Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
He lifted his head. His eyes were wet now, and he didn’t try to hide it.
“My brothers kept me from spiraling out of control. They brought me back to earth and helped me get to you. And when I saw you…” His voice cracked before he pressed his lips together, fighting for control. “Bruised, hurt, tied to that fucking chair, and still so fucking brave.” A sound came out of him, not quite a laugh, not quite a sob. “Relief hit me so hard my knees almost gave out.” His thumb brushed her skin in a reverent sweep.
“There is nothing… nothing… I wouldn’t do to keep you safe. No line I wouldn’t cross. No darkness I wouldn’t run into. You are it for me, Beth. You’re my anchor, my reason, and losing you…” His voice cracked. His face crumpled for just a second before he caught it, and that single moment of almost-breaking undid her completely.
“I’m here,” she said quickly, cupping his face, pulling him close. “I’m here, I’m alive, and I’m going to walk out of here hand in hand with you. And I’m going to go home with you. And get into bed with you.”
He nodded. “Christ, Beth, I saw a version of myself I always suspected existed but never had to meet. I now know what I’m capable of, and there is no limit when it comes to you.”
“Does it give you any second thoughts? About me? Or us?”
“Fuck no.” He kissed her, hard. “Never. You hear me? Not for a fraction of a second. I fucking love you, and there isn’t anything that can change that.”
Beth smiled. Despite her discomfort, it felt like she was glowing from the inside out. “Just checking.”
Saint grunted a laugh. The feral intensity faded from his expression as he narrowed his eyes. “Don’t ask me that shit again,” he said with a playful growl as he lifted their joined hands to his lips and nipped her knuckles.
“Kiss me,” she said, leaning in. “Give me something to hold me over until we get home.”
“I like to hear you call my place home.”
Just as she grinned, he leaned in and kissed the smile off her lips. She sighed a soft, happy sound, which he took advantage of, sliding his tongue into her mouth. A nurse would probably come in before she knew it, but Beth still took the opportunity to deepen the kiss.
She could spend the rest of her life kissing him and never want for anything.
A deep throat cleared from the doorway.
Beth jerked back, face heating. Saint didn’t release her hand as they both turned to see which doctor had come by to assess her.
But it wasn’t a doctor who stood, watching them.
It was Copper, hand in hand with Shell.
Beth tensed. Saint must have felt it, and his eyes went straight to that stupid monitor. To keep him from having a damn heart attack, she breathed as deeply as her sore chest allowed to calm her nerves, most of which were for him.
The last person Saint would want to see after slicing his heart open and bleeding all over Beth’s hospital bed was the man who hated him and banished him from their family.
He shifted a respectful distance from Beth, but didn’t release her hand. She wouldn’t have let him if he tried.
How long had her parents been eavesdropping? Had they overheard Saint bare his entire soul to her?
Shell had tears streaming down her cheeks, one hand pressed to her heart like she was trying to hold it together. Copper’s expression was unreadable, but his eyes were suspiciously bright, and he kept swallowing like he had something stuck in his throat.
Yeah. They’d heard everything.
“Hey,” Beth said as she rested against the raised bed.
“How are you, honey?” Shell tugged Copper into the room where they stood at the foot of the bed.
“I’m doing all right. Sore, but all things considered, it’s not bad.”
“They gave you pain medicine?” Shell asked.
Beside her, Saint snorted, making her chuckle. “All I took was Motrin. I didn’t want anything stronger.”
“Well, that’s stupid,” Copper finally spoke. “Why didn’t you take something stronger?”
“Thank you,” Saint grumbled, glaring at her. “That’s what I said.”
Oh my God. Beth met her mother’s amused gaze.
How had she not realized these men were cut from the exact same damn cloth?
Shell pressed her lips together, but her eyes sparkled with mirth.
Yeah, laugh it up, Mom.
“Because, as I’ve told Saint countless times, the pain is not that bad. Plus, I don’t want to be all loopy or tired. So you all can stop fussing like a bunch of mother hens.”
A heavy blanket of silence fell over the room. Beth shifted, gritting her teeth so she didn’t wince. They’d be all over her if she let slip how much moving hurt. God, this was worse than awkward. The last time they’d all been together, Copper screamed, shouted, and threw Saint out of the clubhouse. Where did they go from here? Would they leave now that they saw she wasn’t badly hurt?