Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
I just stared at Seamus.
I could remember every stage of his life since the day he was born. With Ian and Grant, I’d been too young, but by the time Seamus came along, I’d been old enough to retain it all. The fuzzy black hair that had fallen out in patches, his little chapped lips, the way his fingers had wrapped around my thumb, and I’d sat next to him for hours while he was asleep, fascinated by all the little movements and sounds he made. I could still see him nursing at Aunt Halle’s breast, kicking his legs in the bath, his head bobbing awkwardly when he was learning how to crawl, the first time he’d walked across the room. The first few years, when he called me Flowah because he couldn’t say his r’s. The lost teeth. The scraped knees. The whining and the giggles and the pouting and the arguments he’d had with his brothers.
He was my baby.
I didn’t realize I was crying until familiar arms wrapped gently around me and the scent of my aunt’s perfume filled my nose.
“He’s going to be fine,” she whispered into my hair. “Both of you are going to be fine.”
“He almost wasn’t,” I choked out.
“But he is,” she replied. “Because of you.”
“No, I—”
“Rosemary Halle, don’t finish that sentence,” she warned, her lips still pressed to my head. “You did everything right. You kept him safer than I could’ve. As safe as Dalton if he’d been there.”
“I tried really hard,” I ground out. “I swear.”
“Of course you did,” Aunt Halle replied incredulously. “No one ever thought any differently. Are you kidding me?”
She let go and backed up enough that I could look her in the eyes.
“You did everything you possibly could, Rosemary, and I better not hear you say anything different.” I opened my mouth to reply, then snapped it shut again when she glared. “Seamus was hurt because some assholes wanted to hurt my mate. The only reason we got out of there in one piece is because of you and Gary and the Bouchers. Your uncle would’ve been so proud if he’d seen you in action last night. I know I was.”
“I was shitting my pants,” I confessed.
“You and me both,” she whispered back. “But that didn’t stop us, did it?”
“Nope.”
“I love you, kid,” she said, pinching my cheek gently.
“Love you too.”
“What the hell are you doing out of bed?” Alice bitched as she stepped into the room. “I thought I told you to bring her upstairs.”
“I was just about to bring her back,” Daniel replied.
“Alice?” Daniel’s mom called. She rose from her chair.
She must’ve seen something in Alice’s expression that no one else had, because the small woman nodded her head and then burst into tears. “He’s awake,” she choked out. “He’s asking for Erik.”
“Oh, thank the Gods,” Daniel’s mom whispered, her fingers pressed to her mouth.
She rushed toward Alice and wrapped the smaller woman in her arms, ushering her out of the room.
“Come on, baby,” Daniel said, scooping me up off the bed. “Time for you to rest.”
“I’ll come back down later,” I told my aunt and cousins. I met Ian’s eyes, worried because he hadn’t said a word. Relief filled me when he scratched his nose with his middle finger, flipping me off.
“Much later,” Aunt Halle called. “Get some rest.”
The house was silent as we moved through it, but Erik intercepted us on his way through the kitchen.
“Good news,” he announced as he passed us.
“Tell him I’ll come see him in a while.”
“You’ll have to get past Alice,” Erik joked, disappearing around the corner.
I laid my head on Daniel’s shoulder and didn’t raise it until we were in his dark bedroom and he was setting me on the bed.
“Lay with me?” I asked as he pulled back.
I could’ve napped by myself. The bed was extremely comfortable, and I knew that he was itching to get back downstairs, especially since his uncle had woken up, but I wanted him with me. It felt like years since I’d felt his body press into mine while I slept, not just a day.
With a silent nod, Daniel helped me slide between the sheets. He carefully situated himself next to me, his hand on my belly, careful not to brush against my hip.
“Your bed’s so big,” I mumbled, wiggling my toes. They didn’t even reach the end.
I didn’t hear his response because I fell almost instantly asleep.
I didn’t wake up for hours, and when I did, it was because my wounds were fucking throbbing.
“Fuck,” I groaned, opening my eyes. I’d somehow managed not to roll over in my sleep, and I was still lying on my back, one arm across my chest in the sling, the other hand tucked up under my chin.
“I ran and got you some painkillers,” Daniel said sympathetically. “I had a feeling you’d need them when you woke up.”