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Thane spun her around and rapped her back against a streetlight. Her pussy clenched hard, then released a thick rush of arousal into her panties when she saw his eyes. Beautiful, rich amber darkening to a predatory gleam. The emotion in them was unlike anything she'd seen him display before, a combination of fierce possession, savage love, and an animalistic need to fuck.
His body pressed flush against her, not an inch to spare between them. The obscene bulge in his jeans rocked between her thighs as his hands gripped her face, tilting it back so he could stare down at her. “You're mine. That's the be all and end all of the situation, Connie. I've claimed almost every inch of you, and by the time I fuck your tight little ass tonight, you will belong to me. I want to spend the rest of my life getting to know the woman you hide away, the one who keeps peeking at me when she thinks I'm not looking. I want to conquer you, tame you, bring you to heel. I want all of you, every day, until there're no more days left to live.”
“Oh God,” she whispered.
“More than that, I want to be yours every inch as much as you are mine. If I conquer you, I'll surrender. If I tame you, I'll submit. I'm the kind of guy who'll strip you down to nothing, down to the bare bones and soul, but I'll build you back up with strength and love. I'm not asking you to hand control over your life to me, sugar, but to share it with me equally. I want tomorrow and the day after, next year and the coming decade.” He pressed his lips to hers as her eyes welled with tears. “I'll take the tears and the tantrums, the nightmares and the orgasms. The good with the bad. I think we're perfect for each other, and my heart is in full agreement. You're mine, Connie, and I'm yours.”
“You asshole,” she cried, and flung her arms around his neck. She didn't care if people were giving them weird looks, she couldn't give a fuck if they stopped and stared. All that mattered was that he'd said the words that made her insecurities fade into the background.
That he gave her hope.
Thane eased back and gave her a quiet smile. “Don't tell me you're surprised by the way I feel about you, Connie? There are very few women I'd go hunting through the desert for in the middle of the night.” He stepped away and offered his hand. “Wishing you'd refrained from asking the question now?”
God, no. As long as the answer remained the same, she'd be asking it again and again. When she felt weak, when she felt down. When the world went crazy and left her behind. She slipped her fingers into his hand and let him lead her down to the crosswalk. Her laugh rang out as he dragged her across at a run, not bothering to press the button or wait for the green man to light up and say it was safe to cross.
When they made it to the other side, Connie was breathless and elated, and flushed from the jostle of the plug in her rear. The harsh honks of a car they'd dashed in front of were ignored. It was the first time in months she'd felt anything stir beneath the thick smog of depression, and she finally believed there might actually be something to strive for.
“This way, sugar.” Grinning like an idiot, her lover whisked her off at a brisk pace, his limp pronounced but not slowing him down.
It hurt to think of the pain he'd been through. Alone. Somehow the idea of him suffering by himself seemed like the worst thing in the world. Lying in a hospital bed without a hand to hold, or someone to tell him it would all be okay.
“I love you, Thane,” she blurted suddenly, stopping him in his tracks in the middle of the sidewalk.
Several people veered around them, a couple glaring at them for interrupting the smooth flow, but Connie only had eyes for him and his reaction. She'd asked a question, which he'd answered, but he hadn't told her he loved her, not outright. Not as boldly as she did now, with her chest laid bare and vulnerable. The heart inside was his if he wanted it, and it was the possibility that he might not that made her tremble.
Nothing was guaranteed in this life, she knew, but sometimes a woman had to gamble on the odds.
“I'm sorry,” he said slowly, cocking his head. “Would you mind repeating that, sugar?”
“Going deaf in your old age, Sir?” She stepped forward, close enough that they were no longer two individual people, but one whole unit. Her hands latched onto his hips, her fingers hooking through the belt loops, and she held on as she looked up at him. Amber eyes regarded her steadily. “I said, I love you, Thane.”
“That's what I was hoping you said. Didn't know if you were quite there yet or not.” He stroked her cheeks, her forehead, the plump curve of her lips. “For the record, I am incredibly pleased you're on my wavelength, sugar. Wasn't sure whether I'd push you into saying something you didn't mean if I declared it first. I love youpacks a lot of punch where I come from. It's not said in vain.”
Yet she wasn't hearing him giving her the words back. Had she made a mistake telling him so soon? Two weeks, three, it wasn't a long period of time. Even after everything they'd been through making weeks seem like years, maybe she'd jumped the gun and spooked him. Christ, had she messed this up? No, she couldn't have.
Wasn't sure whether I'd push you into saying something you didn't mean if I declared it first.
That meant he felt it too, right?
“Stop overthinking, Connie. I had planned to have some flowers in my hand when I told you, but we've obliterated that part of Operation Romance.” He lifted her fingers to his mouth, pressed his lips to her fingers. “Never mind, we'll move straight onto the good stuff. I love you, Connie. I'm old enough and wise enough to know that when love slaps you across the face, you take the hit. No excuses, no trying to make it fit in with society's logic, just…basking in what's been given.”
Basking in love—that sounded decadent. Connie rested her forehead on his chest and breathed deep. She curled her fingers into his jacket. “I might be a little crazy for a while, Thane. Just so you know.”
He kissed her properly, slowly, using his tongue to wipe her mind clear of everything but him. She melted right there on the sidewalk, beneath a sun that had nothing to do with the heat building between her legs. “I am fully prepared to deal with any and all bouts of craziness, sugar.”
Something deep inside her settled, calmed by his words and his touch. Was it possible she'd finally found her place, her person? God, she prayed this wasn't a dream or some torturous fantasy conjured by her lonely brain.
Thane started walking again, her hand firmly in his. She was floating high enough to let him take her wherever he wanted to go, dreaming of a future which had a lasting potential. It might crash and burn like her negative side kept whispering in her ear, but she wasn't going to think along those lines. Love wasn't a cure-all, it wasn't a crutch.
Love was, to her mind, the glue that held two people together through thick and thin. If the adhesive wore off, became weak and cracked, things fell apart. So she made a promise to herself to keep it strong, to keep herself bound to Thane no matter how bad things got, because as a couple, they were worth the effort of maintaining what they built.
With Thane, she could build an entire world around him.
They walked into a parking lot, and Thane took her straight to his truck, humming contentedly. He seemed completely at ease with baring his emotions and declaring his love. In any other man, that calmness would raise red flags, taunt her with the idea that he was toying with her, leading her on the way Evan had. Lulling her into complacency before he smashed her kneecaps and sent her crumbling to the ground.
But Thane…she got the impression that he didn't play games, not of that variety. Not the kind that would leave her heartbroken and sobbing, scarred for the rest of her life.
He unlocked the truck and opened her door with a flourish. “Come on, sugar, in you go.” He gave her a boost into her seat, reminding her to sit down gently. “Seatbelt on.”
