She hadn’t apologized, and it was clear by the way she was walking in front of him, her back rigid like she was gearing up for a fight either against or for him, that she wasn’t going to. It was driving him crazy, as was the way that she walked when she was frustrated, swinging her hips with every step. She was killing him, fucking destroying him, and he was ten seconds away from pulling her behind something and finally sating them both.
It didn’t take long for the battle to explode between them. The moment they found a private space on the pier, Johanna rounded on him.
“What thefuckwere you thinking?” she hissed.
“What wasIthinking? What wereyouthinking?” he growled back, caging her in.
“Iwas thinking about how much I don’t want you to end up dying or whatever type of shit it is that The Council would do to you for harming a human in public. That place was packed, Luke! We wouldn’t have been able to make it out of that!” She slapped her hands against his chest as if it would put any space between them.
“I don’t fucking care about that!” he shouted, refusing to budge from against her.
“Well, I fucking care about you!”
Luke staggered, taking a step away from her. His chest heaved as if she was stealing the very breath from his soul.
“Luke,” she said, reaching out to him and gripping onto his shirt. “I don’t want to lose you. I will fight whatever and whoever to make sure that doesn’t happen, even if it means fighting you.”
His heart skipped a beat, and then it pounded so hard under her hand that he was sure she could feel it. He took her in, the way her hair shone and picked up the radiance of the sun’s last rays around them, how her blue eyes were so open, so vulnerable to him that he could see the depths of courage and care in them. She was everything,everythinghe could ever want or dream of. She was hisall.
Luke stepped forward. His arms slid around her waist as he pulled her to him. She made a sound, a ruptured sigh as if he’d stolen the noise from her, then buried her head in his neck. Luke bent forward until he could rest his own head in her neck, listening to the rapid pounding of her pulse under her skin. Her fingers buried into his hair, twisting around the strands. He groaned, his shoulders sagging as his anger left him and fled away into the wind.
“You’re killing me, sunflower,” he murmured into her skin.
He felt her lips curve against his shoulder, but then her smile fell. Johanna’s arms tightened around him as she whispered, “I’d fight and maim and kill everything on this planet before I ever let anything happen to you.”
Luke groaned again as fire raged through his veins. He was caught between the swell of pride that his mate would fight for him, the weight of her care, and the knowledge that he would never,everlet her put herself in harm’s way. His fingers brushed back her hair and he kissed her neck. A soft hum left her mouth as she tilted her head to the side to give him access. He smiled at her trust before traveling upward with soft kisses until he reached her jaw. Then he lifted his head to stare into her eyes while he cupped her cheeks.
“Don’t go that far for me, sunflower,” he said.
Her eyes burned with conviction as she stared back at him, but her voice was level and stern when she spoke. “I will if I have to. I’ll always do whatever I have to for you, Luke. You’re worth it.”
He couldn’t speak. She was dragging him under. Luke kissed her head and cradled it to his chest. He kept her there, pressed against him, because he couldn’t bear the thought of a single shred of space between them. Her fingers twirled strands of his hair, her nails grazing his neck, raising goosebumps over his skin.
Luke closed his eyes and just allowed himself to revel in everything he felt for her: the deep love, the fear and concern that raced through him every time he thought about the dangers she’d been through, the guilt and shame over the moments he hadn’t been there to protect her, everything. Telling her was on the tip of his tongue, but he held back, just as he always did, because he didn’t want to add more onto her shoulders. He didn’t want Johanna to feel as though she owed him anything, or that she needed to rush to meet him somewhere she wasn’t ready to be. But this, the quiet times spent in one another’s arms? It was in those moments he believed she knew. Even if he didn’t say it, she knew everything that was in his heart for her, just like he knew everything that was in hers for him.
The waves lapped at the shore around them. Luke used his hearing to listen to their surroundings and ensure their safety, but he still kept one ear focused on her breathing, her heartbeat, the way her blood flowed through her veins. A little jump started in her heart before she pulled her head back, and he looked down at her. She searched his gaze for something but then her face turned rosy. He grinned. He liked where this was going already.
“Yes, sunflower?”
She licked her lips and his gaze flickered there, capturing the motion before returning to her eyes.
“Back at the bar, you … you called me your wife.”
He smiled and answered unashamed, “I did.”
Her breathing hitched in her throat, making his grin grow.
“B-but that means things,” she murmured.
“Things?” he said, teasing her. “What things?”
She narrowed her eyes and smacked his arm. “You know what things. Love. Marriage.”
“It does? I had no idea.”
“Luke!” she said, exasperated, but it only made him laugh harder.
He bent down, his face level with hers, and whispered, “Is there something you’re trying to ask me, sunflower?”
