Page 70 of Reaper and Ruin
I’d known them barely days longer than Dax and Nyah had known each other, and yet the way I felt for them had consumed me so wholly that now I couldn’t even imagine what I’d do without them.
If they walked away…if they were hurt…if someone took them from me…
My stomach clenched.
I tapped Levi’s shoulder and pointed to the side of the road.
He nodded and turned off into the parking lot of the Saint View end of the beach that ran the full length of both towns. It was the one thing Saint View and Providence had in common. Waves crashed beyond the sand, and I pulled off my helmet.
Levi did the same, both of us just sitting there for a moment, watching the ocean.
“I couldn’t bear it if it was you missing.” Levi’s voice cracked.
“I was just thinking the same thing about you.” I pressed my lips to the space between his shoulder blades.
He just squeezed my thigh again. “I want to marry you, Violet. I want to grow old with you by my side. I want miniature versions of you running around with pigtails and little versions of me—”
“Running around in leather jackets?”
He snorted on a laugh. “I was going to say barefoot in the grass, fishing poles in hand, and the two of us following them, a dog yapping at our heels.”
“I can offer you a stinky cat.”
His shoulders shook with laughter. “You’re as bad as X, ruining the mood with jokes.”
I got off the bike and stood beside him so I could see his face. “Are X and Whip in this vision too?”
He nodded. “Whip is helping the boys tie knots in the line. X is probably still trying to get Harold to love him.”
I leaned into him, seeing the vision all too clearly. It was much the same as the one we’d talked about in our letters.
Only now it included two other men.
And somehow, that felt right.
I squeezed his fingers. “Let’s go for a walk. It’s so nice out.”
“There’s a towel in one of the saddlebags.”
I raised an eyebrow. “In case you feel the need to go skinny-dipping?”
He smirked at me. “Normally I just use it to kneel on when my bike needs attention, or to sit on when I stop somewhere to eat… But hey, if you’re offering to get naked…”
I wriggled my eyebrows at him suggestively.
His whole tone changed. “Don’t do that, Violet. I will take you hard and fast on the sand if that’s what you want.”
It hadn’t been my intention, but Nyah’s disappearance, Toby’s death, the constant danger that surrounded us was all so dark and heavy. Any opportunity to forget it and live in the moment felt like it needed to be grabbed with both hands and kept close for as long as possible.
I found the towel in his saddlebag, my fingers brushing over his tattoo kit. “You brought your work home with you.”
His gaze had been busily devouring me but switched to the case in my hands. “I just wanted to get some extra practice in while I’m off tomorrow.”
I grimaced at it. “But if you take me to the city to look for Nyah, you won’t have time.”
“Doesn’t matter. I can practice later.”
I pushed the kit toward him. “Or you could do what I’ve been asking you for weeks. That thing runs on batteries, doesn’t it?”
