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Chapter Thirteen
Devil
I'mdreamingagain.I know I am because she's here. I feel her soft body wrapped around mine, her breath pelting my neck, her small hand sliding up and down the ridges of my abdomen. Even in my dreams, my cock aches for her, throbbing like a motherfucker for her touch.
"Are you going to wake up anytime soon?" she asks, her sweet voice stirring hairs at the nape of my neck. It sends a shiver through me, and my balls throb along with my cock.
"Fuck no," I growl. "I'm staying right here."
Her soft laughter floats to me like angel song. Ah, God. How long has it been since I heard her laugh? It feels like years. No, I'm not thinking about that. I'm staying right here in the moment with her. If they want to kill me, they can do it while I hold her in my dreams.
"Well, that's unfortunate," she says after a moment.
"Nah, it won't hurt if you're in my arms," I murmur. "I won't feel a thing, Jessie baby."
"What are you talking about?"
"Dying." Always figured I wasn't going to survive this shit anyway. I'll have plenty of time to be pissed about it when I land in hell. For now, I'm just going to hold my girl and dream.
"What the hell, Creed?" My beautiful little iele vanishes. A fiery little tempest takes her place. She smacks me in the back of the head…and that's about the time I realize this isn't a fucking dream. She's actually here.
I sit up so fast my head spins and throbs.
Jessie cries out, nearly falling off the bed.
I grab her at the last minute, pulling her closer. Except that hurts too.
Jesus Christ. I feel like I got the shit kicked out of me by the Hulk. My jaw is swollen and bruised where Risk hit me. My head is split open where Ghost clocked me with his gun. My ribs are bruised—though whether that's from rolling around on the ground with Risk or from Ghost dropping me, I don't fucking know.
None of it matters.
"You're here," I rasp, staring at Jessie like she might slip through my fingers and disappear if I blink. I'm not entirely convinced she won't. The last week has been…hell. It's been hell. Walking out of her dorm room was the worst decision I ever made. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't go. I'd plant my ass on her bed and refuse to leave until she agreed to marry me.
She chokes on a sob as tears well in her eyes.
"Jessie baby," I breathe, dragging her into my lap.
"I'm sorry," she cries, wrapping her legs around my waist. Her nails dig into my upper back as she tries to fuse us into one being. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I let you go. I'm sorry I'm an idiot. I'm sorry for everything."
I rock her in my arms as she cries great, heaving sobs of anguish that crack my heart in half and leave it bleeding. This beautiful, infuriating girl. "You have nothing to apologize for," I rasp in her ear. "Do you hear me? Nothing."
"I broke us. I broke us."
"The hell you did," I growl. "We aren't breakable, Jessie."
She sobs again, pressing her face to my throat. "Do you hate me?"
"Hate you?" I slip my hand into her hair, gently tugging her head back. Those beautiful, devasted aqua eyes meet mine. "Who could ever hate the air they breathe, little one? Or the heart that pumps their blood?" I shake my head, mystified. "No one."
"Creed." A fresh wave of tears falls down her perfect face.
"I could never hate the reason I breathe," I whisper, tipping my head down to brush my lips across hers in a gentle kiss. "I could never hate my purpose on this earth. You're both, Jessie Long. Get used to it."
"I love you so much, Creed," she cries against my lips.
I kiss the tears from her skin, kiss her air back into my lungs, kiss her until we're both shaking with need. And then I reluctantly break from her lips with a regretful groan. I lean back against the headboard, trying to get comfortable. My goddamn ribs hurt like a bitch.
"Who let you in here to see me?"
