Page 69 of Silent as Sin
THE BIKES LINEDthe lot outside the window,chrome flashing under the sun, but my focus was on her. Always her.
Wren stood with the light at her back, hair shining, a small smile tugging her mouth as she held one of those paper birds in her hand. She looked fragile sometimes, but I knew better now. She’d been through hell and walked out the other side. Strong. Mine.
Dusty’s death weighed heavy. A brother lost to his own bad choices, and in the end, he’d made the right one. I’d see to it his family knew that. He’d go down remembered for how he finished, not how he fell.
I crossed the room and pulled Wren into me, pressing my lips to her temple. She melted against me without hesitation, and the storm inside me finally went quiet.
“I missed you,” I murmured.
She looked up at me, those eyes unshakable now, no more running in them. And right then I knew I couldn’t wait. Couldn’t leave it unsaid.
I tipped her chin so she had no choice but to see the truth in me. “I want you at my side. Not just tonight, not just until the world forgets what we’ve been through. Forever. Be my ol’ lady.” My voice cracked low, rough with something I didn’t show anyone else. “And when the time’s right, be my wife.”
Her breath caught, tears flashing quick, and she nodded like she’d been waiting all along. “Yes.”
The word was quiet, but it was enough to level me.
I kissed her like I’d been holding back a lifetime. Her hands fisted in my cut, pulling me closer, and there was no hesitance or fear in her touch. Just fire.
I didn’t stop to think, and I scooped her up, her legs locking around me, and carried her to the bed.
I set her down on the edge of the bed and framed her face in my hands. She looked up at me, eyes bright and piercing, no shadows hiding in them anymore.
“I’ll spend the rest of my life proving how much I love you,” I whispered, the vow tearing straight from my chest.
Her lips curved soft, sure. “Then start now.”
The words lit something deep inside me. I lowered my mouth to hers again, slower this time, letting her taste me, letting her set the pace. Her hands slid over my chest, down my stomach, tugging at the hem of my shirt until I stripped it away with my cut. She traced every scar like she was memorizing them, like they didn’t scare her, like she wanted all of me.
Clothes fell away, one by one, until there was nothing between us but heat and skin. I laid her back against the sheets, kissed every place she tensed until she melted under me. Every sound she made went straight to my bones, undoing years of silence.
“Look at me,” I murmured against her throat. She did, eyes wide, lips parted, and I swore I’d never forget that sight. “This is ours. You’re mine. Always.”
Her fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me down. “Yours,” she whispered, voice breaking with want and trust all at once.
I slid into her slow, steady, watching her, feeling every inch of her trust wrap tight around me. Her breath hitched, her nails dug into my shoulders, but she didn’t look away. Neither did I.
We moved together, slow at first, then faster when she arched up into me, when her moans turned from hesitant to desperate. She clung to me like she’d never let go, and I held her like the world was trying to rip her away again.
When she came, it was with my name on her lips, the sound tearing through me like salvation. I followed hard, burying myself in her, shuddering with the force of it, every promise I had pouring out with the release.
After, I stayed inside her, forehead pressed to hers, both of us gasping, shaking, alive.
“I love you,” I said, rough and certain. “From here ‘til the grave, Wren. My ol’ lady. My wife.”
Tears slid down her cheeks, but she was smiling through them. “I love you too. So much.”
I kissed her again, softer this time, and pulled her into my chest. She curled against me, small but unbreakable, the strongest damn woman I’d ever known. Her silence had once been a wound carved into her soul, a cage built by monsters. But with me, it wasn’t fear anymore. It was peace. It was hers.
Silent as sin,and I’d die before I let anyone take it from her again.
The End
