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As a ghost, Kipp portrayed strength.
As a man, he exuded power.
Each step he took didn’t look rushed or clumsy. It shone with purpose and conviction to get to me. His shoulders were high. His body displayed a strength that for the very first time, made all the promises of wanting to keep me safe true.
This man could protect me.
My breath left my lungs in a loud huff, and I sucked the air right back in, still unable to move. I wanted to run to him, scream for him to hurry, but my feet were glued to the grass below. My voice was lost to me now. My body shook, vibrated with such emotion it needed to be released. But there I stood, waited, didn’t even blink, as each second seemed like a lifetime.
As he drew closer—nearly at me now—goose bumps rose on my skin, but not for reasons they used to when Kipp came near. The air wasn’t cold around me. Warmth enveloped me. A low hum sounded in my ears and only the rhythm of my heartbeat in my ears provided any noise.
When Kipp finally reached me, he stopped so our bodies were almost touching, but he didn’t move close.
He waited.
Stared into my eyes.
Not saying a word.
The side of his mouth curved, softening his blue eye and warming the brown. I watched his hand move, seeing it coming toward me. When his fingers slid across my cheek, I startled and gasped. He remained silent and eyed his hand as it brushed over my face. Then he tangled his fingers within my hair, jerking slightly.
I inhaled a sharp breath, feeling the tight hold.
Maybe that’s why he’d done it. Perhaps I’d been in shock and couldn’t believe it. But the slight sting on my scalp was indication to me this was real. Kipp never believed in coincidences, but this was a prime example that sometimes they did happen.
Amelia had been wrong.
Nettie had been right.
I had saved him.
All of what we’d been through, and all of the hell we’d experienced, rushed into me so quickly and intensely I collapsed, dropping to my knees. Kipp instantly followed, wrapping his arms around me in a fierce grip. I inhaled his masculine scent, mixed with the strong antibacterial scents I’d noted so long ago in the hospital.
He whispered in my ear, “I’m here.”
His warm breath along my face made more tears rush down my cheeks, and on my exhale, I broke into a harsh sob. I cried so deeply it physically hurt, and breathing became difficult.
I didn’t cry for only this moment, but for all the moments—every single second of hell we’d been through leading to now.
Earlier tonight, and even with Gretchen, I realized how much I appreciated my new family more because I had lost my real family. Now, I realized how much more I appreciated the feeling of Kipp’s arms around me.
We had earned this moment.
His arms around me weren’t a simple embrace. It was a longing that we both had suffered, and that had now been fulfilled. His hold tightened—his warm, thick arms caging me—and he pulled me onto his lap.
I wrapped my arms around his neck with all the power I could muster, straddling him. My sobs were hard, harder than I had ever cried in my life, so deep and powerful. I wasn’t only crying for the present, but shedding my pain for the past, too.
Finally given the right to breakdown, I crashed and tumbled into all my pain. I allowed myself for the first time to feel all we’d been through. To recognize all the scary moments, and even the sad ones, and to know that it’d all been worth it.
Now it was over.
Kipp remained silent as I sobbed for what seemed like a lifetime, and after I gained the ability speak somewhat coherently, I lifted my head from his neck. Tears were in his eyes, too. I cupped his face and I didn’t even know what to say. How could I possibly explain what I experienced now?
I finally settled on the one thing that truly mattered. The one thing I had longed to hear him promise. The only truth that we both wanted to find, yet always seemed so far away. “Never let me go.”
Kipp leaned in, nose-to-nose. “I never will.” Then his mouth was sealed over mine and he kissed me with the rawness we both endured.
His fingers tightened in my hair, dragging me closer, and I couldn’t get close enough. I cried against his lips as he kissed me. I whimpered against each brush of his mouth. He possessed me with the firm declaration that we belonged together. I sank deeper into his claim, welcoming and relishing in it.
