Page 66 of Sparks Flying

I knew in that moment without a single doubt that I would follow this woman to the ends of the universe if need be, but she was mine forever and there was no way I was letting her go now.

“Mine,” I whispered before letting her soft snores lure me into slumber.

Bailey

Chapter 16

Waking up in Dean’s arms after my nap helped put things in perspective for me.

Sure, he was a bird. He couldn’t go on runs with me like a wolf, but he could fly low enough to feel like we were running together. We were still both shifters.

For a girl like me who was terrified of letting a man take control after seeing how weak it had made my mother, Dean had somehow made me feel safe and secure when we were messing around earlier. Lachlan would say that I had put a negative stigmatism on sex, seeing it as a controlling factor of life where the male dominates. I wasn’t sure I believed all of that, but I also knew there was some truth to it.

Dean had handed me the reins when he let me take control in the shower and then again when we were intimate this time. Even when he stepped in to regain some control, it didn’t feel like he dominated me in any way. He made me feel safe.

My uncle had never hurt me physically, yet the scars were still there. I rarely remember a night that I didn’t hear him hurting my mother, and I’d been too small and too weak to stop him. It was why working for Westin Force meant so much to me. I was helping those who couldn’t help themselves. I was securing borders and keeping people safe the way I’d never been able to do for my mom.

I didn’t fully know how to explain that to Dean. I wasn’t sure I’d even admitted it to myself before now.

“You’re deep in thought. Want to talk about it?”

“I don’t know. I guess I was just having a bit of revelation.”

He smiled warmly as he rubbed my back.

“I hope it’s about this handsome raven you met and decided you can’t live without.”

I giggled and kissed his chest. “Maybe.”

There was a comfortable silence between us and he didn’t press me to talk about it, but I needed to.

“I feel safe with you. Safe to explore and be daring, to do things I didn’t think I’d even want to do. Thank you for that.”

“You don’t ever have to thank me. You’re safe with me.”

“I know.”

And I did know.

“Was that your big revelation?”

“Not really. Or at least not all of it. I was also thinking why this internship with Westin Force has been so important to me. It’s all about safety and protecting others the way I couldn’t protect my mom and keep her safe. I don’t know that I’ll go to work for Westin Force full-time. I guess that may need to be a discussion at some point, but I do think that a career in that field would be very rewarding to me.”

He stared at me for a moment and then furrowed his brow.

“You are aware that I know a guy here pretty well that could use your skill-set and put you to work on a security team to help monitor Ravenden, right?”

My mouth opened and then closed again.

“I hadn’t thought about it like that. Wouldn’t that be using you, though?”

“No. I respect the work Westin Force does. And don’t think I haven’t noticed that you are the youngest on the team. That says a lot. But then I already know that you are far more mature than any eighteen-year-old has a right to be. Hell, I thinkyou’re handling this more maturely than me, and I’ve grown up a ton over the last year.”

“I know you’re older than me, but how old exactly?”

He grinned. “Twenty-four.”

A six-year age gap wasn’t all that bad. Besides, guys matured a lot slower than girls, and he wasn’t wrong. The way I grew up, I’d practically been on my own for most of my life. Mom could barely handle taking care of herself, let alone anyone else. I had already distanced myself from them, emotionally at least. I wasn’t convinced they’d even notice if I left Westin Pack.

---