“You’d chase storms with me?” The surprise in her voice has me stopping in my tracks.
In a millisecond, I’m in front of her again; the breeze from how swiftly I moved causes her hair to sway.
“You’ll never chase without me again,” I answer, clutching her nape so she has no choice but to see the seriousness behind my eyes. “You’ll never do anything without me again. I hate storms, but I love you. My love for you trumps any hate I have for anything or anyone. And you’re out of your damn mind if you think I’m not going to be there to protect you if the situation goes south. Yes, I’d love it if you retired from chasing. I’d love to know you’re safe every day. Here. With me. At home.” I press my hand against her stomach, my breath catching in my chest. “With our child.”
She gasps, covering her hand with mine. “I’m…”
“Yeah, Sugar. You are. And I want our child to follow their dreams. To have everything. To do anything. I want that for you, too. My insecurities, my fears, they are mine to figure out, not to use them to weigh you down. Will I lie and say I’m not terrified? No.”
“The thought of losing the one thing that has brought my life meaning scares me to death. I don’t think I’ve ever been more afraid of anything in my life. Not even when I laid there in the wreckage with my brother. Not even when the vampire who turned me held me in his arms as he forced fed me his blood. Losing you to what changed my life forever—it’s my worst fear, Nariko. Even then, there won’t ever be a day where I’ll be the one to stop you from doing what you love because what you love”—I lie my hand against her heart—“that’s what makes you, Sugar. And I love you.”
She’s crying again.
Shit. I didn’t mean to make her cry.
“I love you too, Oklahoma.” A tear drips off her jaw, landing in the grass, clinging to the blades like rain. “Any storms ahead, we will chase them together.”
“They don’t stand a chance against us.” I hook my fingers in the waistband of her sweatpants, tugging her to me. “The three of us. I won’t let anything happen to either of you.”
A tornado doesn’t stand a chance against my love for my family.
“Go.” She playfully shoves me, then fists my shirt. “I want that tour.”
“Whatever you say, ma’am.” I grab her by the throat, gentle, not wanting to hurt her, but I want to show her who she belongs to. “Give me a kiss first.”
She grins as her head tilts back. “I can do that.”
I lean in closer, my own happiness reflecting from my smile. “Yeah? It isn’t a hardship?”
“Definitely not.” Our lips meet in what was supposed to be a quick kiss.
I should have known better.
Nothing is quick when it comes to my love for her.
The rough callouses of his palm scratch against mine as we walk hand in hand towards the barn. I have no idea where we are going. I’m following his lead.
“Do you want to talk about what happened with your brother?” Oakley asks, his cowboy boots scuffing against the ground with every step.
After the heated kiss we shared, we rushed into the house to get changed, and now he has a picnic basket in one hand with a blanket stuffed under his arm.
My exasperated sigh is louder than I mean for it to be.
“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but it seemed serious.”
I step over a thick tree root protruding from the ground. “It was. It is. We’ll be fine. He’s worried.”
“About you and me,” he adds to the sentence I cut short.
“Unfortunately. He thinks you’re taking my focus away from what’s really important. He tossed our parents in my face, saying it wasn’t fair to them that I’m not focused on the tornadoes but on…” I debate if I want to use the same crass words Ruka said. “On temporary dick.”
Oklahoma stops mid-step, our hands tugging when I’ve walked further than he has. I spin around, staring at the angry, bright red eyes burning with rage.
“He said that to you? He said those exact words?” His fangs show, his features become slightly sharper.
A regular person probably wouldn’t be able to see the difference, but I can. His cheekbones are more pronounced, the natural contour of his cheeks deepening.
“No man should speak to a woman like that. What else did he say?”
