“You’re alive?” I ask, my voice muffled against his chest.
“I’m alive, angel,” he whispers, kissing my head again. He finally pulls away and sits on the bed, pulling me onto his lap. “Alex isn’t though.”
He buries his head in my shoulder and I can feel him begin to shake. He’s crying. “It’s alright, Kace,” I say, running my fingers through his hair.
“I’m so sorry, Ivy. I didn’t protect you and I almost lost you and the baby. You suffered injuries and torment because of me. Fuck, I’m sorry,” he cries, holding me tighter.
I allow him to cry against my shoulder as I soothe him the best I can. I rub his massive back with one hand and hold his head with the other. The pain he is feeling needs to be released and I’m giving him that.
He eventually lifts his head and seeing his wet, haunted eyes makes my heart crumble. “I failed you, Ivy. I allowed unspeakable shit to happen to you because I wasn’t there to protect you. I’m so fucking sorry.”
I brush my thumbs under his eyes and cup his cheeks, careful not to touch where he’s been hit. “You saved me, Kace. You’re the reason I’m alive.” I reach down to touch my stomach. “That we’re alive.” I give him a small smile. “I thought I was going to die, and it was the scariest thing I’ve ever encountered.” He goes to interrupt, but I place my finger on his lips. “Until I heard your voice. You came for me. You put your life on the line for me. I get it now. I understand the meaning of this world, this club.” I smile as I remove my finger from his lips. “You love me enough to die for me.”
I press my lips to his and he growls when our tongues collide. I moan when he deepens the kiss. We’re both trying to make the other feel what we are in this moment and it’s surreal. I thought I’d never seen him again. That I’d be a single mom telling my child what a hero their father was, but I’m not. We both survived.
Kace breaks the kiss, resting his forehead on mine. “You aren’t leaving me?”
I search his dark brown eyes as I grin. “No big guy, I’m here to stay.”
He closes his eyes as relief floods him. When he opens them, he stands up, sitting me on the bed. He slowly and with as much care as I’ve ever seen checks me over. He lightly touches my bandaged wrists and ankles. His lips feather over the bruising and cut on my head. But then he looks at me with questioning eyes. I know he’s asking where else I’m hurt, so I turn my arm over and show him the bandaged burn.
He traces it before peeking up at me. “How bad?”
“Third degree burn,” I whisper.
“Fuck,” he yells. “Ivy, I fucking swear to you that I will never let anyone near you again. Never!”
I grab his massive shoulders and make him focus on me. “I trust you, Kace.”
His eyes widen as he falls to his knees. He swallows as he grabs my hands in his. “Fuck, trust is bigger to me than love. You trusting me means more than you’ll ever understand. I love you, but more than that, I trust you. I trust you, Ivy.”
We hold onto each other like our lives depend on it and maybe they do. Maybe alone we are nothing, but together we are everything.
Chapter 16
Kace
I slip my cut on as I look at myself in the mirror. Alex deserves a sendoff like this. He gave up his life so I could have one with Ivy. He was a selfless motherfucker with a fucking huge heart.
“You look hot,” Ivy says, coming into the bedroom.
When I turn around the wind is kicked out of me. She looks fucking gorgeous. Her hair is down and styled so it covers the bruising on her face. She’s got a long sleeved black shirt on that covers her burn and her wrists. Her black skirt is tight and hits right above her knees and she’s got black boots on covering her ankles that go right up to her knees. I adjust my cock as I look at her. “Fuck, you look sexy as hell.”
She smiles and steps in front of me. “Maybe you can help me take it off later,” she whispers, biting her lip.
We haven’t had sex since everything happened. I didn’t want to push her, but she just gave the green fucking light. I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her flush against me. “You can fucking count on it, angel.”
“We better go,” she says, pulling me from thoughts of her sexy body. I nod and adjust my cut again. “I know this is hard.”
I sigh as I link my fingers with hers. “Yeah it is. Come on.”
We get to the funeral home and I nod in approval when I see the large crowd already. As Ivy and I walk hand and hand up to the door, several members from other chapters stop me to express their condolences. When we walk through the doors I see Zane and Harper, so we walk over to them.
“Hey, brother,” Zane says, giving me a quick hug. “Hey Ivy, you look great.” He kisses her cheek and I pull her closer to my side.
They all get a good laugh, but I keep the serious expression on my face. She’s mine.
“You both look amazing and very happy,” Harper says.