I couldn’t tell how much time had passed when we arrived at a security gate, and upon entry made our way up a long driveway to an unfamiliar home.
“We’re at Ryan’s,” he answered my unspoken question as he cut the engine and came around to my side of the SUV, once again pulling me into his arms before letting Kodi out of the back.
“What the hell happened?” Lily exclaimed, Ryan appearing at her side as we made our way up the front walkway. If I hadn’t been so out of it, I would have been pleased that she was there.
“You remember what we talked about?” Mason asked Ryan.
Ryan nodded as we walked into a grandiose entryway and up the stairs.
“Wait, is she okay?” Lily demanded.
“Later, sweetheart,” I heard Ryan respond gently as we crested the landing.
Mason carried me into a bedroom towing me directly to the bathroom and setting me on the counter. It was only then that he lost some of his composure, his head dropping toward my lap, his body shuddering.
I placed my hands on his broad shoulders, needing to feel him, needing to comfort him. “I’m okay, we’re okay,” I murmured.
“I didn’t kill him. Should have fucking killed him,” he rasped.
I wrapped my arms around him, needing his closeness. For countless moments we held each other, my legs wrapped around his waist, arms around his shoulders, pulling him as close as I could.
“Are we going to shower, or did you bring me in here for the lighting?” I managed to quip after a time.
“We’re showering,” he grunted, clearly not ready to joke, before pulling my top off as though I was made of glass. We undressed each other slowly, two people who had all the time in the world—because now, we did.
When we stepped under the warm water, I basked under the cleansing spray, wanting to wash away any reminder of the evening. But not my past. It had shaped me, I realized. I might not be where I was now without it. But that didn’t mean I didn’t want to look ahead.
“I don’t think I want to go back there,” I admitted.
He stroked my wet hair back, staring down into my face. “Then we won’t.”
I looked up at him curiously.
“We’ll put it on the market. Find a place to live until we can find our own spot of land, build our dream home.” He smiled tenderly.
“Oh, we’re building now?” I quirked a brow.
He shrugged. “No place we’ve seen seems to have that ideal light for your studio. Think we’ll have to build.”
“That’ll take a while,” I mused.
“Well then,” he pulled me closer, “we’ll just have to find some cozy house where we’re tripping over each other in the meantime.”
“That sounds amazing,” I sighed.
“Of course, it will come complete with a throne for Kodi,” he added with genuine adoration.
“He’d rather sleep with us.” I laughed.
Mason wrinkled his nose. “Owe that dog my life, but he’s not sleeping with us.”
“A throne then,” I agreed, nuzzling into his chest.
He held me close. “Tonight took years off my life baby. Can’t live without you.”
“You don’t have to,” I assured him and finally, when I said it, I believed it.
Chapter 19
