My shoulders deflated at his words. He was right. I had a job and until that one started, a temporary job taking care of Savior. And no place to live.
“Don’t you worry about that, I can take care of you and look for a place to live.”
He shook his head, clasping our hands together. “No
need. My place is big enough for two.”
“I’m not moving in with you,” I told him, smiling against his lips before sealing them together in a kiss that was both tender and thrilling. Sweet and hot. He winced and that was my cue to pull back, still smiling.
“I meant it, you know, Pixie. I do love you.”
Tears pooled in my eyes and I felt like one of those silly women who got all choked up at the barest hint of affection, but I could tell behind the pain and behind his own fear of saying such significant words, that he meant it. He really did love me. But it wasn’t something I could handle right now. I believed him, but tonight had been … a lot. I kissed him softly and pulled back. “Tell me again when you haven’t lost a few gallons of blood.”
“Don’t worry … I … will,” he said, smiling sleepily before he passed out.
I smiled and sat beside him, holding his hand and watching him sleep for hours. This, me and Savior, was something special. And scary as hell. But as I sat there, letting the slow rise and fall of his sleeping form soothe my frazzled nerves, I knew I wouldn’t run away from it again. Things might end badly, and they probably would if history was any indication, but I had a feeling it would be amazing in the meantime.
But first, I needed to clean all this blood off of me.
Epilogue
Six months. Savior and I had been living together for six months and it hadn’t turned bad. I was even starting to believe that it might not. Which was cause for celebration.
Today was supposed to be my day off but I’d spent a few hours in the morning checking over the chocolates I’d ordered from South America and putting together a few gourmet baskets I wanted to test out in the shop. I dropped one off for Drake and took the others to Jana and Teddy, who’d had their babies eight weeks apart. Visiting with them, watching two new mothers fall in love with their children was gratifying. And it solidified what I wanted to do today.
What I needed to do.
When I got home, I took a long hot shower and set the scene. I didn’t want Jana and Teddy to make a big deal out of it, so I stopped at a craft store on the way home and got everything I needed. It took a few minutes to get everything in place, but when it was, I got dolled up and slipped into the only pair of stilettos I owned. And then I waited for Savior to get home from the clubhouse.
At least he wasn’t on one of those mysterious out of town trips they took every other month. I didn’t ask and didn’t want to know, but I always felt happy relief when he came back to me. Safe and smiling.
“Pixie?”
I smiled at the sound of his deep voice and that damned nickname he insisted on calling me. “In here,” I called to him when I stepped out of the bathroom attached to our bedroom, my heart double palpitating in my chest as his footsteps grew closer. I didn’t think he’d reject me but still I felt anxious. Terrified.
His footsteps stopped in the doorway and his lips parted slightly, blue eyes turned as dark as the desert night sky. “You trying to kill me, babe?”
My heart lifted right along with my lips at his words, his gritty tone filled with need. “Not at all, I’m trying to seduce you.”
We both really needed a proper seduction after six months of injuries, with healing and physical therapy we’d only had a few clumsy attempts at getting off. “Is it working?”
He stepped forward, hand gripping his thick cock and he quirked a brow, smiling beneath his newly trimmed beard. “What do you think?”
I couldn’t resist brushing his hand aside and gripping him in my fist. And squeezing. “I think my mouth is watering.”
“And I think ribbons are my new favorite fucking thing.” His eyes raked over my body, confirming that all the time I’d spent wrapping the thick satiny ribbon around my body in a peekaboo pattern, was totally worth it. “Come here.”
I shook my head and his hands shot to my waist, pulling me close and kissing my neck. Big, warm hands slid up and down my body, stoking the fire that had been burning since I wrapped myself up for him. “Savior,” I moaned, nipping at the muscle between his shoulder and neck.
“I can’t believe you did this. For me?” His eyes filled with awe and a hell of a lot of heat as I nodded and cupped his face, letting my fingers slide through his beard.
“I figured this and that memory was the best place to start.” That day on the water had seemed like such an anomaly, a rare genuinely happy day, but in hindsight it was when he started working his magic, tearing down my walls.
“For what?” The heat was still there, banked, but also concern. I wasn’t worried because I knew it would soon be gone. “For what, Pixie?”
I pressed my lips to his, smiling when his hand found one edge of the ribbon and tugged, groaning when I stepped back. “To tell you that I love you. You’re insane and you’re brash, short tempered and so overprotective that I want to bite you and not in a sexy way.”
“You could have stopped at ‘I love you’.” He sounded grumpy.