real Garrett Blackwood, I realize in a rush. The one who's been buried beneath layers of rigid control and self-imposed boundaries for far too long. The part of him that craves the same unbridled freedoms and untamed thrills I've always chased so recklessly.

My throat works, fingers curving around the solid warmth of his wrists where his palms cradle my face so reverently. "You mean that?" I finally murmur, searching his gaze for any trace of falsehood. "All of it?"

"With everything in me," he rasps, the deep rumble seeming to vibrate straight through to my bones.

A shaky breath escapes my lips, my chest swelling with a profound sense of rightness. Impulsively, I surge up on my tiptoes, capturing Garrett's mouth in a kiss. He lets out a muffled groan of surprise before instinctively gathering me closer, one broad palm splaying possessively across the small of my back as the other hand threads through my hair.

I pour every ounce of pent-up longing, every shred of newfound hope, into that kiss, reveling in the slick heat of his mouth devouring mine. Garrett responds with equal fervor, his tongue sweeping in to tangle with mine. The kiss rapidly spirals from tender to scorching, all-consuming, until we're both gasping for air.

Dragging my lips from his with extreme reluctance, I drink in the sight of him—eyes blazing, chest heaving, lips swollen and glistening from our frantic kisses.

"Show me," I breathe. "Show me that you mean it.”

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