Page 225 of Dare To Live

I reach out and palm her cheek. “Baby, I’m not dead.”

Pain ricochets through my body when she launches herself at me, but I don’t care. I’ll take all the fucking pain in the world because she’s here. In my arms. Where she’s meant to be.

I press kisses to her hair while she sobs, clinging to me. She’s saying something but I can’t make it out, and at this moment in time, I don’t care. I wrap my good arm around her and hold her close until her sobs grow quiet, and she pulls away, wiping her eyes.

Her fingers lift to touch my face, gently ghosting over the bruises and swelling. “Does it hurt?”

I kiss the tips of her fingers. “Not anymore.”

Chapter 129

Arabella

Eli is alive.

A thousand emotions pass through me. Relief. Fear that this isn’t real. Love. Concern. Worry. And hope.

He’s here. Battered, bruised, but warm and real and, more importantly, with me. I’m not sure if I want to burst into tears again or laugh with joy.

“You should have told me about Evan.” I opt for scolding, just to keep the tears at bay.

“And you shouldn’t have followed me.” He cups my jaw in a shaking hand. “You put yourself in danger. I’m not letting you do that again, you crazy little Hellcat.”

“I killed Evan,” My voice is small. “I … shot him. He was—”

“You did what you had to do.”

I bite my lip, fresh tears surging in my eyes. He needs to know about the babies, but I have something to tell him first. This can’t wait. Not any longer.

A look of pain flickers in his eyes. “Ari—”

“I don’t need to think about what I want. I fall asleep thinking about you, Eli Travers, I dream about you. I wake up missing you.” The confession leaves me with a broken sniffle. “I should have had the courage to tell you sooner. I’m so sorry I didn’t.”

His thumb brushes away a tear off my cheek. “Kitten—”

The wave of words continues to roll out of me. “Wherever you want to live, I’ll go. The cabin or the Hamptons, I don’t care where, because home is wherever you are. I love you so much. I never stopped loving you. I need you. I can’t live without you, Eli, no matter how crazy you make me.”

He silences me with a hard possessive kiss, one that must have hurt his mouth to give me.

“I love you too. You were made for me, Ari. Nothing was going to keep us apart.”

Relief soaks through me. “I’m yours. All yours.”

“You’ve been mine for fucking years. You always have been. And there is no way in hell I’m letting you walk away from me again. We’ve been through too much. Life is too short to have nothing but regrets.”

I crumble against his chest with a little sob. “G-good. B-because I d-don’t want to go anywhere without you.”

Why can’t I stop crying? Maybe it’s my mixed-up hormones.

Eli strokes my back with his good hand. I shatter in his arms a second time. He croons to me through every gasp and choked sob. Nonsense words that soothe simply because it’s his voice, his arms, his warmth wrapped around me.

It takes a few minutes before I quieten again.

“I want kids,” I tell him as I lay back against the pillow.

Eli smiles, looking as tired as I feel. “You want to have my babies, Ari?”

“Yes.” A wave of tiredness washes over me.

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