Page 80 of Furever Loyal
“Kincaid!”
Joints cracked as his head whipped around to focus on the sound of her voice. There! Emerging from behind the biggest piece of machinery in the entire factory came his chestnut-haired beauty. He lunged forward, ignoring the pain in his leg, his abdomen, multiple ribs and most of the rest of his body. It was easy when he saw her.
“I can’t see you,” she called again.
“I’m almost there,” he repeated, no more than ten feet away. “I’m here, Haley. I’m here.”
He swept her up into his arms, spinning around, kissing her more furiously than any intimate moment the two of them had shared. She was safe.
“I’m sorry I took so long,” he whispered between kisses, having to pause between the words. “I’ll never let this happen again.”
“You had better not,” she teased, stroking his face, either not noticing or not caring about the blood flowing from at least one good cut.
“Haley, there’s something I need to tell—”
“Kincaid, I need to tell you—”
They both stopped short, speaking at the same time, then burst into laughter.
“You first,” she said, sneaking in another kiss.
“Haley, I’m not very good with words,” he began. “That makes what I’m trying to say so much more difficult, but it needs to be said anyway. So I’m going to just say it. There’s no flowery speech, no grand gesture. There’s just…me, in a factory, surrounded by a less than romantic scene that I’mveryglad you can’t see, and also Kvoss and possibly the Queen and—”
“I thought you said there was no flowery speech?” she interrupted, still touching his face.
“Right. Haley Meynard, I love you.” The room pitched wildly for a moment as his legs grew wobbly and unstable, as the nerves he’d so long kept penned up came rushing forth, mixing with his weakness and injury.
“You good?” she asked as he steadied himself against her.
“Yes. Sorry. I’ve been wanting to say that, and now that I have it’s just…” he smiled. “It feels good.”
“I bet you it doesn’t feel as good as hearing it,” she said, stepping closer.
Kincaid shrugged. “I…I wouldn’t know. I’ve only said it.”
“Let me help you out,” she said, reaching up to her tiptoes to get as close to his ear as she could. “I love you, Kincaid Ursa. I love you so much.”
He shuddered. Once. No more, because now wasn’t the time nor the place for it.
“Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?” Haley teased, kissing him softly, slowly.
“It feels really good,” he murmured, returning her kiss. It did. It felt amazing, knowing his mate well and truly did care about him. That the feelings he’d been slow to realize and accept were reciprocated. It was perhaps the most wonderful non-physical feeling he’d ever experienced.
“You know, I’m inclined to believe you,” she said in a strange voice.
Although it was almost pitch black inside the building, his vision picked up enough of her face for him to know she was struggling to contain a laugh.
He frowned, looking down at Haley. “What do you mean?”
“Kincaid, my love, you should probably put some pants on.”
38
“It’s weird,” she said, staring out the window at the beautiful manicured lawn and gardens of Ursidae Manor from the window in Kincaid’s bedroom.
A giant lump under the covers stirred, emitting a sound that she chose to take as being curious.
“How long were we actually on the run for? Three or four days? Something like that.” It was all a blur still. “Such a short period of time. Some people are on the run for weeks, months, even years. A few days, and yet it feels like a lifetime. Going back to normal now, not having to avoid anyone, being able to walk about your house openly. It’s weird, don’t you think?”
