Page 69 of Shelter from the Storm

“Let it out,” he murmured. “Let it all out, Gretchen. I have you.”

So, she did. She cried out years’ worth of pain and fear, her tears soaking his shirt as he held her tighter, whispering soft words of promise.

“You’re safe.”

“No one will ever hurt you again.”

“I’ll never let you go.”

“It’s going to be okay now.”

After several minutes, the crying slowed, and her body softened against his. It felt as if all the bad shit had been expunged through those tears. Theo wrapped his arm around her upper back, holding her close, then placed a kiss to the top of her head.

Gretchen’s face lifted to look at him.

“Don’t say ‘I’m sorry.’ You’ve done nothing wrong,” he said quickly, brushing the last traces of wetness from her cheeks with his thumbs.

He noticed the way she changed course instantly. “Okay. Then thank you,” she whispered, shifting up enough that she could give him a proper kiss.

“No thanks necessary. Good night, kitten.”

She resumed her original snuggle, sighing softly, asleep within minutes.

Sleep took longer for him. A lot longer.

But by the time it found him, he’d made up his mind that he was going to spend the rest of his life making sure this woman knew she was loved, that she was safe and sound.

He was going to be her shelter in every single storm.

Chapter Twelve

Gretchen blinked a few times, her eyes gritty and puffy from crying. The moment she recalled breaking down in Theo’s arms, she remembered where she was and managed to force her eyes open.

Her hand was resting on Theo’s chest. Mercifully, he’d slept in his T-shirt because heaven help her if she’d had to sleep on his bare chest.

Trying not to move, she slowly glanced upward, quickly realizing her stealth was for nothing.

Theo was wide awake and grinning at her. “Good morning, kitten,” he said cheerfully.

Gretchen attempted to put some distance between them, but Theo tightened his grip around her shoulders.

“Just give me one more minute to savor this,” he said, his voice husky from sleep and sexy as hell.

“Savor?”

“This is hands down the greatest way to wake up.”

“With a woman in your bed?”

He shook his head. “With you in my bed.”

Gretchen never knew how to respond when he said sweet stuff like that. Probably because she hadn’t been on the receiving end of many kind comments.

Although, while her brain didn’t have a response, her body knew exactly how it felt about his compliments and praise. Because it was now wide awake, sitting with paws up like a dog begging for a treat.

For a moment, she considered slipping her hand under his shirt to see if those abs of his were as rock-hard as she suspected. Before she could make that mistake, however, her gaze drifted to the clock on his nightstand, and she quickly sat up.

“Oh my God! It’s after eight, and I still need to go home to shower and get clean clothes.”

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