Page 79 of Savage Beauty

Sloane sits in the middle of the bedroom floor, face blotchy and red, and a roll of toilet paper beside her with spent tissues littering the floor. Something inside my chest cracks. Not only does she have a big heart, but when she cares, she cares deeply. She might not easily show it, but she does. The evidence is all around her.

At least, that’s if she’s crying for me. For us.

The floor creaks under my weight, and she glances up. Her face crumbles, and she puts her hands over her eyes.

In a flash, I’m on the floor beside her, pulling her into my lap.

“Shh.” I soothe her like I would a child, and she buries her damp face into my neck.

“I didn’t lie.” Her voice cracks, and she sniffles and then shifts and rubs her nose on my shirt. I don’t even mind the snot. I just hold her, rub her back, and kiss the top of her head.

“I know.”

“You do?”

“Doesn’t mean I understand at all what’s going on. But I believe you.”

“Sage is going to have a kid.” She picks up a tissue and presses it against her cheek, absorbing tears.

“Is that why you’re crying?” Am I that big of a fool?

“Yes. No. Maybe.” Her arm snakes around my middle and curves around my back, up to my shoulders, and I find myself embraced in a fireman’s hold. And damn if it doesn’t feel good to have her cling to me. “I’m happy for her, I guess.”

“Does Knox know she’s pregnant?”

“Oh. She’s not pregnant. She just checked with a doctor to make sure she…you know, with her heart.”

“And the doctor cleared her?”

“Yes. I mean, I’d prefer she take no risks. But I understand it. And I don’t know why I’m so emotional. I really hate being this emotional.”

“Well, we had our first fight.”

“I don’t like yelling, and I don’t like fights.”

“Me neither.”

“I don’t want you to be angry at me. I feel like I should say I’m sorry, but I don’t say I’m sorry unless I have a reason to be. And I don’t think I have a reason to be. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Shh.” It’s meant to quiet her sobs, but the low rumble soothes my ruffled heart, too.

“I would never do anything to hurt you. You know that, right?”

I take a second to reflect on her question. “Yeah, I do.”

I lift her chin, forcing her to give me those glistening, tear-filled brown eyes. “Ditto, ya know?”

She sniffs. “I’m not ready to say goodbye to you.”

She looks me right in the eye when she says it, and that crack splits wide open. I’m done. Sure, I’ve got a plane this afternoon, and there’s a lot to figure out, but it’s not going to be goodbye forever.

My lips fall to hers as I cradle her against my side. Her fingers thread through my hair, and all the anger from earlier, all that loaded frustration and hurt, morphs into something bigger. Something that was there earlier, but I just hadn’t accepted. Warmth effuses from every pore. It spills out of my split heart. I’ve felt this before. It’s love. I swore I’d never fall again, and yet here we are.

The bed is all of four feet away from us, and we’re both completely undressed before I even think about moving us to it. But the hardwood floor digging into my knee hurts like a mother, and I lift her up to the middle of the bed.

I take it slow. Kissing her with all the love I feel inside. Licking her. Adoring her. Bringing her to orgasm with my fingers, my tongue, and then, finally, sinking inside her.

It’s slow, languid, and perfect. I love this woman.

---