Gripping his shirt tightly in her fists, Sage pulled herself up more firmly into his kiss, seeking a deeper connection. The world melted away as Lochlan made her feel invincible and took her to another plane.
Emotions swirled around them like a tornado on the heels of a storm, whipping frantically through a rainbow and becoming so much stronger than the wind. Her body was aflame with the need to be with him. To have him consume her in the most intimate ways a man could know a woman’s body.
Forced to break their connection for a much-needed breath, his eyes turned a deep cobalt with his passion. A storm brewed behind his hooded lids, and Sage craved to know more about it. She wanted to feel all that emotion with him.
His words from a few minutes before burst from his lips again. “Marry me, baby.” He didn’t question, simply demanded.
“Are you sure you’re ready for that, Lochlan? It’s a huge step.” For her, marriage was so much more than a piece of paper and having the same names. It was the binding of two souls into one. It was eternal.
“She’s right, kid,” Levi said from beside them, breaking into their bubble.
“Piss off, Levi.” Loch shot his brother a glare.
“No. This isn’t something to just jump into, and you, of all people, I would have figured knew that.”
“I do know that.”
“Then what’s the rush?” Nox interjected.
Police still milled around questioning everyone. Her siblings, her mother who was crying with Anastasia and Kaidence consoling her, their friends. Her father and Morgan were sat in the back of two separate police cars near the gates.
Extracting herself from Loch’s strong embrace, Sage tried to put distance between them. If his brothe
rs didn’t accept their union, then it was only a matter of time before he agreed with them. “I’m just going to go with the medics and then talk to Jossilyn.” She smiled.
He reluctantly let her go as his brothers and friend circled around him.
“Miss, were you hurt anywhere? Touched where you shouldn’t have been?” The older of the two men was undoubtedly trying to be sympathetic to her situation, but she still cringed.
“Only when we fell. Nothing else happened.” She wasn’t so sure she could have admitted it even if it had.
As they placed a blanket across her lap and another around her shoulders, Porter walked closer with one arm wrapped around Joss’ shoulders. They wore matching expressions of fear and uncertainty.
“If you want to leave, now is the time,” she said to them, knowing they wouldn’t be presented such an opportunity again.
“Where would we go?” Joss worried her lip with her teeth in one corner.
“There are shelters,” the paramedic offered as he cleaned the cut on her head.
“I would go with you,” Sage offered.
“I thought you were staying with Lochlan?” Trusen questioned.
Shaking her head, her stare roamed over to where he was standing and watching her. A sad smile played on her lips as she answered. “I don’t think that to be wise.” Even though just moments before, she’d felt terrific about being with him, being together, knowing love would come just as quickly as their attraction, Sage didn’t want to be a regret for him. With his family convincing him a marriage to her wasn’t a good idea, being around him would quickly become agonizing in ways the pit wasn’t and couldn’t ever be.
Loch didn’t like the look on Sage’s face right now. She was sad in a way he hadn’t seen her previously. Her gaze was flat and the life that shone in them moments go had vanished like smoke on a rainy day. Her shoulders were slumped in defeat, and every time he tried to remove himself from his brothers, they would block his path. Since she broke free of his hold, he hadn’t heard a word they said to him. She was his only priority. Nothing else mattered.
They were trying to convince him that marriage to a girl—they kept saying that—wasn’t a good idea. She was too young, too naïve. She couldn’t know what she wanted right now. Not after all that she’d been dealt.
They were wrong.
She was wrong.
He could see the doubts swirling in her pale stare. Whatever she thought Nox and Levi were saying was messing with her mind.
“Enough,” Loch finally snapped. “I don’t care what you think. Not about this. Not about her. You have Soph, Nox, and she worships everything about you. She’s giving you everything you’ve ever wanted.” Nox looked away. “And you, you have Hayes, even when she wants to kick your ass, she still wants to kiss you. There isn’t a damn thing she wouldn’t or hasn’t done for you.” Levi looked sheepish. “So why are you trying to convince me to give up my girl? She’s mine. We’ve been building up to us for almost a year. You guys are acting like just because we haven’t really spoken until this clusterfuck happened that we don’t know each other. Her eyes speak so much louder than words, and I had to watch for almost nine months as Sage screamed at me to take her away, to give her life. And now, I’m finally able to do that without going to prison, and you’re trying to fuck that up for me!” All movement had ceased around them, and everyone was staring as he basically threw a hissy fit.
“Shit.” Nox squeezed his shoulder.