Page 130 of Braving the Storm
Fuck.
The cabin.
Instinct drives me as I race up the couple of steps, my heart in my mouth. Did I leave something on? Could the electrics have sparked?
Jesus. Please, no. I can’t lose this cabin. This isher home.What the fuck am I going to do if I lose this place, with all the best parts of my goddamn life all contained within these walls.
I can’t handle losing Briar, and all the memories of being with her.
As I get closer to the door, I don’t even think twice about barging in blind to try and put it out myself. Waiting while I get on the radio and send a call out for the fucking mountain rescue, all the while watching this place go up in flames like a tinder box, is going to be a living nightmare I have no interest in enduring.
Busting through the door, I’m already halfway to the kitchen to start running the faucet and finding something to smother the flames with, when my brain catches up with the scene in front of me.
Brown eyes meet mine from across the room.
She’s crouched in front of the fire, with a couple of pieces of kindling ready to add to the building flicker of orange painting her skin in a soft glow.
Holy fuck.
Right there, that moment is when I nearly hit my goddamn knees.
I don’t know which one of us moves first. We collide somewhere in the middle of the room, and as Briar launches forward, I catch her mid-leap, wrapping her arms and legs around me.
“I thought you’d left—that you gave up on waiting. You weren’t here, and the place felt so cold.” Her voice and body shake, interspersed with sniffled sobs, as dampness and flowing tears meet my neck.
I’m left speechless, holding her so tight there is every chance my girl can’t even breathe, because I don’t think I fucking can.
“Darlin’...” My voice cracks. My mind is spinning. “That’s no way to go about begging for my cock… creepin’ in here after dark.” The words croak out of me.
Briar’s sweet little body goes still for a second, her face still buried in the crook of my neck, before she starts shaking… this time with silent laughter.
“God, I’ve missed you.” Her lips are plush and warm, tucked against my racing pulse. “So much.” Feeling her warmth and scentwrap around me tighter, to match the way her fingers curl into the hair at my nape beneath the brim of my hat is the best fucking gift I could ever receive in this life.
“You’re back.” I breathe the words into her hair. Part of me doesn’t want that to be a question. Every part of me, in fact. I’m saying it like a prayer, hoping that the fact she’s here in my arms, in our home, means that she’s here for good and that I don’t have to face the prospect of figuring out how the hell I’m supposed to do life without her.
“I never really left. This whole time, I’ve been dreaming of being here with you.” She whispers the words that set something bright and hopeful alive inside my chest.
Turning us around, I gently set her down on the kitchen counter. As much as I want to march straight into that bedroom and not resurface for an entire month—to make up for every single soul-destroying day she’s been gone—I’ve got too many words flying around my brain. They’re horribly jumbled and tangled and ineloquent, but I’m hoping like hell they’ll form something worthy of telling her all the things she deserves to hear from me.
“I’m sor—” She starts speaking as I pull back, and I immediately cut her off, cupping her jaw and resting my thumb over her lips.
“Just give me a second.” I stay there, between her knees, seeing brief flashes and glimpses of the memories of us being here in this very spot together—fragments and shards of little scenes that I’ve replayed in my mind’s eye thousands of times over the past few weeks.
Her cheeks are tinged with pink, damp with all those tears I felt a moment ago, and her eyes glisten with a little redness to them from that outpouring of emotion. I have to swallow back the lump forming in my own throat, as I bring my other hand up to her face.
Using both hands now, I glide the pads of my thumbs over her cheeks to wipe away any remaining wetness there, inhaling the way she softens and starts to breathe slower beneath my touch.
Briar’s lashes flutter a little as I flex my fingers against the side of her neck, taking my time exploring the elegant curve of her cheeks, and brush some of the loose strands of hair off her forehead.
I reach up to drag my hat off and toss it onto the counter, then lean forward to let my lips meet her forehead. As I do so, she exhales a shaky breath, the puff of air gusting against my Adam’s apple.
“In case it wasn’t obvious.” With voice dropping low, I pull back and fix her with a look that I hope to god conveys how much this moment means to me. “Doing life without you is miserable.” I brush my lips over her cheek, and Briar makes a soft noise.
“Please stay with me.”Kiss.“Let me be part of your life.”Kiss.“I love you so fucking much, and I’ll be in love with you forever, darlin’.”
This time, I let my lips finally touch hers. She’s as soft as I remember, as delicate as one of those flower petals sitting in the vase by the window, sweet as the scent that gently fills this cabin each day, and against all hope, Briar kisses me back.
I feel her fingers close around my arms, holding on with the same kind of reassuring touch that lets my chest expand fully.
