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But, my god, she no longer has the question clouding her vision. She’s looking at me. Really looking at me. Tears spill over her bottom lashes.
“Hi, honey,” I rasp.
She looks at me for several moments before parting her lips.
“You used to call me Skylittle.”
My heart gallops, then twists painfully; I sigh and close my eyes. Pure ecstasy. Relief washes over my body like a hot shower. Emotion clogs my throat so fiercely that I can’t even respond.
“You love fruit but hate raspberries because of the seeds.” She takes a step closer. “You’ve memorized the constellations from the nights we’d sleep under the stars. The smell of cut grass makes you sneeze. And you’d stay up at least four hours after I fell asleep, waiting to see if I had a night terror so you could pull me out of it.”
Tears fill my eyes until she’s a blur of golden hair and tan skin. I turn away, but she grips the back of my neck.
“You tried to save Scarlett.” Her strong voice breaks. “You suffered for weeks from the burns on your back. And you’ve hated yourself for not getting there in time.”
I can feel Dessin close to the front, listening quietly, soaking in her words as much as I am.
“Skylenna—”
“How could a man spend his entire life being this selfless?” She looks at me the same way she did when we were young, and she thought I was her hero. “You felt Jack’s loss more deeply than I did because he was the only father you’ve ever known.”
I nod. I have dreams of it often. Every time I try to save him, his blood leaks from his body faster. I lost them both that day. Jack ended his life so he wouldn’t be a pawn in their experiments any longer. He knew by removing himself from the equation, she’d be safer.
“You saved me from that basement, Kane. You saved me from Jack. You saved me from the fire. You werealwaysthere. My best friend. The arms that held me when I cried. The voice in the darkness that pulled me from my night terrors. You’ve cared for me through a sea of memories.”
I use my thumb to wipe a tear rolling down her cheek. It hurts me to see her cry, but these words, these sacred memories, burrow into my soul.
“And I’ve loved you my whole life.” She looks up at me with absolution. A statement that has tattooed itself on my heart. “I amin lovewith you, Kane.”
Fuck. My shoulders tremble under her hands. If only she knew how long I’ve waited to tell her everything. How many nights in the forest I’d watch her sleep, as a grown woman, as this stunning creature I couldn’t take my eyes off of. She’s been my whole world, whether she knew it or not.
And every day, I’d wake up and see her soft, peaceful face, still in a deep sleep. I’d say it then. I’d tell her that I’ve loved her since I was a little boy. I’d whisper that she is my soul mate. That I’d protect her until the day I die.
“I have waited half my life to hear you say that,” I breathe out, trapping her face between my hands. “I love you, Skylittle. I’ve loved you every moment since I pulled you from that basement. I’ve loved you as a child, a teenager—but as an adult, I am deeply, madly, agonizingly in love with you.”
She doesn’t lean in, sheleapsin. Jumping into me like two storm clouds, wrapping her legs around my hips and claiming me with her warm lips. But as her mouth parts, her soft, sweet-as-nectar tongue slips into my mouth. Up until this moment, I have been a patient man. I have kept my hands off of a woman that I’ve loved and lusted over for years. I have fantasized about how I would lift her over my mouth and rock her hips back and forth until she was coming on my tongue.
I have been as bottled up and restless as a caged animal.
But that tongue and her soft moan make my cock twitch against the button of my pants. With her legs open for me, I push it against her, letting her feel the thick ridge rubbing at her center. She gasps into my mouth, and holy shit, I fall apart.
“God,” I growl, squeezing her waist. “I’ve waited so long for you, honey.”
She moans, and it takes every ounce of strength I have not to hike up her dress and thrust into her. Her hips buck wildly against my shaft, and I hiss.
“Then take me, Kane.” Her hands find my belt buckle. Even the slightest touch of her finger grazing my cock makes me incoherently desperate.
Oh, I want to.I’ve never felt such a mind-blowing desire in my life. Her sweet aroma of rain and jasmine with a slight whiff of fire smoke. I want her on her back; I want to see how much of my hands can cover her breasts.
But not here. Not among the pile of bodies. Not in a place that won’t mean something to us. This woman is my soul mate. My oldest friend.
There’s only one place I’ve always known she would want me to be with her for the first time.
The Ambrose Oasis.
31. Longing Lost Love
Skylenna
