Page 77 of Broken Skulls

She drops her hand to my knee, still refusing to look at me. “There’s no but, Jacob. I love you.”

I’m already planning to lock her in my basement for real when her words finally hit my brain.She loves me.

“Look at me, Elizabeth.”

It takes her a few minutes, but eventually she raises her face, her tear-filled eyes reflecting my shadow back at me.

“I love that you never lie to me,” I repeat, and then I grab her cheeks, tugging her face to mine.

“I’m not wasting time, Jacob. I love you. If you don’t love me back that’s fine, but I’m tired of keeping my words to myself. I love you. I fucking love you,” she rasps as if she just finished running a race.

Slowly, I push her to her back, keeping her cheeks clenched in my hand. “I love you,” I tell her, pressing my knee against the seam of her jeans.

Instantly, she begins to ride my thigh, lifting her ass high off the ground. I release her cheeks to grab her by the waist, guiding her at a pace of my choosing.

“But I hate you too.”

Her brows furrow, and I feel her hips slow. I don’t let them. My fingers dig into her. “I hate you because I feel like you’ve beenrunning from me for a hundred lifetimes, and I’ve just finally caught up with you.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Elizabeth

Iblink up at him. I know exactly what he’s talking about. I feel it too.

“I’m sorry.”

He smiles down at me before bringing his mouth to my ear. “Promise to be mine the rest of eternity,” he whispers.

“Eternity,” I assure him right before his lips descend on mine.

Someone starts clapping behind us. “Beautiful. Now get the fuck up. We have a situation,” Jackson says.

Jacob slowly tears his mouth from mine. He stares down at me. “I’m going to kill this fucker for you.”

Jackson laughs loudly at this. “Oh, threatening to kill your president? You are smitten with this one, aren’t you?”

I grab his shirt, my gaze bouncing over Jacob’s face. He’d do it. For me, he’d do it. I give him a tiny shake of the head. His intensity scares me a little, but at the same time, I like it. He’ll protect me at all costs.

Jacob pushes himself off me.

“Next time knock.” He scowls at Jackson as he helps me to my feet.

“We did, fucker,” Elijah joins the conversation, coming up behind Jackson. “Do you have Tylenol?”

Jacob rubs his temple. “There’s some on the microwave.” He looks at me. “I’m sorry. I think I may have forgotten to mention that my brothers are pains in the asses who might show up at any given moment.”

It makes me giggle.

Jackson ignores Jacob. “Hey.” He wraps his arm around my shoulders. “Do you remember the girl I told you about yesterday?”

I nod. “Yeah. Her name was Lexie, right?”

“Yep. She’s here, and I think she could use a woman to talk to. She’s a handful, and she somehow managed to slip away from us tonight. Elijah just found her wandering on the side of the road.”

I glance at Jacob, unsure of my ability to provide comfort to this girl.

“Go on.” He presses a palm against the small of my back. “All you have to do is listen. You can’t fuck that up.”

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