“Sawyer,” I managed to growl.
Sawyer was on the tail end of his orgasm so he only had to answer through the occasional aftershock.
“Mmmm?” was all he got out.
As the last of my seed emptied into his welcoming body, I covered his mouth with mine. He kissed me back as best he could considering he was still lost in the high of his orgasm.
“You’re mine, Sawyer. Not my possession or my property. You’re mine as in my other half. I knew that half an hour ago when you were bent over the engine of your car just like I know it now while I’m buried so deep inside of you that I don’t know where I stop and you begin. You’re mine as in you’ll always be the person I want to wake up next to every morning and fall asleep beside every night. You’re mine to call and check in on for no other reason than I missed your voice. You’re mine to celebrate with when something good happens just as you’re mine to mourn with. I’ll never look at you as a possession, Sawyer. Never. But if the rest of all that scares you—”
That was all I got before Sawyer captured my mouth with his. My eyes were pretty much crossed after the toe-curling kiss, but my brain was functioning enough to hear what he said next and after that, it was the only thing that mattered.
“Yes.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
SAWYER
He was gone when I woke up. I knew that long before I opened my eyes because throughout the night, I’d woken up several times with Jett’s muscled arms wrapped tight around me.
Comforting me.
Loving me.
Protecting me.
Those arms were gone now and a quick glance around the room showed that his wheelchair was gone too. Despite the fact that it was very possible Jett could have walked out on me after having had time to process everything I’d told him the night before, I didn’t do anything but snuggle deeper into the bed and inhale his lingering scent on the bedding.
The old Sawyer would have been out of that bed like a shot, certain that he’d once again fallen for pretty words that meant shit. He’d have been searching out his spark plugs and hightailing it out of Pelican Bay so that no one—not Marcus, not Jett—could see how much yet another rejection fucking stung.
But I wasn’t that Sawyer anymore. Maybe I hadn’t been in a long time. Moving to Pelican Bay had started to show me who I was outside of the one-sided relationship I’d had with Marcus. I hadn’t existed in his world—not the real me, anyway. I’d finally started the process of being reborn after I’d left Marcus, but I hadn’t begun to feel like the real me until the men of Pelican Bay had welcomed me into their family. Meeting Jett and letting him share the pain of the past had sealed the deal.
I probably could have lived that half-existence for the rest of my life and been perfectly content, but last night, Jett had ensured that I wouldn’t. Despite all the pain I’d caused him, despite the things I’d told him about what I’d allowed Marcus to do to me, Jett had given me the one thing I’d been sure he never would again.
His trust.
And then he’d made love to me without reservation. I’d seen every emotion in his eyes as he’d driven into me over and over, I’d felt it in the way he’d been holding my hand as he made me his, I’d heard it in the whispered praises and words of love that had fallen like rain from his beautiful lips.
I had his trust and I had his love.
Just like he had mine.
So that was why I didn’t panic when I realized I was alone in the soft, cool sheets that were tangled around my sated body. We’d made love only the one time, but it had been so much more than just a physical release for each of us. We’d lanced some old wounds and let go of a lot of deeply ingrained hurts at the same time.
Exhausted? Absolutely.
Lighter? Most definitely.
I sighed and forced myself to sit up. Light was pouring through the windows, proving that it would be another beautiful day outside. It was also evidence of the late hour. Sure enough, when I glanced at the clock on the nightstand, it was well past eleven in the morning.
Fuck, I had a shit ton of work to do.
Even as I thought the words, it hit me that last night while I’d been stuffing my belongings into my car, I hadn’t been giving anything else much thought. I’d been that same frantic Sawyer whose only goal had been to escape the man who’d betrayed him in so many ways. And truth be told, I’d wanted to put distance between myself and Marcus so that there would be no way for me to foolishly fall for all of his apologies and words of love.