Page 168 of Consume Me

I take her hand, needing her to understand something vital. “The moment you crashed into my life and our eyes met, something shifted inside of me. The very fiber of my being changed. You can’t walk away. You can’t stop loving me. If you do, and I am not fucking exaggerating, I will bind you to me by any means. You’re mine for life now, Silver. Not even death will separate us.”

She lowers her face to mine, her dainty fingers brushing against my cheeks.

“I love you so much, Blake. I promise to do that forever. You’re not the only mad one in our relationship. There’s nothing more I want than the picture you’ve painted, including the family and the growing old part.”

“I’ll give you everything, Mia.”

“All I’ve ever truly wanted was you.”

“Silver, you have me completely. Everything that makes me me is yours and no one else’s. I’ve never belonged to anyone and will never belong to anyone else either. You’re my home, my silver lining.”

She presses the sweetest kiss on my lips and when I am about to deepen the kiss, someone clears their throat. I am going to discharge myself this fucking second if I can’t have abit of uninterrupted time with Mia after all the shit we’ve been through.

“I see you’ve readjusted to being alive pretty well,” the doctor says, and I pin her with a stare.

“Your condition was critical, so you need to take it easy the next few days. But you’re doing better than I expected, so that’s a good sign.”

“How soon can I leave?”

“Neither of us is leaving until the doctor tells us you’re good to go,” Mia says.

“You heard your lady. Listen to her.”

“You kind of interrupted us. Can I have a moment with my woman now?”

The nurse shakes her head at me, pursing her lips, but I see the smile there.

The doctor sends me a hard stare. “Be happy you are fortunate enough to be able to spend all the time in the world with her. I understand the excitement, but first let your body heal.”

I offer a nod, and when we’re alone, I look at Mia, swallowing the knot lodged in my throat.

“How are you?” I ask, and she shrugs, avoiding my glance.

“I don’t know, honestly. I killed him, and although Caleb was an evil man and an awful parent, he was your father…”

I interlink our fingers, lifting her hand to my mouth and pressing my lips against her palm. “Nothing you could ever do will change my view of you. You’re so incredibly good, Mia. I am the one––”

“No, Blake. Please never say that you don’t deserve or aren’t worthy of me again. I am flawed, just like you. And that’s okay because I would do anything to protect the people I love too—just like you.”

“You got hurt.”

“It will heal. And together we’ll overcome what happened to us.”

She looks ahead, fixing her eyes on a point for a few moments before she seeks my eyes.

“And if accepting you as you are and loving you with all of me makes me a bad person, I am fine with that. I am at home only when I am with you. When Caleb basically forced you to tell me what you did, I only wanted to free myself to hug you. It must have been so hard keeping that to yourself, allowing it to eat at you. But you weren’t the one to kill her. You’re a man of action, and both of those assholes knew it. By making you an accomplice, they tried to break your spirit. Even if you would have killed her with your bare hands, I would have understood. My love for you is unconditional.”

“You have me, all of me.”

“Good,” she says, looking pretty proud and satisfied at hearing that.

The door bangs against the wall as our friends stumble in, almost tripping over each other to get to me.

Bailey is the first to come to me, hugging me gently. “I was so worried.”

“I’m here.”

“Don’t you ever put me through something like this again,” Abi says, her eyes shining.

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