Page 47 of When You Saved Me

Deacon’s gaze shifted to my lips as I ground my hips against him, feeling that heat from our earlier escapades rising again.

“And I’m really glad you did.” His lips found mine as his hand moved up the back of my head, fingers twining through my hair. This kiss was unlike all the others that had been filled with scorching passion. This one was tender and sweet. Where he was normally hard, Deacon softened, moving his tongue against mine in long fluid motions that had my body melting against him.

Every part of me was singing with the sensation of butterfly wings fluttering over my skin. His kiss consumed me. Taking everything I was and making me anew. He was everywhere, touching every corner of my soul. Leaving a piece of himself behind to fill the parts of me I never knew were broken.

When we finally parted, it felt like another piece of our puzzle slid into place. The portrait of us was taking shape in such a beautiful way, it nearly brought tears to my eyes.

I could tell he felt it too. This one moment that was ours—hadalwaysbeen ours. Just waiting for us to be brave enough to reach out and take what we wanted.

Then, a loud slamming sound emanated from behind me. I jumped in his arms, and he held me close. “What was that?” I asked with a startled breath.

I watched his eyes as they looked up and past me. “I think it was the screen door slamming shut. Let me go check it out.”

Intertwining my fingers with his, he rotated my hand until my wrist faced toward the ceiling. A line of sparks shot up my arm when he leaned down and kissed the inside of my wrist. My eyelids fluttered at the contact. Then, he was gone. Leaving me and Casper on the couch while he inspected the cause of the noise.

“Wait.” I whisper-yelled. “I’m coming with you.”

He stopped a few feet from the front door and turned around. “Why are you whispering?”

I shrugged and looked at him sheepishly. “I don’t know. What if it’s an axe murderer who is trying to break in to kill us and take our spot on the couch?”

Deacon’s eyes narrowed on me. “If your first thought was that it’s an axe murderer, then why are you coming with me to check it out?”

I rolled my shoulders back. “In case you need backup.”

With a lopsided smirk, Deacon stalked toward me andtook my face in the palm of his hands. “Baby girl, I’m a trained special operations soldier who’s been to war more times than I can count. I think I can take ononeaxe murderer and keep you safe.”

“What if he’s a really big one?” I giggled.

Deacon seemed to grow a few more inches as he rotated his own shoulders backward. “There are very few men I’ve come across in my life who are bigger than me. And if he is…well…we’re both fucked.”

I burst out laughing as Deacon kissed the tip of my nose and chuckled. “Come on.” He grabbed my hand and led me toward the door. “Let’s see what we’re up against.”

Deacon opened his front door and wisps of snowflakes whirled around us, settling onto the wood floors of his home before melting. Cold air blasted my face as we stepped onto the front porch, my socks doing nothing to protect my feet from the frigidness of the frozen wooden planks.

“Oh my gosh.” I brought my hand to my mouth. “It’s even higher than it was yesterday.”

Deacon stepped further out, snowflakes dusting his black hair as he leaned on the porch railing and looked upward. “As soon as it stops, I’m going to need to get some of this snow off the roof.”

“Are we at risk of having it cave in?”

Frost had already gathered on his eyebrows when he looked back down at me. “I checked all the trusses when I first moved in here. They’re solid, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

I nodded, holding my hands to my mouth and blowinghot air into them. Deacon moved toward the screen door that was open, lying flat against the large logs that made up the paneling of the house. He assessed the latch on the door and started fiddling with it.

“I think we’ve found our axe murderer.” He looked up at me.

“Is it broken?”

“Yeah. The locking mechanism broke off, so the door has nothing to keep it secure anymore. I’m going to need to take it off the hinges and bring it inside or it’ll keep us up all night.”

The icy air had moved its way down to my bones by the time Deacon had gotten the door off the hinges. He’d told me to go inside and sit by the fire numerous times, but I loved watching him work and I didn’t want him to have to be out in the cold by himself.

I had a feeling Deacon would have been fine with the door slamming off and on throughout the night. He’d probably had to learn how to sleep in loud places given his time in the military. I knew he was doing this for my benefit.

When he brought the door inside, I went into the kitchen and brought back some paper towels to wipe the floor clean from the wet snow.

“I could have taken care of that.” Deacon’s voice was low as he knelt beside me and took the soaked paper towel from my hand.

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