Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 138274 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138274 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Like she had any better answers for life’s problems than that guru…?
The sound of the cabin’s door opening behind her was a surprise, and as she turned around—
Nate was standing barefoot on the cabin’s stoop, and before she could say anything, he started striding toward her, through the snow.
“Oh, my God, your feet, you’ll get frostbite—”
“I’m sorry,” he said as he walked right up and put his arms around her.
There wasn’t even a hesitation on Nalla’s part. She grabbed on to his shoulders and held on tight.
“You don’t have to explain,” she said roughly. “This… is all I need right now.”
Closing her eyes, she turned her head so that her ear was over his heart. And as she listened to the steady beat, tears came, but she kept them to herself. Mostly.
Nate pulled back and cupped her face in his broad palms. “I want to see you again. Whenever you’re up for it. Nothing’s changed on my end.”
As his thumbs brushed her cheeks, she knew she was going to remember how he looked in this moment for the rest of her life, so vital, so beautiful in the darkness… a mystery she didn’t have to solve to accept. To love.
“Me, too,” she vowed. “This is a start, not an end.”
“I’m gonna be honest, I really have no idea what I’m doing.”
She laughed. “I’m in the woods, too. So we can be lost together, okay?”
“Together.”
The smile that came over his face made her feel like the sky was full of twinkling stars, and all of them were shining just for the pair of them—and that was true, on the other side of the dampening cloud cover.
Which, just like an awkward moment between two people at the start of a relationship, would pass.
And then Nate grew serious. “I’m promising you, right now, that I won’t let anything come between us. Not even myself, okay? I haven’t wanted to confront my shit, because I haven’t needed to—but my past is not going to cost us a future. Deal?”
“Deal.” She lifted her lips. “As long as we can kiss on it.”
It was a request she did not have to make twice, and when they finally came up for air, she touched the side of his face and thought about how much she really didn’t want to leave.
“You could stay a little longer,” he murmured. “Plus… oh, my God, I have cold feet—and not in a relationship way. So I really might need some help getting back inside.”
“Well, what do you know… there’s no place I’d rather be. And no one I’d rather be with.”
On that note, she tucked herself under one of his arms and hitched a hold around his waist. As they started back for the cabin, he kissed the top of her head.
“At least it’s only a couple of yards and you don’t have to carry me all the way this time.”
She glanced up at him. “But I could if I had to.”
“And I’d do the same for you.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
The following evening, after the sun went down and it was safe to go outside, Nate walked Nalla to the front door of his cabin. This time, they were both wearing appropriate footwear, and they stepped out together, him letting her go first, her waiting for him on the other side. As he shut things behind them, he was sporting the kind of half smile a male did when he’d thoroughly satisfied his female.
“You sure you want me back again tonight?” she said to him.
Hell yeah, he thought.
“Never surer. And the sooner the better.”
“Then I’m going to go home and get some clothes.”
“Perfect.”
Unable to resist, Nate pulled her into him and kissed her properly. And then, before he couldn’t let her leave without getting some more time with her in his bed, he stepped back—and reminded his sex drive that she wouldn’t be gone long.
“I’ll be here.” Probably waiting for her on the porch like a dog. “And there’s no rush.”
“I’ll be back.”
“Okay, Terminator.”
He watched her close her eyes to concentrate, and just as she disappeared, he whispered, “I love you.”
When he turned away, it was a lot easier going back underground, knowing that he wasn’t going to be alone for long—and when he hit the lower level and he heard his burner phone start ringing, he imagined it was the Brotherhood calling to tell him it was okay, he could go back out into the field.
Except of course that wasn’t it. For one, they didn’t officially have that number and the phone they had given him hadn’t been charged in how long? For another, he might be making all kinds of changes personally, but damned if they knew about it.
Grabbing the burner from his jacket, he hovered his finger over the screen, and debated letting things go to voicemail. But Uncle had already left him two messages he’d ignored, and considering the organized crime shit was the only job he had now?