Page 186 of Always You

“I have to crash through the rocks to get to you. I’ve been holding on to you like a life jacket, treasuring you as my beacon in the dark, when really, I want to hold your hand and walk in broad daylight for the rest of our fucking lives. It’s you. It’salwaysbeen you.”

I shake my head, my heart aching, hearing him, but still hesitant to fully open the door.

“If it’s not you, it’s not anyone. I’ve always wanted the world, fighting anyone who dared to get into that cage with me to get there, but when I got it, I lost you.” His eyes are reddened with emotion, showing me that lost boy I met all those years ago. Pretending to have figured it all out, but really, he’s just desperate to be held.

To be cherished.

To be loved.

“You once asked me what my dream was, and I told you I didn’t know. That was the only lie I ever told you, because from the moment my eyes met your green eyes that day at the creek, it was you.It has always been you.” His footsteps getting closer sound terrifying, holding a tight grip on my heart when he falls to his knees, placing himself between my legs while softly peeling my hands off my face. I sob when he looks me in the eye with apleading stare, holding my hand in his palm. “Ask me what my dream is, babe.”

I shake my head, diverting my gaze, scared as fuck to do as he said. “Ask me what my dream is. Please.” He cups my face, pressing his forehead against mine. “Charls.Askme.”

“What is your dream?” I whisper breathlessly.

He lets out a relieved sigh.“My dream is a house with a white picket fence and a big porch, where my wife can write all the stories that are stuck in her head while the kids are in school. I will forget our anniversaries, but she will forgive me because I make up for it the rest of the year. After the accident, I thought my dream was to be free. That all I ever wanted to be was the best fighter in the world. But now I know that all I ever wanted was to be yours. I love you, Charlotte Roux. I love you, and I’m going to keep telling you for the rest of my life, whether you want to hear it or not. I don’t give a shit about Ben, or whoever wants to steal you away from me. I will fight foryou. I will fight forus. You are mine and you know it.”

And with that, it’s gone. My heart is slipping out of my chest and into his hands, forever at his mercy until the day I die.

There is no way back.

This is final.

This isit.

Hunter Hansen is it, and there is no use denying it. I’ve been trying to deny it for years, but I never stood a chance. He’s melted so deeply into my core that his soul is merged with mine. Two kids with our hearts on fire and nothing that can stop us from burning together.

I rest my hands on his neck, my painful tears being replaced by tears of relief. The extra weight that I’ve been carrying lifts off my chest when I finally nod.

“Do you hear me, Charlotte Roux? You. Are. Mine,” he growls against my lips.

Does he deserve another shot?

No.

But it doesn’t matter.I’m his.I could never be anyone else’s.

“I’m yours.” I press my lips against his as hard as I can, feeling how the darkness finally escapes my body when his arms wrap around me. With his mouth covering mine, I finally find what I’ve been looking for all those years.

He finally gives me everything no one else will ever be able to.

He picks me up, wrapping my legs around his body while we explore every inch of each other’s mouths. Walking us back into the house, his hand fists my hair so he can deepen our kiss in a demanding way.

The bulge in his jeans presses against my center, and I moan, thinking about how I want him to stretch me as wide as possible. How I’ve been longing for that day for years. His cold hands snake under my shirt, and everything seems to blur around me the longer I hold on to him. I’ve waited for this day since the last time I felt his lips on mine. Telling myself I was done with my obsession with Hunter Hansen, no longer in need of his blistering touch. But I’m an addict when it comes to him, never being able to resist anything he’s willing to give me, and I now know he feels the same. The urgency in his soft kisses, the tenderness in his touches, all tell me what I knew a long time ago—Hunter Hansen needs me as much as I need him. I need him like the air I breathe and the water I drink.

With big strides, he walks us to my bedroom before throwing me on the bed, erupting a squeal out of my body.

The craving in his eyes tells me he’s starving to get his new shot of utter bliss we seem to only be able to find with each other, and I eagerly take off my shirt, settling on my knees on the bed, my hands reaching out to take off his jeans.

He cups my face, looking down at me with a yearning sparkle in his eyes as he wipes away the leftover tears from my cheeks.

“I’m sorry it took me so long, babe.”

“Ssh, you’re here now.” Without giving him time to reply, I pull his boxers down, wrapping my lips around his hard shaft.

“Fuck!” he cries out, as my gaze locks with his from underneath my lashes.

His lips part with hooded eyes, staring at me in awe, while his hand caresses my cheek.

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