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She loved him.
No matter how hard she fought against falling for this sweet man, she couldn’t fight this feeling anymore. She looked up at him, blinking back her tears and wiping her eyes as she stared at him.
“I never meant to make you cry,” he said softly, touching her cheek, and his eyes were so full of regret. “I only want to bring you joy and…”
“I love you,” she breathed, interrupting him. “I’m so scared that you could hurt me. I can’t help but feel that scared love within me, there, waiting. I’m trusting you with my heart and soul, but please… just please don’t lie to me, Jax. Don’t ever hit me, make me feel badly about myself, or ever hurt me, because I can’t take it. I’m devastated at the idea of you leaving and…”
His lips crushed against hers, swallowing any other words she could have said. They had kissed repeatedly over the last two days, some sweet and gentle, some heady and passionate… but never like this.
There was an intensity, a desperation, to their kiss – a bonding.
She clung to him, feeling like she was burning up on the inside as he swept his foot behind hers, unseating her leg, cradling her against him and collapsing with her in the grass in his arms. His body stretched out across hers, but instead of feeling threatened?
She felt beloved.
Protected.
“I will never hurt you,” he whispered between kisses, “Never lay a hand on you except in love, always protect you, and…”
“Jax…”
“You are the other half of me,” he murmured, looking at her with such intensity as he lay her hand against his chest. “I feel it here and know it deep down inside.”
“I know,” she whispered tearfully. “I think that’s why I’m so scared, because this is so visceral and intense…”
“Are you scared… of me?”
“Never.”
They both hesitated, laying there in the grass, and Mary was unsure what to say or do… because she had no idea of what came next. With her ex-husband, he would have pressed for more, taken, hurt if she tried to fight him or contradicted him.
“I know you are scared of what this is… and your ex,” Jax said softly, pressing a curl away from her face as his finger lovingly stroked her temple. “I’m going to ask you to do something that I know you aren’t ready for, but I want you to trust me.”
“What is it…” she whispered low, her voice hesitant, suddenly tense.
“I want you to have protection while I’m gone,” he breathed. “I need to know you are taken care of, watched, and protected – and I need you to trust me in this.”
“Protection… how?”
“I want you to take my name,” he whispered, his voice hesitant, his eyes searching hers. “I could be gone for months, but if you need anything at all, then you have the military to help you, my friends at Flyboys, my parents, my account should you need money… anything at all, it would be yours.”
“What?” she whispered, shocked to her core.
“I swear I will never harm you, but if you had my name… had remarried? Then maybe your ex would leave you alone if he thought there was a chance that he could run into me.”
“That’s not a reason to get married, and I’ve done this before. I won’t be trapped or…”
“Mary, I would never trap you or harm you…”
“But you are asking me to…”
“I’m asking you to trust me and give me a chance to provide for the woman I love more than life itself.”
“You are asking a lot of me, Jax…” she whispered haggardly.
“I know I am,” he smiled sadly. “But I’m out of time here after tomorrow. I was planning on just leaving you my bank card, but this would be so much easier to provide for you.”
“You were what?”
