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He looked startled at the sight of me, wild hair and robe flying open, panting like a mad woman. “Yes, he’s in the gym,” he replied, flashing me a look that told me he thought I’d lost my marbles.
Maybe I had.
It had been a stressful few days.
I sagged with relief as he wandered off, inhaling the first breath that actually met my lungs.
He was okay.
I took a moment to settle my heart rate and then made my way down to the basement where in the last few years, he’d installed a boxing ring in the garage. He’d been here so much working with Cullen that he’d not had time to go to the gym in the city, so he’d taken over half of the lower level of the house.
When I entered, he didn’t notice me at first. He was pounding the shit out of a bag, his body glistening with sweat as every ounce of his strength was piled into the hit.
I watched him for a moment, helpless to the need that curled through my body in ribbons of scalding heat.
I couldn’t describe the way it made me feel knowing how powerful he was, but not because he was strong. Not because he was brutal when he needed to be… no. It was because I knew what lay beneath all that viciousness. I knew what a good soul he had.
He finally noticed me standing there and stopped. His breath came in ragged pants, and I was sure he’d exhausted himself.
I smiled softly. “Good morning,” I said softly, tilting my head to try and gauge his mood better.
“Is it morning?” He frowned, glancing over at the clock.
“You didn’t sleep?” I padded across the concrete floor to him as he sat on the stack of foam mats.
“A little, but I couldn’t stop thinking.”
“About?”
“Today. I just want those fuckers gone…”
I nodded, reaching to slip my hands behind his head. He folded his arms around my waist and pulled me between his legs. He was soaking me with his sweat as I tangled my fingers in his short curls, but I didn’t care one bit.
“Do you need me to do anything?” I hadn’t really asked what the plan was because I’d already known he wouldn’t want me involved, but I wanted to offer.
He shook his head stiffly. “No, and if I could, I’d put you on a plane and get you out of here-”
“Don’t start that again, Aidan.”
“I don’t care what happens to me. I’m not scared to do this, but losing you… that’s my biggest fear.” His voice was harsh with emotion.
“And how do you think I feel?” I ask him gently. “Aidan, you’re my life. Without you, I have nothing. I can’t pretend that I’m not scared of death, but I’m only scared because then I can’t be with you every day. I can’t hold you. I can’t see these eyes.” I reached up to trace my finger down his temple. “If I could live forever, I would. With you.”
He smirked, leaning his forehead against mine. “You think after all we’ve been through that I’m going to let a little thing like death come between us?”
I smiled, inhaling his musky scent.
I didn’t doubt for a second that he would move heaven and earth to find me again if death were ever to part us.
Bree had once asked me what I saw in her brother… how I could love the cruel bastard that she knew him to be… and it was this. I saw the things about him that no one else did. His body was scarred, his mind stained with all of the awful things he’d done… yet I knew that there was nothing evil about him. He was good, through and through, but few people bothered to look beneath the surface.
“Let’s not put it to the test, okay?” My body shuddered as it rejected even the idea of his death. It couldn’t happen…
He pulled back to look at me, a strange mix of emotions in his eyes for a moment, and then it was gone.
“We should probably get ready.”
I nodded, glancing at the clock. It was nearly time to go to the church.
