“Damn it, Emma. What are you doing in the dark by yourself? You should be in bed.”
Sullivan.
I collapse in relief so stark, I could almost cry. I’m surprised I didn’t wet myself. He whirls me around but keeps his hands firmly anchored to my waist. “And in your robe and nightgown, no less. Emmaline Hazel!”
“Don’t chastise me,” I snap, suddenly remembering to be angry when I collect my breath. “You scared the living daylights out of me. What on earth made you think creeping up behind me from the shadows was a good idea?”
“You’re right,” he says, pulling me into a bear hug that almost has me forgiving him. “That was rotten of me, and I’m sorry. But how else was I supposed to let you know I was here? You’d have screamed your head off no matter what, I’m thinking.”
He’s right, damn him.
Damnhim.
I push back and slap his chest. “I was looking for you. Silly me for wanting to make sure you were all right after your nightmare.”
“You always could tell when I had one, couldn’t you?” I feel the soft warmth of his half smile more than I see it. “I didn’t want to wake the whole house when I got back, so I decided to bed down out here. And so you braved the wild darkness just for me?”
“Yes,” I grumble.
“I knew you loved me.” As soon as his words hit the air, we both still, wondering what the other will do about the L-word. “I mean…”
“Yes.” My answer is soft and shaky this time. “I do.”
Sully tenses, and the slight flex of his fingers on my hips sends pinpricks of electricity through me. “Like a brother? Or something more?”
“I…” God, my mouth is so dry all of a sudden. Why am I so out of sorts? This is Sully.
“Be brave,” he teases in a low tone. “Are you telling me the fearless girl who kissed me first is suddenly intimidated by a little question like that?”
I groan, fighting off an acute case of nerves. “I don’t know how to put it into words.”
“Darlin’, I don’t need very many of them.” The hands on my hips angle me closer. “In fact, a simple yes or no would do.”
Darlin’.Hearing him call me that makes my mind all dreamy. As if by instinct, my arms loop around his neck. “What was the question again?”
“Do you”—Sully puts his lips to my ear, and the deepness of his voice chases goosebumps everywhere—“love me, Emmaline Hazel Shay? As a man instead of a brother. Because I love you. No…more than that. I’minlove with you. You’re the stars and the moon that guide me home when I’m lost in my head, and when I’m not with you, it’s like half of my soul is missing. If you’ll have me, I want to make you mine for forever.”
When did he become such a poet? “Yes.” I angle my head to give his mouth that speaks such pretty words better access to wherever he wants to kiss me. And as if by releasing my own first word, all the rest rush out on a shaky breath. “God help me, yes, I love you. I don’t care if people say anything about us. It can’t be wrong to love someone like this.”
Heat travels across my jawline as Sully traces it with his lips until they meet mine in the most tender of kisses. Before I can fall too far into it, he pulls away. “So you’re gonna come with me when I leave?”
I take hold of his cheeks so he knows I mean business. “If you leave without me, I’ll track you down myself, Sullivan Shay.”
“I’d expect nothing less.” His hands ease down an inch, and every part of me is extremely aware of his daring fingers resting on my backside. “It’s late. I can walk you back to the house and you can go to bed. Or…”
A knot in my throat makes it hard to swallow. “Or?”
“Or,” he draws out the single syllable, “you can stay the night. With me.” For all our exchanged words of love, there’s a note of vulnerable hope in his voice that he can’t hide.
“For…for sleeping?”
“Not for a while yet,” he says meaningfully. “Your choice.”
The answer is clear to me because I already made it this afternoon.
I love him, and I want to be his. I reach behind me for his hand. “I came looking for you. I don’t want to leave and go back to bed by myself.”
A silent squeeze, then he leads me into the dark trees, deeper and deeper until I begin to question if he knows where we’re going. Then he stops and gestures. “Our room for the night.”
