Brazen (B-Squad 1)
Page 42
It wasn’t fair, taking him out of the inky safeness.
But whoever said life is fair? a woman’s voice asked.
The question danced around him, like tracer lights in the sky. At the same time the answer thumped against him with the steady rhythm of a heartbeat.
It.
May.
Not.
Be.
Fair.
But.
It.
Can.
Be.
Good.
More warmth. It wound around him, extending from his toes to his chest and drawing him out of the darkness into the bright fluorescent light.
Aches and soreness registered along with a pounding in his head, but he barely noticed because Bianca lay asleep next to him. Her arm lay across his stomach, the hand tucked so her fingers were underneath him. Her body was curled around his on the narrow twin hospital bed.
He pulled the oxygen mask from his face and her eyes fluttered open.
Confusion twisted her beautiful face before realization made her gasp. “Taz!”
She was it. She was the warmth and the light. Bianca was what made it good. “You brought me back.”
She sniffled. “You promised you wouldn’t leave.”
“And I never will again.” He brushed one of her tears away with his thumb. “I came back for you.”
She took his face between her hands and brushed a series of quick kisses across his forehead, cheeks and lips.
“How long have you been here?” he asked when she stopped for a breath.
“A few hours. Vivi’s standing guard outside the door,” she said, wiping away the last of her tears with the back of her hand. “Can you believe they tried to make me leave when I crawled into bed with you?”
He could imagine just how well that went over. “I hope you told them to fuck off.”
“Something to that effect,” she said, her tone light but her expression serious. “God, Taz, I was so scared that I’d killed you. I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.” He caressed her face, loving the feel of her soft skin against his palm. This was what he’d been looking for in the dark.
“No, I do. You have a right to a part of you that you don’t share with me. It was an overreaction on my part to demand you pour your soul out to me. That’s not love. That was fear.” She let out a shaky breath. “I want to be a part of your life, I want you to let me in and share what your thoughts and dreams and hopes are, not because you think you have to but because you want to.”
As if that could ever be in doubt.
“Believe me,” he said, bringing his face close to hers and kissing her softly. “I do.”
Chapter 17