Page 88 of Bound by Wreckage
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Carsyn
Raysfrom the sun shine in through the window, and my eyes blink trying to adjust. Warmth surrounds me and my back is against something very hard.
Nox.
My heart thumps so rapidly, and my breaths come in short. He’s here. In bed. With his arm aroundme.
Slowly, I turn to face him, his arm not giving me much help with how it’s wrapped tightly around me.
Sleep has been off for me, so much so I didn’t even hear him come in last night. I wish I would’ve.
Slowly, my hand grazes his face, his beard prickling me. His eyes flutter open in the sexiest of ways. “Mornin’,” he rumbles, and my core tightens.
“Morning,” I whisperas his hand comes up to the side of my face.
“It’s over, baby. Buck is gone.”
My chest tightens, and I can’t breathe. Over? How can it be over? Did he…?
“I see your eyes, Carsyn. Yes, he’s dead and his club is going to be dismantled. No one will hurt you again.”
While I want to feel the relief, I find it difficult to do. There’s still this huge cloud over top of usthat needs to be released.
“Was I the reason Dagger is dead? Buck was coming after you because you got me out?” I don’t want the answer to this. I want to pretend like this isn’t between us, tangling a web of anger and despair.
Nox’s eyes light to the most beautiful brown, the flecks inside doing a little dance. “None of it was us, Carsyn. Not one thing had to do with us.”
Tears fill my eyes and spill down my cheeks onto the pillow below. This is… this is… Shit… This is more than I could’ve hoped for.
“Really?”
“Really, gorgeous. It was played like it was because of you, but it wasn’t. The plays set into motion were made early on before we saw each other at Buck’s.”
“Holy shit,” I whisper, letting the tears still flow. “It’s really over?”
“Yeah, babe. It’s over and you can live free not lookin’ over your shoulder at every turn.” This makes it sound as if he plans on me going out and spreading my wings away from here. Away from him. My heart seizes. Is this what he wants? Me gone? After all this?
“That’s good,” I choke out, not feeling it, but saying it just the same. Disappointment rears its ugly head at the prospectof leaving—of him wanting me to leave. That everything we shared meant nothing and he’s going to let me go, but I don’t want to. Being by his side is the only time I’ve ever been content and happy. Losing that will be worse than death.
He leans over and kisses me hard, deep, and wet. My fingers lace through his hair and grasp on tight, letting him move me any way he wants.
I pullaway noting the large bandage on his shoulder. “What happened?”
“Gunshot. Just a graze, I’m fine.”
“Oh my God.” Fear slices through my heart. Losing Nox was never supposed to happen, and seeing this stirs up my protective instincts.
“I’m good, promise.” My nod is hesitant, but when Nox leans down and takes my mouth once more, I melt.
Nox releases me, heaving breathsand looking into my eyes. “Don’t leave. Stay in Sumner with me.”
All the goodness that I never thought would exist in my life rushes me like a tidal wave. He wants me to stay with him. “Really?”
His mouth turns down. “If you don’t want to, I understand. You have your whole life to do whatever you want and get whatever you want out of it.”
Nox is the nicest, kindest, most beautifulman I’ve seen in my life. I knew it when he was a boy all those years ago, and I know it now. This connection between us has always been there. Never fading, always in the backs of our minds, and it’s as if we were meant to go through everything we have to get to this point.
