Page 58 of Touch Her and Die
“It’s hot in here. Oh god. Is this a heart attack?”
Parks pulled me closer and one swift movement had me wrapped in his arms as he sat on the bed.
“Breathe, princess. It’s just a panic attack. Breathe. No one is expecting kids. Have you fucking met me? I would be a shitty dad, anyway.”
Breathing was good. I could breathe.
“Keep talking asshole.”
His chest vibrated, and he did just that.
“I don’t want a white picket fence. I don’t even want a little house in the suburbs. If our entire life is spent traveling the world taking out one plague at a time, it would be the most perfect life. As long as you’re the one handing me the knives as I slit their throats.”
I finally got in a deep breath. My lungs finally operating at full capacity.
“Other way around,” I said.
He was careful of my wound as he kissed my forehead.
“What’s the other way around?”
I liked the sound of his breathing as I pressed my ear to his chest. It reminded me how to do the same. How to be human.
“You’ll be handing me the knives as I slit their throats.”
His hand stroked down my back to my hip.
“We can rock, paper, scissors and take turns, princess. As long as it’s with you.”
The more he talked, the more I saw a life shaping in front of me. A future. Strange to see that. Strange to suddenly want something beyond just the next kill.
“Okay. So where does Emilee fit into all this? Your uncle?”
Parks cleared his throat.
“I will need to go take care of that. One of my guys was waiting for him in a car. I know exactly where he is.”
I tried to hop up and pull away.
“Where are you going?”
His hands grabbed me around my waist and pulled me on top of him. I had to shift, moving to straddle him. Look him straight in the eyes.
“I’m going to get Emilee. She’s pretty good with an ax. Super handy apparently, when chopping wood or taking out a wedding party,” I said.
He leaned in and breathed me in.
“Stop that. That’s weird.”
I lost the smile that played on my lips as he caught my gaze in his own.
“There was a small moment where I wasn’t sure I was ever going to see you again. My uncle will be where he is for long enough. Emilee will be washing Gertie. All I want to do is sit here. I just want to hold you.”
My heart hammered away inside my chest. Alive for what seemed like the first time.
“I think I’d been asleep, going through the motions my entire life until you.”
He leaned in and claimed my lips and for what felt like the first time, I was happy.
