Page 17 of Claiming Sarah

My breath caught in my throat. Gods, she was beautiful. Long brown hair, smiling brown eyes. Trim, but with curves. She was the size of a Ladrian teenager—a short one, at five and a half feet tall. I wished there was more of her.

More of her to yell at.

She passed one of the infants back to Silence and grinned at me in excitement until she saw my expression, then her own fell with worry. “What—are you okay—what’s wrong?” came out fast.

I wanted nothing more than to hold her, to bury my face against her skin and smell her hair. To strip her naked and fuck her like a wild man. But the memory of my cargo bay door shutting between us after I said my final goodbye and drove all the way back to Halla on the longest, loneliest ride of my life—that was the memory that kept my feet glued to the ground. I couldn’t just let that pain go.

My jaw tightened, but I tried to keep my tone light as I stared directly at her, ignoring Deacon standing nearby. “I would like to speak to you someplace else, away from the babies. They shouldn’t have to hear me yell at you.”

Silence smiled once, gathered her babies close, and went back into the cottage, leaving the three of us alone.

“You’re going to yell at me?” Sarah asked, confusion etching her expression.

Deacon interjected, “She has done nothing wrong, Jac. What is—”

“You. Be quiet,” I demanded, pointing at him.

He closed his mouth, surprised.

I shifted my glare back to Sarah, and it pained me to do it, but I managed. “What are you thinking, coming back here so soon? We waged a war for you. Kapok lost his life for you!” I knew it was unfair to lay the blame for his death at her feet, but I was hurt and angry and being petty.

Her lip quivered. What was left of my ghost evaporated from the tiny, vulnerable motion. Her voice cracked, and moisture filled her pretty eyes. “I’m…I’m sorry, Jac. I—”

“I went through the pain of saying goodbye to the only woman I have ever loved,” I said, my voice cracking, too, mostly out of fear for her safety. “So I could protect her. And all that pain, all that grief, you made it worth nothing by coming back here, when the conduits are still running around and a threat. You are going to get yourself killed, for no good reason whatsoever. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Tears flowed freely down her soft cheeks. “Marry me,” she whispered.

Time stood still. I blinked a dozen times, certain I’d misheard her. “What?”

“Us. Marryus,” she rushed to say. “I mean,unitewith us. Me and Deacon. We want that.”

I looked at Deacon, completely lost.

He smiled sheepishly and confirmed what Sarah just said with a nod.

I glanced back at her, shocked by this turn of events and what she was asking. “You came back here…to unite with me and Deacon?”

“I want a life here on Halla.” She wiped her cheeks and walked toward me, closing the short distance between us. “I am so sorry for all the pain and the grief I caused you, Jac. I am sorry about Kapok. You have every right to be angry with me for that. I understand your anger, and if you don’t want to unite with me, with us, I guess I can—”

I took her in my arms and kissed her before she could finish. I couldn’t hold back any longer. I breathed her in, let her scent fill my lungs. Her strangely soft tongue tasted like her salty tears. She was so petite compared to me, and her little size made me want to keep her safe in my arms forever. The urge to admonish her vanished.

When our kiss broke, I framed her small face in my big hands, the guilt for my behavior surging forward. “I’m so sorry. Kapok is not your fault. I hate myself for yelling at you, please—”

“Forgiven. Always,” she murmured sweetly.

Deacon’s handsome face split with a smile. “And what about me? Are you angry with me, too?”

“Get over here,” I growled.

I grabbed his collar, hauling him forward so I could fuse my mouth to his, too. Kissing wasn’t a common custom for Ladrians, but with these two I couldn’t get enough. I had gone from angry and hurt to elated and horny in just a few seconds and kissing them had made me dizzy from it all.

I pulled back, and we smiled at each other. “Is she serious?” I asked Deacon, who was the classed one and who would need toapprove such an unconventional union. “You want the three of us to unite?”

He nodded. “I have loved you for years, Jac, and you know my feelings about Sarah. Say yes.”

I grinned like a fool. “Yes.”

The pair of them hugged me, and I had no idea what to think of any of it, but I was ecstatic. Until another thought hit me and a flash of jealousy seared through my heart. “We can forego the pomp, right?”

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