Page 105 of Billionaire Unreachable: Wyatt

He started to pace the kitchen as he growled, “Because I fucking love you more than life itself, and just the thought of seeing you be someone’s target again makes me completely insane. Do you have any idea what it felt like to know that you were in the hands of a murderer and that I wasn’t sure I could get to you before you were dead?”

I swallowed hard and shook my head. I wasn’t afraid of this Wyatt who had completely lost control.

I was mesmerized.

He stopped pacing, trapped my body against the counter with his larger form and put a hand on the counter on each side of my body.

“I’ll tell you exactly how it felt,” he said hoarsely, his beautiful gray eyes filled with remorse and pain. “That was the moment when I realized that you were my whole fucking world, and that I’d cease to exist in this world without you in it. I wouldn’t be me anymore without you, Shelby. You turned my world upside down from the moment we met, and I’ve discovered that I love it that way. I like having someone who isn’t afraid to challenge me, someone who actually sees me, and someone who accepts me exactly as I am. I love you so much that the thought of being without you scares the shit out of me. The thought of you ever being hurt again scares the shit out of me. The thought of you being unhappy is unacceptable to me. Maybe I’m no Prince Charming, but I want that damn fairy tale, Cinderella. I want us to live that happily ever after, but we can’t do that if you’re hurt or dead.”

I put one hand on his heaving chest and the other around his neck, tears streaming from my eyes. It was killing me to see him so tormented, but his impassioned, uncontrolled speech had reached straight into my soul. “I’m not dead, Wyatt. We’re both alive. Do you really think I wasn’t just as terrified when I realized you’d gotten shot rescuing me? I love you, too, and you’remyeverything now.”

As implausible as it might seem, Wyatt Durand and I were soulmates, and we’d probably always been meant to be together. For a time, I’d stopped believing in soulmates or happily ever after. Being with Wyatt had changed all of that for me.

“You love me?” He grumbled the question.

Our eyes met, and I melted down.

Totally.

Completely.

There was no holding back at all for me anymore because I could see the way I felt reflected in his gaze.

“I think I have for a long time. I just wasn’t sure you were ready to hear it,” I confessed. “And I’d really like the fairy tale, too, please.”

He ran a finger down my cheek with the small scar, and then tucked an errant lock of hair behind my ear. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live up to the Prince Charming thing, but I want to make you happy, Shelby. And I can’t control the caveman instinct to make you mine and protect you. It’s fucking impossible for me.”

I smiled up at him as I ran my palm along his stubbled jawline. “Love me. Make me yours because I desperately want you to be mine, Wyatt. Protect me. I can compromise. Just don’t expect me to live like a bird in a gilded cage. I won’t thrive that way.”

“Fine,” he said unhappily. “Go back to The Friendly Kitchen if that’s what you need to do, but I still want security on your gorgeous ass. At least for a while.”

My heart squeezed inside my chest. That was a compromise for Wyatt. “One person,” I insisted. “A single bodyguard would work for me, and I think you’ll eventually cave in and let me go places on my own.”

“Don’t count on that,” he said grimly. “And I think I’ll want to be the one to guard your body whenever possible.”

I just smiled wider.

God, I loved this man so much.

Eventually, Wyatt and I would recover from what happened weeks ago. It was still so fresh for him that he was ultra-protective, but I could live with that until those memories faded.

Would he ever be totally relaxed when it came to keeping me safe? Probably not, but he wouldn’t be this uptight about it, either.

There was a big part of me that loved his caveman instincts, as long as he didn’t go overboard.

I’d never had a man who really cared about my well-being and my happiness, and it felt good, even when he was a little overbearing and bossy about it.

I could handle him and his caveman attitude, and I’d never be afraid to call him on it if it became oppressive. His desire to make me happy was just as strong as his protective instincts, and he’d back down when he was being completely unreasonable.

I pulled his head closer until I could feel his warm breath on my lips. “I wouldn’t mind if you decided to get all bossy on me right now,” I whispered.

I held my breath. God, I wanted him, and I needed him to realize that I wasn’t breakable.

“Shelby,” he said in a deep, growly, warning voice. “What do you want from me?”

“Nothing. I just want…you,” I said in a needy voice as the hand I had on his chest wandered down to the very large erection underneath the denim of his jeans. “I need you, Wyatt.”

“Fuck!” he cursed before his mouth slammed down on mine.

---