Page 121 of Promise

Suddenly, Dart presses the door beside him open. He swings us in the direction of the open space, but we break apart in the awkward attempt to move.

“No,” I cry, slick between my thighs, sweat trickling down my back.

“Need to get at you better.”

Within seconds, my spine is plastered against the sunshine-warm metal. My toes in the dirt beneath us.

Dart bends a little, grips himself, and lines up at my entrance, rushing into me again. He curls his hand around the edge of his truck bed and the other around my thigh, lifting my leg to his hip, opening me up to him.

While I didn’t think I could come, I flash from zero chance to sixty in a matter of moments. Clutching at his shoulders, surprise laces my voice when I cry out, “It’s gonna happen.”

“Damn right it will, baby. Nothing will stop us.” He moves faster, pistoning into me like a man on a mission. The sound of us coming together mingles with the late afternoon breeze and the call of a bird somewhere above us. The river rolls in the distance, just on the other side of the trees. But all that matters is us.

I arch my back, my clit hitting his pelvic bone. The pressure is just right. The release is a rush, cresting over me and drowning me. I scream in surprise, in relief, in ecstasy.

Dart slams into me, stilling, while I’m breaking into a million pieces around him. His orgasm follows, feeling like it’s pulling those pieces of me back together. We are magnetic, drawn together, bound to one another.

“Holy fuck,” he eventually exhales, dipping his forehead to mine as he breathes heavily.

“I needed that,” I whisper, a weak chuckle following.

He huffs a laugh, the sound rough and uncertain. He lifts his head, eyes matching the sunshine’s brightness, searching my face.

“You needed me.”

“I needed you,” I quietly admit, because my addle-brained, shaky-knee state can’t garner more than repeating him.

Running my hand along his bristly jaw, I pull him back to me, kissing him slower this time. Sweeter. Calmer.

Eventually, he slips from me, but we aren’t distracted by the loss. We continue to kiss, lazy and slow. Like we can freeze this moment. Press pause on time.

Where we are together.

Where Mirabelle is ours.

Forever.

35

[Dart]

Trinity really scared the fuck out of me. The fear in her voice. The need in it.

I couldn’t get to her fast enough, but I also knew I needed to get to her alone. Dropping Mirabelle off with Mary took a few extra minutes. When I got to the hospital, seeing Trin standing there, head down, shoulders slumped, my genuine concern turned to real fear.

I hopped out of my truck before I hardly had it in Park.

When her crazed eyes caught mine, I worried even more. Something had spooked her. Frightened her. And I’d seen that look before.

I didn’t want a rearview mirror to exist for us. We only needed to look toward the future, even if we didn’t know what the next turn would bring.

We had each other, and we had Mirabelle.

When she told me about this Marissa woman coming to see her, I could hardly compute the words. The truth is that Marissa still had time to change her mind and take Mirabelle from us.

Yes, us.

Trinity was the strongest woman I knew, and yet, I know she wouldn’t survive the loss.