“I’ve been meaning to put those traps out,” he said, scratching at his chin.
“Well, you’ve been busy,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows.
He growled. “Fuck, yeah I have been.” He pulled my chair over to him and nipped at my earlobe making me squeal.
“Stop, we have to focus,” I said, swatting at him.
And then we both heard it. That fucking squirrel.
“Oh my God, you summoned him,” Cain said, with a groan before leaping up to go investigate.
I was hot on his heels, following him outside onto the porch. “Leave that little rascal alone! He’s not hurting anybody,” I pleaded as Cain shooed the little guy away. The squirrel seemed unfazed by Cain’s antics though and continued to chew on the edge of the porch.
“He’s hurting my porch,” Cain said, with his hands on his hips.
“He probably just needs some nuts to nibble on.”
Cain’s eyebrows rose. “Well, he’s not getting anywhere near mine.”
I threw him an annoyed look, but there was a hint of a smile pulling at my lips. This man, I swear. He knew exactly how to make me smile. How to get me to trust myself. How to push me and accept me for who I was. He’d waited all those years, found me, and yanked me out of the hell I’d been living in. As he smiled back at me, I realized that I was in love with him.
“What’s that look for?” he asked.
“What look?” I asked, suddenly full of nerves at my revelation. What if he didn’t feel the same? What if I was just a means to his revenge scheme? Nothing more?
“The one on your face that looks like you just smelled a rotten egg. If you really want me to leave the squirrel alone, I will.”
“It’s not about the squirrel,” I said quickly, turning to go inside.
He followed me. “So it was for a reason.” He grabbed my elbow and spun me around. “Where are you running off to, angel?”
He was so close that his minty breath hit my face. His eyes roamed over me— eyebrows pulled in concern. “You can tell me.”
I let out a humorless laugh feeling a wave of anxiety crash into my stomach. The thing was, I knew I could tell Cain anything, but I didn’t know if I was ready to vocalize it. Love hadn’t ever been kind to me. The people who were supposed to love me, didn’t. And it had felt more like a weapon than an emotion to be celebrated and cherished.
“You’re safe with me,” he promised, planting a soft kiss on my forehead, and that broke me.
“I love you,” I said. The words rushed out before I had any more time to overthink it. Panic boiled over in my chest waiting for his response.
His mouth dropped open and his emerald, green eyes went wide.
“You have no idea how many times I pictured you saying that to me.” He took his hand and cupped my cheek. “I’ve loved you since the day you walked into Ms. Planchard’s Chemistry class. You had that bruise on your cheek, and I felt the need to murder whoever did that to you.”
I looked down taking a steadying breath. He tipped my chin up and peered down at me. His pupils looked blown out and his thumb tugged on my lower lip. “I love you, Delilah. I always have, and I always fucking will.”
He pulled me to him, lips crashing down on mine.
This was different than the other times we’d kissed. This was tender and full of unspoken promises that tasted like possibility. When he pulled away, his eyes shone like he was nearly about to cry. I don’t know what it was about a man unafraid to show his emotions, but I found it hot as hell.
“I know that tomorrow is a big deal, but if you’ve changed your mind, we can stop. Forget the revenge, forget Kingston. Whatever you want.”
I worried my bottom lip. While I was nervous at what we were about to do, I’d come too far to go back now. Shaking my head no, I said “I want to. Actually, I need to. He has to pay and I don’t trust that if we were to leave any kind of justice would happen. We have to do this.”
“If we get caught, you blame this all on me, okay? I’ve survived prison once already. I don’t want that for you.”
For some reason this had started to feel like we were saying goodbye. I didn’t like that. I’d only just found him again. The thought of losing him was unbearable. I pressed my palm to his chest, feeling his heart beat against it.
“I watched you get carried away from me once. Don’t ask me to do it again. I would rather die. If it looks like either of us is going to be captured, I’ll end myself.”
