Page 46 of Every Bit As Perfect
He held me.It was everything I needed, and exactly what I didn’t want.
The panic that had subsided rumbled anew and gained momentum.I latched onto his forearm.
He rocked against me and held me tighter.
A keening mewl broke the seal of my lips followed by a shuddered inhale.How I despised my lack of control.
But he only wrapped his hand gently around my throat, his thumb caressing my pulse.A vault of agony I never knew existed cracked.I had reached the point of no return, a pain so deep it would no longer be denied.
It was mine, mine alone, and I curled around it.
Away from him.
Almost selfish in my desire to keep this grief to myself, nurse it and nurture it like a child at my breast.
Daire rolled away abruptly, exposing my back to the wind for but a moment before flipping me around onto his chest.
I pushed back, my palms pressing against his wide chest.
He held on, one arm banded around my waist, his other hand wound tightly into my hair, the sting at my scalp grounding me.
He pressed his cheek against mine, his stubble rough and grating against my tear-stained, wind-whipped, cheek.
His breath sawed in and out harshly in my ear while his tender heart thudded violently in his chest.
His chest that vibrated with warmth and life beneath me.His chest that protected me from the hard ground.His chest that gave my grief a safe place to land.
His chest that was wide enough to carry this burden for a time.Strong enough for the moment to hold all of me.
My head cleared.The tension drained from my frame.
His hand in my hair gentled its grip and moved to cup the back of my neck.
I answered the demands of his hands and tucked my face into his neck.
Folded my knees around his hips.
Wrapped my arms around his shoulders and dug my fingers into the bone and muscle and sinew that held him together.
That held me together.
I cried.
And he stayed.
15
Take the Reins
“Iusuallyspendthisdayalone.”
“Yes,” he answered simply.
“I’ve never cried like that.”
“You needed it.”
We walked along the shoreline, our fingers intertwined.
