Page 108 of Chasing Sarah

His words do nothing to the raging storm of pain wreaking havoc inside my mind.

“I need to go,” I murmur, stepping out of his embrace.

“What? Go where?”

Refusing to meet his eyes, I turn toward the hallway leading back to the room. “I just need to go. I need some space to think.”

The fire alarm starts to blare again and Rhys curses again. The sound of his phone ringing adds to the chaos in the kitchen. But I refuse to turn around. I refuse to do anything but run.

I need to run away from whatever this is.

“What?” I snap into the phone when I finally get the fucking fire alarm to stop.

“Location, date, and time have been confirmed. We’re heading out tonight.” Declan’s voice comes through the phone.

I glance toward the direction Sarah went. I contemplate between telling her and offering her the chance to come with and not saying anything about it.

“I’ll be there,” I grunt, then hang up.

After making sure the stove won’t go up in flames again, I head toward our bedroom.

“Sarah?” I ask, pushing open the door.

She stands by the window, staring at but notseeingthe city below. “Mo réalta?”I whisper, gently setting my hand on her shoulder.

She startles, meeting my eyes.

“You okay?”

Her crystal blue eyes are filled with an emotion I can’t identify as anything other than deep-rooted pain.

“I can’t lose you,” she whispers.

“You’ll never lose me, baby,” I say, enveloping her in my arms. She sobs into my chest and my heart cracks at the sound.

When I realized she was triggered by the food I was burning, I felt like absolute dogshit. Realistically, I know there wasn’t anything I could do to stop her trauma from taking over. But the fact thatmyactions caused her to relive the night she lost her entire family makes me hate myself.

“I can though. You can get bored of me, or something can happen to you. Either way, I end up losing you.”

I pull her away from my chest, holding her at arm’s length. “First, nothing wouldevermake me bored of you. I need you like I need oxygen.” Her eyes widen. “Second, nothing will happen to where I will no longer be around.”

I can see she doesn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth. I’m not sure how to make it any clearer that I am always going to be here. That I’m just as much hers as she is mine.

“It’s you and me against the world.” I lean down, forcing her eyes to remain trained on mine. “I love you, Sarah.”

A gasp bursts from her lips. She stares into my eyes, jaw slackened. “I love you so fucking much. You are like the brightest star shining in the darkest of nights. You light up my world in an unbelievable number of ways.” A tear spills from her eye and I brush it away with my thumb. “There is no me without you, Sarah. You areitfor me.”

There. Hopefully she sees the truth of those words in my eyes.

I can’t be without this woman.

There is only one Sarah in existence that is everything I’ve ever wanted, and it’s her.

Her eyes travel across the features of my face. Wordlessly studying me.

“I love you too.”

My lips crash against hers the moment she finishes her sentence. “I love you. I will spend the rest of my existence showing you how fucking much I love you,” I say between kisses.