Page 73 of Corrupted Union

I would have been insulted if his eyes weren’t brimming with amusement. “I suppose it’s irrelevant. You married me, and now you’re stuck with me.” I infused extra snark in my tone.

Keir took my coffee from my hand and placed it on the table, then tugged me onto his lap. Oxygen fled from my lungs in a whoosh, first from the sudden movement, then from the blistering hunger in Keir’s eyes. Our faces were inches apart, his large body enveloping me in warmth both inside and out.

“I knew exactly what I was getting into from our very first conversation. Maybe not the specifics, but I knew nothing with you would be dull or ordinary. I chose that—I choseyou—and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

I couldn’t breathe. Every warm, gooey emotion I was capable of filled my chest so completely, there was no room for air.

If you don’t kiss that man right this second, I will.

She didn’t have to tell me twice. I slammed my lips on his. A part of me felt it was wrong to feel so much peace and happiness in the wake of such tragedy, but I couldn’t help it. Being with Keir was an injection of liquid elation right to the heart, and I was quickly becoming a junkie.

“If you want to see your mom, you need to stop, or I’ll have you naked in my bed instead.” His strong hands kneaded my ass, his words coming out as thick and heavy as the cock pressing into my thigh.

I grinned and rested my forehead against his. “Thank you, Keir,” I said softly.

“For wanting to fuck you?”

“No.” I laughed, then sobered. “For helping me when I needed it. For not giving up on me and for accepting me the way I am. Maybe that most of all because I was too scared to do it myself.”

We sat motionless for a pregnant moment. I was about to pull back to see what he was thinking when he launched to his feet, keeping me tight in his arms.

“That’s it. You’re getting fucked.”

I threw my head back and laughed as he marched toward the bedroom. “But what about my mom?”

“She can wait. I only need five minutes.” He tossed me on the bed, his molten stare devouring me. “Maybe ten.”

He took thirty. I didn’t complain.

* * *

I hated hospitals.I was in a hospital when Dad first told me Ivy was gone. Just walking through those sliding glass doors dropped a cinder block on my chest. I had to take slow, shallow breaths to keep from hyperventilating.

Having Keir at my side helped in more ways than one. Aside from the death grip I kept on his hand, he did all the talking to help us locate Mom in the intensive care unit. She was stable, but they didn’t want to transfer her to recover yet.

Dad was with her when we finally found her room. I was relieved he didn’t look as bad as I’d expected. He was tired, and Mom was pale, but otherwise, the two were in decent shape.

“Hey, Ro! I’m so glad you’re okay.” Daddy pulled me against his chest, hugging me close to the point of suffocation.

My grin nearly split my face in two. “I’m more than okay. I hope your night wasn’t too terrible.” I pulled back to meet his eyes again before giving my mom a gentle hug.

“Sleep is hard to come by around here, but that didn’t bother me so long as your mom was stable.”

Mom gave me a groggy wink. “He’s been hovering over my bed since they woke me up.” Her gaze drifted over my face as though searing it into her memory, then she looked passed me to Keir in the back of the room. “Thank you, Keir. Thank yousomuch.”

“It was all Rowan. I was just the cavalry showing up after the fact,” he said quietly.

Dad extended a hand, and the two shook. “You did a hell of a lot more for us than that, and you know it.”

Keir’s eyes drifted to mine. “Can’t say it wasn’t worth it.”

Something inscrutable yet profound passed behind my father’s eyes. “Well, now that you two are here, I can make a quick run to the cafeteria. Keir, you willing to walk with me?”

“Happy to.”

I watched them walk away, praying they were all right alone together, then sat on the edge of Mom’s bed. “Are you in much pain?”

“Not at all, though I’m sure that will change once my meds wear off.” Her speech was lazy, but she was present enough to talk, and I needed to get some things off my chest. So much time had already passed with a chasm between us that I hated letting even one more day go by without trying to fix it.

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