Page 121 of A Love Like Venom

I wished upon the stars for her and not a minute later she appeared.

And I felt it then. This indescribable yet whole feeling. I felt it when I first laid my eyes upon her.

“I love you,” she says to me again. Those three little words I will never tire of hearing.

Pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose where there is a splash of freckles I echo, “I love you, too.”

And nothing will tear us apart.

I will do everything in my power to keep her in my arms forever.

Because her and I are meant to last lifetimes. Our hearts will be with each other even in the after life and our souls will always be one.

“Stay with me.” My voice comes out gruff as I make my plea.

“Reed, I’m not going anywhere,” she assures me but that wasn’t what I meant.

Clearing my throat I stare down at her showing my vulnerability. “Stay with me. Don’t go back to Hollows Point. Stay with me here in Pennsylvania.”

Her eyes search mine but there isn’t anything that I am hiding from her. I want her to stay with me. I want her to live with me. Hollows Point isn’t where she belongs. She belongs with me.

“I don’t know if I can,” she mumbles unsure.

My heart races as I’m finding myself becoming desperate. There is no way in fucking hell I am letting her go again. Fuck, I’ll kidnap her if I have to. “Why not?”

“I have college-”

“You can transfer.”

“There are people that I care about back at Hollows Point. And if I leave them behind there will be no one there to protect them. I can’t do that.”

Her heart, her big heart is one of the reasons why I fell in love with her in the first place. The fact that she’s a good person, a really good person is only another reason why I am in love with her.

As much as I hate the points that she is making I do understand them.

She has people that she cares about. People that she considers family and she doesn’t want to abandon them. Not when all her life people have abandoned her. And sadly I’m on that fucking list because at one point and time I abandoned her when I shouldn’t have.

This just proves that she really is an angel.

“I don’t want you in Hollows Point, Alice. It’s too dangerous.”

She raises a brow. “And is that the only reason for you wanting me to stay here?”

Fuck. That came out entirely wrong.

“No,” I’m quick to say. “No. I want you in my life, angel. I want you in every aspect. Your face is the first thing I want to see in the morning and your lips are the last thing I want to taste before I close my eyes. I want you with me, always. But you have to understand that living in Hollows Point isn’t safe for you right now. It never was, Alice and I should have taken you with me when I left the first time. But I didn’t and that’s my mistake. I’m not making that mistake again.”

Her thumb swipes back and forth soothingly on the back of my neck. She’s loosening the strain in my muscles from the regret that I carry everyday.

“I don’t think I ever told you but I forgive you, Reed. I forgive you for everything.” Her voice is a gentle caress as her eyes never waver from mine.

Then it happens, a crushing weight that was sitting heavy on my shoulders finds relief.

“You forgive me,” I breathe.

“Of course I do. I love you, Reed Carter. I wouldn’t be able to if I didn’t forgive you. We’ve all made mistakes but that’s in the past. What matters is this moment. Us, here, now. You said that if we ever were apart you would find me again, you did.”

“It wasn’t me who found you. You were the one who found me. You brought me back, Alice. No one else could have done that.”

---