Page 113 of Love Without Demands

I blinked through the haze floating through my brain.

My first thought was:get to Lehra.

And my second thought was:ow, fuck.

I grunted through the pain—because even while wearing a bulletproof vest, getting shot fucking hurts—as I rolled over and army crawled toward the clothes rack.

My beautiful Tink busted out, scattering clothes everywhere as she ran to me and dropped to her knees. I’d never been so grateful to see anyone in my entire life.

“Cruz!” she screamed.

Hauling her beneath me, I covered her body with my own and glanced over to where Curly was kneeling beside what I hoped was a corpse. “Curly?”

“Dead,” he replied, giving me a curt nod.

“You sure?”

“He’s missing the back of his head, so yeah. Pretty sure.”

My adrenaline was so thick in my veins I was surprised they weren’t all hemorrhaging. I focused my attention back on the woman beneath me, clenching my teeth when I saw the tears streaming down her face.

“Are you okay, Lehra?”

“He shot you!”

“I’m wearing a vest. Are you okay?” I enunciated the question, syllable by syllable.

“I’m… not hurt. Just freaked the fuck out.”

Now that I knew she wasn’t physically injured, there was only one thing on my mind. The words were practically burning a hole in my tongue in their effort to escape my mouth.

“I love you,” I blurted out. “I have for a while, and I should have told you before, but I love the fuck out of you, Lehra Kincaid.”

Her tears came even faster, wetting her face and dripping down into her hair. “I love you too, Cruz Estrada.”

The absolute sweetest words I’d ever heard.

My vision blurred with my own tears at her admission. “You love me?” I asked, because I wanted to make sure I’d heard her correctly.

“Of course I do. God, I was so scared I’d lost you.”

“I’m right here, baby. Not going anywhere.”

And then I kissed the ever-loving shit out of her. As our tongues twisted together, I could practically feel our hearts binding themselves to each other as well.

Her mouth was warm and delicious as our lips moved slowly, trying to get their fill of each other. My hands cupped her face, and I deepened the kiss, wanting to remove the ugliness of the afternoon for Lehra and replace it with my love for her.

She let out a little moan, and I pulled back with a soft suck. “Please stop making those sexy noises or you’re going to give me a boner while I’m at work.”

“You’re killing me with the romantic talk, Estrada,” she giggled.

“What do you mean? I talked about my boner after professing my love for you on the floor of a sporting goods store, after we’d both had about ten years frightened out of us.”Not to mention we’re next to a dead body,I wisely refrained from saying.

“If this was supposed to be one of your role playing scenes, it was a tad too extravagant for my tastes,” she informed me, lifting an eyebrow.

I laughed and kissed the tip of her nose. “Absolutely not.” The gravity of what had happened was finally sinking in, and I rested my forehead against hers. “I’ve never been more scared in my life.”

Lehra’s chin trembled. “You saved me.”

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