Page 112 of I Am Salvation

“I both do and I don’t. I want you here, safe, resting. I also want you by my side.” He caresses my cheek with an unexpected gentleness. “But not just for this. For everything.”

My flesh heats. It’s hardly a proposal of marriage, but he’s thinking of the future. And that makes me happy.

“But you do one thing for me, all right?” I say.

“Anything within my power.”

“You keep yourself safe. You come back to me.”

He flashes me a small smile. “I have something to live for now, Diana. Griffin may be alive. And that’s a lot, but you? You make everything in my life bearable.”

While he’s not a poet, those are words that I’m sure he never thought he would say. I believe him when he says he loves me. I believe Dragon is capable of so much love. He has a big heart. He’s the only one who didn’t understand that.

“I can’t believe he’s here in Taos.” He shakes his head. “The address is only a couple of miles away from my mother’s trailer park.”

I drop my jaw. “So if it’s truly the person who had Griffin all these years…”

“Exactly.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “Then he’s been within a couple of miles of my mother and father this whole time. Unbelievable.”

Really unbelievable.

I don’t say anything, but a thought pops into my head.

What if Dragon’s parents…

No.

It’s just too horrible to contemplate.

“Okay. May I take the car?”

“Of course.”

He gets dressed quickly. “Are you hungry? I can bring you back some food.”

It is nearly dinnertime. “No, don’t worry about that. I’ll order something. But don’t you want to wait until after you eat something?”

“No, Diana. I need to hop on this right away. Before he decides to skip out. He may already be gone because he has the money.”

He’s right. I hadn’t thought of that.

“All right,” I say. “Go. But keep me posted, okay? If I don’t hear from you in a couple of hours, I’m going to start assuming the worst.”

“You’re going to worry about me?”

“Yes.” I cross my arms. “That’s what people who love each other do.”

He simply shrugs into his jeans and then pulls his T-shirt over his head.

He doesn’t answer, but I see it in his eyes.

This is all new to him.

But I’ll show him he’s worthy of every bit of it.

Once he’s dressed, he sits next to me on the bed and pulls me into a hug. I’m still naked, and my body reacts.

He kisses me, and I part my lips, letting him in. We kiss frantically for a few moments, our tongues dueling and tangling. But then he pulls back.

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