Page 121 of Direct Action

“Say what?”

“That they’d do anything for someone. It’s normally just something someone says. But when you say it, I know you mean it. Really mean it. You’d do anything for me.”

Fuck. I didn’t know where she was going with this, but lying in the dark after the day she’d had, the demons were close to the surface.

I needed to have a care. So when I confirmed, it was guarded. “Yeah, Chloe, I’d do anything for you.”

“Kill for me.”

Fuck.

“Baby.”

“You would. You did. Those men scared me. They violated me. They took away my control. They were bidding to buy me. Then you made that right.”

I was happy she saw it that way, but I was still leery.

“I need one more thing from you tonight. No, two. Two more things.”

Fuck.

“Okay.”

“Don’t treat me like I’m damaged. Don’t be careful with me. Don’t treat me like a victim or a survivor or anything other than the Chloe you knew and loved yesterday.”

“Baby—”

“Promise me, Ryan. I need to be your Chloe.”

“Okay, Chloe. But you’re not fucking damaged or a victim. You’re you. You’re mine. And you’re perfect.”

Chloe fell quiet, and I fell silent right along with her.

This lasted so long I started to relax, thinking she’d fallen asleep.

“I need to be me,” she whispered. “I need to be yours. I need you to erase what they did and reclaim what’s yours.”

I swiftly rolled her to her back, waited for any sign of fear or anxiety, and when none came, I lowered my mouth to hers.

“I don’t have to reclaim what’s mine. It was never theirs. It was always mine. Always ours. Never theirs, Chloe, you hear me?”

“I hear you.”

“Good, baby. Now, if you want your man to make love to you, you’ll get exactly that. But—and this is not me treating you any different than I did yesterday, because my priority is always you—if at any point you get a twinge of unease, you tell me and we’ll talk through it.”

“Promise.”

“Good. Kiss me, baby, so I can set up making my girl feel good.”

Chloe lifted her head, but she didn’t kiss me.

I kissed her.

Slowly. Gently. A slow burn until she started stoking that fire by cupping my ass and grinding her hips up, looking for friction.

I broke the kiss, and when I did, she healed that mangled mess of tissue around my heart.

“I love you, Ryan. Until my last breath, I love you.”