Page 77 of Fall into Savagery

“Oh, you want me to tickle you, huh? Then you better run, boys. Cause me and your Uncle Mikhail are coming to get you.”

They didn’t need any prompting after that. They took off running and laughing as Mikhail joined in the fun.

He stopped where I stood briefly to plant a quick kiss on my lips before he took off, and I watched them for a moment, basking in the contentment that filled our home, even as temporary as it was.

I wasn’t under the illusion that all of our problems were resolved. But this was better than what it had been. Just last week, my world had seemed so dark and hopeless.

I blinked away the moisture building in my eyes from the thought, and without thinking, I walked over to Damien’s waiting arms.

I buried my face in his chest and let his presence calm me.

“Okay, pet?” he asked.

I could only nod. My throat felt like there was a giant lump the size of a tennis ball lodged in there.

I pulled back and looked up at him, letting my eyes settle in every one of his features, from the vertical scar on his left cheek to the neatly trimmed beard and the short, buzzed brown hair he’d had gotten shaved recently.

He still looked like my Damien.

Still looked like the man he had been before he was taken, yet there was something haunted about his eyes.

He didn’t tell me anything about his time being kept by Luca and Leo. Though I didn’t expect him to go into all the details, he had been so close-lipped about everything, even about why he had decided to let Leo go in the end. I didn’t know how badly this affected him.

I cupped his cheek.

“Tell me,” I said softly.

His eyes briefly moved past me to Mikhail and Nikolay before he looked back at me. Grabbing my hand, he led me to the kitchen and sat down on the kitchen stool by the island before pulling me on his lap.

I tensed, trying to get away. “You’re injured.”

“Not an invalid, pet. I can still hold you if I want to.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes and pulled me tighter into his body until there wasn’t even an inch of space between us.

“Do I look like a man who would ever do anything he’s not sure about?”

I shook my head. “But I also know you could be in the worst pain, and you’d still pretend it was nothing more than a paper cut.”

His lips twitched in amusement. “Is that so?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

Damien shook his head and cupped my cheek, directing my gaze on him.

“These eyes,” he said softly. “These eyes were the only thing that got me through it all. Whenever I thought about giving up, I only thought about one thing.”

My lips trembled, but I didn’t allow myself to lose it.

“What?” I asked, my voice coming out in a whisper, though I already knew where he was going.

“About the vow I made to myself that I would see your eyes, at least one more time, even if it was for the last time.”

I shook my head, my fist clutching the front of his shirt. “The last time you see my eyes will be when we are both in our nineties, about to die peacefully from old age.”

He let out a soft chuckle. “Is that right?”

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