Page 50 of Echoes and Oaths
He kissed her hair, holding her tighter.
"I love you more than life, mi alma."My soul.
And for the first time in what felt like forever, Jinx believed he might actually deserve the future shining just beyond the horizon. A future with this woman. His woman.
The night wrapped around them like a cocoon, the world outside fading into nothingness.
Eira laid curled against Jinx, her head resting over his heart, her fingers tracing slow, lazy patterns across his chest. His arm was wrapped firmly around her, anchoring her to him like he couldn’t bear to let go even for a second.
Jinx closed his eyes, breathing in her scent, her soap, warm skin, a hint of the earth, and sunshine that always seemed to cling to her.
His fingers moved slowly up and down her spine, feeling the small shivers that danced along her skin. It wasn’t cold because Venezuela’s night was thickand warm, but she pressed even closer to him, sighing contentedly.
For the first time in years, he felt still. Settled. Whole.
"You okay?" he murmured against her hair, his voice a low rumble.
Eira shifted just enough to tilt her head up and look at him. Her eyes were soft and heavy-lidded but filled with a peace he hadn’t seen in them for so long.
"I’m better than okay," she whispered. "I feel safe. I haven’t felt that in a long time."
His chest tightened painfully, and he bent his head and kissed her forehead, lingering there.
"You’ll always be safe with me, corazón," he said, the words a fierce promise.
They laid there in silence for a while. The only sounds were the faint rustling of leaves outside the open window and Teo's occasional sigh in the other room.
Jinx stared up at the rough wooden beams of the ceiling, feeling a slow, cautious hope uncurling in his chest. For so long, he’d believed he didn’t deserve happiness, that his hands were too stained and his soul too battered.
But Eira ... Eira was showing him that mayberedemption wasn’t something you earned. Maybe it was something you were given.
He tightened his hold on her, feeling her heartbeat thrum against his skin.
"I’m going to build us a life," he said quietly, almost to himself. "We will no longer just survive. I want to give you everything you’ve ever dreamed of. A real home. A future."
Eira smiled sleepily against his chest.
"We already have everything we need," she murmured. "We have each other."
Jinx swallowed hard, emotion thick in his throat. He kissed her again, softer that time, reverent.
Outside, the stars blazed like scattered diamonds across the sky. Jinx dared to let himself dream of tomorrow for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.
Sunlight spilled through the old wooden shutters, slanting in warm golden beams across the bed. The air was cooler in the early morning, fresh with the scent of damp earth and blooming bougainvillea outside the window.
Jinx woke slowly, blinking against the light, feeling the weight of Eira still nestled against him. She was sprawled across his chest, one leg tangledwith his, her soft breath fanning his skin in slow, steady puffs.
For a long moment, he didn’t move. He should get up and tend to the cows, but moving might shatter the sensation he was feeling. He just laid there, memorizing the feel of her in his arms. The steady beat of her heart. The faint rise and fall of her chest. The way her fingers still curled lightly against his side, even in sleep.
It was everything he’d dreamed of and once believed he could never have.
When a soft giggle drifted from the doorway, Jinx turned his head just in time to see Teo standing there in his tiny pajamas, one thumb in his mouth, the other hand clutching a battered stuffed donkey by the ear.
The little boy’s eyes were wide, curious, and bright with mischief. Eira stirred against him, her lashes fluttering before she blinked herself awake. She lifted her head, following Jinx’s gaze, and smiled.
"Good morning, mi amor," she said softly to Teo.
Teo beamed, waddling toward the bed with the determined energy only toddlers possessed. Jinx sat up and reached for him, lifting him easily onto the mattress. Teo immediately flopped against Jinx'schest with a contented sigh as if that were exactly where he belonged.
