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When he removes his hand from my mouth to begin pushing up my skirt, I scream the only name that comes to mind, my piercing cry echoing in the dark alleyway, “Gage!”
As if he’s a demon that I’ve summoned from the depths of hell with my soul-piercing scream, he’s suddenly there, yanking the putrid-smelling man off of me, his fist smashing into his face, blood spraying from the man’s now-broken nose, before he flings his unconscious form to the ground.
I don’t know if he’s killed him or just knocked him out, and I can’t find it in me to care because all I can think is he’s here. He saved me. He came for me.
I sob with relief, and the shock becomes too much. My legs give out from underneath me, but Gage is there, catching me as I fall, cradling me against his big chest, running his hands over me, making sure I’m okay.
“Jesus, Ava. Are you okay, princess?” he asks me as he strokes my hair back from my face.
“You came,” I say, still dazed by his sudden appearance.
“Of course I came, baby. I’ll always come for you,” I notice his hands are shaking as he cups my face. “You didn’t really think I’d leave you on these streets all alone, did you?”
I look up to find his blue eyes looking down at me earnestly, and I finally realize…that prickling sensation that’s constantly at the back of my neck…it’s him. I’ve felt his presence all along. He’s been watching me all this time. He never really did let me go.
Maybe I should be mad about that, but I can’t summon any anger. All I feel is relief—especially when I realize what could have just happened to me if he hadn’t shown up when he did.
He must mistake my silence for anger, though, because he curses, his jaw hardening, “Goddammit, Ava, I know I let you think I let you go, but I’m not sorry I’ve been watching you all this time like some fucking stalker. If that makes you hate me even more, then so be it. I know you want nothing to do with me, but I can’t just leave you out here unprotected. Do you know how hard it is for me not to snatch you back to me every fucking day that your existence taunts me?”
I look up at him, his hard, beautiful face, my dark angel, and swallow, summoning up all my courage.
“Then do it,” I tell him softly, raising my hand to stroke the dark stubble that lines his strong jawline.
His brow furrows as he glares down at me, every muscle in his body rigid where he still holds me cradled in his arms. “What are you playing at, Ava? Now’s not the time for your sarcasm. Push me, and I won’t be able to stop myself.”
I shake my head. “I’m not playing. Kidnap me again.”
He continues to stare down at me disbelievingly, and I see the muscles of this throat work as he fights for words.
“I don’t hate you, Gage. I…” I stumble over my own words as I try to confess how I really feel to him. “I’ve missed you.”
He’s perfectly still for a beat, and then his eyes flare with heat, burning down into me as his arms tighten around me. “Do you know what you’re saying, Ava? Don’t fucking play with me. If I take you again, there will be no letting you go this time. You’ll be mine completely.” He shakes his head before continuing, “And not because I accepted you as payment for a debt. I don’t see you as a thing to be traded. I never have, baby. I just want you so badly. I was willing to keep you any way I could.”
“But you let me go,” I point out, a bit of my insecurity creeping back in.
He must notice it because he laughs jaggedly, “Because I love you, Ava. I fucking love everything about you and I couldn’t stand the thought of you being unhappy, feeling trapped with me. I want you. God knows how much I want you, but I don’t want to force you.”
His eyes bore into mine with new intensity when he delivers his next statement, “That’s why I want you to understand. It took every ounce of willpower I had to let you go before. I love you enough to do that once. I don’t know if I have the strength to do it again. Hearing you walk out that door, Ava,” his voice cracks before coming out roughly, “it about killed me.”
My heart is beating a staccato rhythm in my chest. He loves me. He said he loves me. That’s why he let me go. Not that he was bored with me. Not that he’d conquered me.
And he’s been watching over me all this time, like my very own dark guardian angel.
I know I should be freaked out by that, but I’m not. It reassures me. He loves me enough to let me go and watch over me from afar and make sure I’m okay.
A burst of happiness soars through me, and I feel moisture pricking my eyes.
Gage looks distressed at my tears, but I silence whatever he was going to say by pressing my head into the crook of his neck and murmuring my own truth, “I love you too, Gage.”
He pulls back from me before looking down at me sharply. “What did you say?” he asks.
I begin to repeat myself, but all I get out is, “I love—“ before his lips crash down onto mine fervently, kissing me with all the pent-up lust and love that swells between us.
“You’re never escaping from me again, baby,” he warns, his lips brushing against mine.
“Good. I don’t want to,” I admit, submitting completely to being his willing captive.
Gage. My kidnapper. My protector. My lover.
