Page 60 of What I Should Have Done

“I wouldn’t have needed to save yours.”

She inhaled deeply, her body slumping against me. “I’m pretty sleepy.”

A smile twitched at my lips. She must have felt safe in my arms, just like this. She had to, because for the first time since meeting her, something about the way she spoke sounded softer.

“Then get some rest, I’ve got you,” I whispered.

“You do, don’t you?” she lazily muttered. Her head bobbed and the rhythmical lull of her chest slowed.

Sleep didn’t sound too bad right now. There was no way anyone would find us at this moment anyway. There was some peace in all of the anger. Comfort in seeing her so violent and then utterly vulnerable.

I was tired. Not just physically, and her cuddled up against my chest, regardless of whatever reason she had that sent her over to me, it felt rather…gentle. No one ever saw me as gentle.

Yet, here I was, holding her as she slept.

She’d voluntarily come over to me. After seeing all the shit that I could do, despite witnessing how uncontrollable my rage was at times, she’d sought me out.

Her boundary she set. Maybe it had less to do with me and what happened earlier and more to do with something else. Something that I didn’t see, or maybe subconsciously refused to see. Either way, that complicated reason could be figured out later. Right now, allowing myself to slip blissfully away into dreamworld sounded alright.

How incredibly lucky I was, for however brief of a moment, I got to hold Scottie Aleck in my arms.

Chapter 21

MIKEY

All was still except for the steady rhythm of Scottie’s breathing. The storm had long since passed, but I hadn’t found the desire to move just yet. Here, with her wrapped up in my arms, her hair tickling my chin, was the safest place I’d ever found myself.

Despite knowing there was still much death and violence to be had at my fingertips, for a moment I could pretend that the red staining my hands didn’t exist. She shifted slightly against my chest and instinctively I pressed her tighter into me. If only time could slow its pace.

Moonlight would be here soon, the orange of the sun casting a dimming glow spread faintly into the cavern. Everything here held a memory I bound tightly to my soul. Someday this would be nothing but a distant tick in the fabric of the world, but for me, it was something else.

Something more.

Her chest expanded, pushing against my embrace, and I loosened my hold slightly. Lashes wisped against my neck as she tipped her chin up. Glancing down, I offered her a tender smile as her eyes fluttered open. Her brows creased together, but it wasn’t confusion that pulled them tight. Something else drifted across her face, gentling her ever sharp features.

Sparkling doe eyes met mine. My heart thumped wildly in my chest yet everything else in my soul fell still and calm. Her palms rested against my chest as she gently pushed herself away from me to sit upright.

Her legs had to be numb from straddling my waist for so long, but Scottie didn’t move to leave. Instead her touch remained warm against my body. Dried blood coated her cheek, her wound from the previous mission opened during the explosive scuffle we experienced hours earlier. Sliding my fingers out from her hair, I brought them forward and rested both hands upon her face, carefully cupping her cheeks without brushing over the cut.

My thumb drifted a gentle caress across the dried blood, tipping her head to the side ever so slightly. Her fingers twisted into my combat shirt, sending a pulse of electricity shooting through my skin.

Fuck. She was beautiful. The sheen of the setting sun mixed with the red of the glow stick danced shadows across features that would forever be tattooed on my heart.

And I knew at that moment that I would cross every grain of sand, dive into every explosion possible, if it meant one more second with her. Just like this.

Never before had such an intense whirlwind of desire ripped my heart from my chest, bringing light to something that had long since turned black. For the first time, hope broke through the violence that ensnared my hardened soul.

Her amber eyes flickered down to my lips. Briefly like a butterfly whisking away on a summer breeze, a smile so unlike she’d ever shown before brushed her mouth. Dimples creased her cheeks, but no teeth were shown. Such an unusually soft and genuine expression from her.

What I should have done was gently put some distance between us, or maybe said something witty to break the sensual tension between us. I knew she had her reservations. I knew she had her boundaries. So I should have respected them.

But there was nothing left in me shackling me to the hesitations that once had bound me so deeply behind the caged wall my heart was shrouded in.

Tipping my head slightly, I leaned forward. My heart raced in my throat, sweat dripped down my back, sending a shiver racing up my spine. She didn’t fight it, didn’t try to pull away. Her eyes lifted back to mine, innocent and carefree. Rushing like the wind that once swirled as our guardian outside this shallow cavern, my stomach lurched.

Hot breath washed over my face. My lips a mere centimeter from hers. She exhaled deeply, her lashes fluttering.

And then velvet slammed against my mouth.

---