Page 71 of Montana Silence

“How was that?”Mara asked.

“I think it was perfect.”

We sat in my living room, practicing Mara’s statement for the hearing. Listening to what she’d gone through—the beatings and fear—and what she’d narrowly escaped, never ceased to make my hands clench into fists. But we got to the point where her voice didn’t waver. She could go through the details and not break.

It would be different with Malcolm there, but I knew she could do it. I would be there too. This time, I wouldn’t let her be afraid. She would keep her eyes on me and ignore everyone else.

“Really?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

Mara’s eyes shone, and she came over to me and climbed on top of me on the couch. The last few days, we’d had nothing to do but spend time with each other, and more than ever, I knew I was head over heels in love with this woman.

I loved everything about her, including who she was when I met her. I loved her silent, and I loved her loud. But watching her bloom and gain confidence, watching herspeak, was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.

She kissed me, and our mouths kept slipping apart because I couldn’t stop smiling.

“I can’t kiss you when you’re laughing.”

“I’m not laughing. I’m smiling.”

It was her turn to laugh. “Well, stop that.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I slid my hands up the sides of her hips and under her shirt, savoring the feeling of her skin. I would never get enough. “We should do this instead of packing.”

She groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

“I need to remind you,” I said. “Or rather, I need to remind both of us.”

Our flight to Phoenix left in the early afternoon. Whether we wanted to pack or not, both of us would rather have a stress-free day than leave it to the last minute.

“Can we do both?” Mara asked.

The way she looked up at me and bit her lip,fuck. I was already holding myself back from laying her out on the couch and devouring her. “We can absolutely do both.” My voice rasped like I’d been yelling. “The question is, before or after?”

Mara’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “We can do both of that, too.”

I moaned into her neck. “You’re going to kill me, you know that?”

“You can’t die. If you die, then we can’t doboth.”

Gripping her thighs, I stood and carried her up the stairs. We weren’t waiting anymore, and for what I had planned, I wanted the bed and not the couch.

She tasted like the fruit in the summertime, light and sweet and delicious. I kicked the bedroom door open, and we tumbled onto the bed together. We weren’t even going to make it to taking all our clothes off.

“I want to try something,” she whispered.

“Anything.”

Mara turned over, pressing her back into my chest. Until now, we’d done nothing but the basics, and I didn’t care because it wasincredible. “Like this. Is that okay?”

“Mara, I can’t think of anything you’d want to try that I wouldn’t be okay with. No matter what, I’m going to make you see stars.”

Her whimper nearly made me go blind. “Yes, please.”

“Hold on, sweetheart.”

---