Page 79 of Crash and Burn
38
Rascal
We weren’t upfor long before Marley fell asleep tucked under my arm with her legs tangled up with mine. When I wake up, we are in the same position. I don’t move, in fear of waking her up. Instead, I soak up the moment, loving every second of her being back in my arms. We were apart for a short time, but it felt so much longer.
As if she senses me watching her, Marley stirs in her sleep. Her arm around my waist tightens, her eyes fluttering open.
“Good mornin’, Princess.” I kiss her forehead.
“Mornin’, Romeo.” She smiles.
“How’d you sleep?”
“Best sleep I’ve ever had.” She giggles, but quickly sobers. “Maria gave me something to help me sleep. Even then, it wasn’t a very peaceful sleep. I had nightmares, but I don’t remember what they were about.”
“Well, you’re safe now. Nothin’ like that will ever happen again,” I promise.
“You can’t promise that. Like you said, being part of the Savage Menaces you’re always in dangerous situations.” She repeats my own words back to me. “But even so, I know if we’re ever in a situation where I’m taken again, I know you’ll come for me.”
What she says does something to me. It gives me some weird tingly feeling. Such a foreign feeling. Possibly, love? No, it hasn’t been long enough for me to feel that way. Has it?
I squeeze her into a hug. “I will always come for you. No matter what.”
“What’s on the agenda for today? Are we going home today?” Her voice is hopeful.
“I need to talk with Lochlan before we go. He should be here around noon,” I tell her.
“What happened with Rodrigo and Eduardo?”
“Ratchet, Thor, and Shade took them back to the clubhouse. They’ll be taken care of painfully and slowly,” I tell her.
“Good. Can I be part of it?”
Her words shock me. “If that’s what you want, then yes. Are you hungry? I’m sure someone has made breakfast.”
“A little. I’d like to check on Diesel, if we can.”
“We can do that,” I say. She moves to get up, but I pull her back down. She squeals with a smile as I grab her face and kiss her. I use the kiss to convey these feelings I can’t put into words. When I pull away, there’s something different in her eyes. A light that wasn’t there before.
“What was that for,” she asks, grinning.
“Just lettin’ you know how much I missed you.” I swat her ass before rolling out of bed.
“I missed you, too.” There’s a timidness to her voice I’ve never heard before. Could she feel for me what I feel for her?
I smirk at her. “Come on, let’s get you fed.”
I throw my arm around her shoulders and together we walk downstairs.
“Hey, love birds!” Saint says as we walk into the kitchen. “How are you feelin’, Mar?”
“Hungry.” She giggles.
“Good, because I made a shit ton of food,” Clutch says.
“You kind of have to when there’s so many of you in the same place at the same time,” Marley replies. Clutch and Saint laugh.
“You have a point,” Clutch admits. “I’m glad to see your wit is still intact. You’ll need it being Rascal’s Ol’ Lady.”
