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“What now?” she asked in a small, uncertain voice.
“If you think for one second that we are over, you better reset your mind. Cuz there’s no fucking way I’m letting you walk ten feet out of my life.” He’d chase her to the ends of the earth if need be. She wasn’t getting away from him. Not now, not ever. He loved her, and her place was by his side. Always.
Finally, a genuine smile graced her perfect lips. “That’s good because I need you so much.” She swallowed and gazed up at him. “And I love you. I’ve loved you most of my life. I think I was born to love you, Copper. Please don’t feel guilty about my past. I’d make the same choices again if I had to because they gave me Beth, kept you out of jail, and led us to each other.”
She loved him.
His knees buckled. He didn’t deserve her. There wasn’t a man in his club who’d disagree because no man on earth was good enough for her. But he’d work toward deserving the coveted spot in her life.
And he’d make damn sure his queen never had to choose to protect him over her own wellbeing again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
THE MOMENT THE admission of love tumbled from her, a tormented groan left Copper. He dropped to his knees at her feet. Immediately, his fingers went to work on the button of her jeans. After he’d popped it open, down went the zipper.
“Copper!” Shell swatted his busy hands. “Wait, what are you…we have more to talk about—”
Her efforts were useless. Those callused hands worked the denim over her hips, shoved her shirt above her breasts, then landed on her ass.
“Copper, hold on a minute.” Man, that felt good. His palms were hot and so big, they spanned her entire ass with an eye-crossing squeeze. Why was she protesting this again?
Oh yeah, she’d just admitted her most traumatizing experience to him. Not to mention revealing she loved him. And his psycho of a brother was MIA. A few things were needing to be worked out before they got naked.
In the next instant, Copper’s lips pressed to her C-section scar, soft and adoring. Starting at one end, he kissed a reverent path across the thin pink line that saved her daughter’s life. Wide-eyed, Shell swallowed a lump of emotion. She froze, staring down at him with her arms hovering in midair. For a million dollars, she couldn’t have shifted from that spot.
After he loved on her scar, Copper rested his forehead against her bare stomach. He circled his arms around her lower back, locking them in a tight embrace. Shell dropped her hands to his hair, running her fingers through the soft strands as he held her. After a few seconds, her forehead wrinkled.
What was—
A drop of moisture trickled down her stomach soaking into the band of her lowcut bikini panties. Her breath came to a complete standstill.
Oh my God. Copper is crying.
Never in her life had she imagined anything taking the pillar of a man down. He seemed impervious to the elements, was almost always in control, and made every obstacle he encountered look like an ant hill instead of a mountain. But there he was at her feet, weeping for her. For what she’d endured. The need to comfort him swamped her. Such a powerful man should never have to experience something that would take him to his knees.
Knowing what toppled him was what happened to her? That he felt so deeply for her? It was a moment she’d never forget. A moment imprinted on her heart and her mind in a combination of love and dismay.
“Baby,” she whispered. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she held him tight and rocked them back and forth. “I’m okay, Aiden. I have a beautiful daughter I love more than life, and I have you. Yes, it took time, and I needed help, but I survived and moved on from what happened. I meant what I said, no guilt. No more sadness. It’s over. We both need to let the past stay where it belongs now.”
Maybe it was easier for her to say at this point because she’d had years to learn to live with her past while the information was brand new to Copper. Facing Rusty and making him suffer for what he did would be Copper’s therapy. A man of action, he’d need to physically do something to come to grips with her experience. She couldn’t condone it, should try to stop him, but she wouldn’t. He needed to handle things his way, the MC way. Shell both trusted and loved him enough to recognize who he was and let him do what he needed to keep them safe.
Copper lifted his head and stared up at her. The dampness on his cheeks hurt her heart. As tall as he was, when he rose to a high kneel, his head reached her chin. The hands she loved on her body grasped her head, and he whispered, “Michelle Ward, I love you so fucking much. I was an asshole in my office the other day. The way I reacted haunts me. Please forgive me. If you allow me in your life, I will spend every day proving to you how much I love you and your beautiful daughter.”
