Page 111 of Unraveled

She gasped for breath with a fresh burst of tears and beat a fist against my chest.

“Stop it! I saw it!”

Good, God, why won’t she believe me?I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close, needing to comfort her and make her see, but she yanked away, and her shoulders began to shake with her hard sobs.

“Maybe you should give her some space,” Nic suggested, and I shot him the harshest glare I could manage.

“Is that what you did with your woman? Did you just give her some space when you were about to lose her? Why do you suddenly care so much what happens with us? Why are you even still here? Just go.” I scowled in disgust. “We can deal withourshit later.”

The look on his face said he got the warning, and Nic nodded, turning away. My attention went immediately back to Annie.

“Sweetheart,please. Do you need me to get down on my knees to beg? Because I will. I will grovel the very ground you walk on if you’ll just believe me.”

But her thoughts were distant, not even taking me in.

“Just fucking broken promises,” she muttered, starting to pull off her ring.

My eyes widened in horror, and I clasped a hand over hers to stop her. “Don’t youdaretake off that ring.” The words growled from deep in my chest. “I’ve never broken this promise. I’ve never lied or cheated. Idon’twant Ruby. I don’t want any woman butyou.”

Before she had a chance to argue, I pulled her against a pole under the pier and leaned over her, surrounding her body with mine so that she couldn’t leave. I fought her to look at me, knowing that was crucial.

Annie stopped struggling when she finally met my eyes, and I could see the longing she had to believe me in those emerald depths, but it was blocked by the wall of hurt and betrayal she couldn’t break through. I had to reach her, and I’d break through that wall with every perfect fucking combination of words from the English dictionary if I had to make her see the truth. I would never give up on us.

I placed my hand on her chest over the diamond hearts I’d given her on our last anniversary. “I picked this necklace and your ring because these hearts are just like ours. They’re intertwined and permanently connected. You can’t have one without the other. Just like us. We’re endgame. Perfectly fucking matched. I’m not me without you.”

Feeling her start to sink into me, I wrapped my arms around her, tucking my head by her ear to tell her, “It’s you. It’s always you. Past, present, and future. I never have, and I never will want anyone butyou.”

I dragged my nose up her jaw and along her cheek before resting my forehead against hers, and I felt the second the resolve left her body. She was giving in, choosing to trust me again, and relief swallowed me as I kissed her. She melted into it, her hands coming up to grip my neck, pulling me down like she couldn’t get me close enough.

I just wanted her in my arms, forever if I could, so I could drive every bit of doubt she had of my devotion from her mind. I’d never forget how I could’ve lost her tonight, and I’d do everything in my power to make sure it never happened again.

Chapter 35

ANNIE

My heart was a throbbing mess. It didn’t know what to do with itself. I loved Jet so much. It had nearly killed me to think of him with someone else. Now, I was aching with relief, my desire growing with each second in his arms just knowing he was mine. And I wanted him right now like no other girl would ever get to have him.

My hands slid down from his neck to rest on his strong chest, feeling his warmth through his shirt and the beat of his heart beneath my palms. My own heart pounded in response. It knew its partner. Its soul mate.

Perfectly fucking matched…

Jet hit the nail on the head, and it struck me in that moment how important it was for his heart to keep beating if my own was going to have a fighting chance at survival. JustthinkingI’d lost him had caused my world to nearly unravel, and I needed him now to put me back together again.

Never breaking our kiss, I trailed my hands down his stomach and slid my fingers under the bottom of his shirt. Pressing my palms against his abs, I felt his heatand all the contours of his stomach that I couldn’t wait to follow with my tongue. He gripped my hip, his fingertips pressing, and when his hand wrapped itself in my ponytail to tug my head to the side, exposing my neck, it sent a zap of desire through my belly.

A moan slipped out when his lips found my neck, and he swirled his tongue before sucking at that perfect spot behind my ear. My knees nearly buckled, but he kept me firmly pressed against the pole, moving his attention to scrape his teeth against my shoulder before giving it a gentle bite.

I whimpered, my thighs pressing together.

“You like that, sweetheart?” Jet murmured, dragging his teeth with gentle nips along my shoulder, and I nodded, my head still held hostage to the side in his hold. “What was that?”

“Yes,” I breathed when he demanded an answer, and I felt him smile against my neck. My body trembled under his breath, wondering what he would do and how he might touch me next.

“You are perfect. And mine. Don’t you ever doubt that again.” He brushed his lips along the underside of my jaw as he spoke, and when he bit down on the side of my neck below my jaw, I cried out, pleasure mixing with the hiss of pain as he sucked the sting away.

My fingers clutched to his chest, curling, aching to participate, and I slid my arms around his waist to tug his shirt up his back. When I reached his arms, he let go of my hip just long enough to yank his shirt from his shoulders and over his head, tossing it to the sand at our feet.

Free of the garment, he quickly wrapped my hair back around his other palm, pulling with a sharp, delicious tugthat exposed the other side of my throat, and I slipped my hands down his shorts to clutch his ass, digging my nails into the firm muscles.

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