“Yeah, well, he stabbed you! And he might have stabbed Sara instead or worse. He deserved it.”
Boone blinked but stayed quiet.
“He deserved it,” I repeated. I cupped his cheeks with my hands. “He deserved it.”
His dark eyes searched mine for a minute, then his shoulders dropped. His forehead rested against mine. “Baby, thank you.”
“You don’t have to put yourself in this self-imposed time out anymore, Boone,” I told him.
His brows popped.
“You’re carrying a lot of guilt around. What if it was time to just… put it down? Let it go? Come back to the land of the living?”
“Is that land of the living with you in it?” His voice cracked a little.
I nodded.
“Yeah?” The corner of his mouth tipped up.
I swallowed, nodding again. My heart beat against my chest in recognition of what he was asking. “I’m… I’ve fallen for you, Boone.”
“Even… even knowing what I did?”
I nodded, then he grabbed my hips and turned, laying me down on the bed with him hovering over me. I smiled at how easily and gently he handled me.
“I love you, Summer.”
I lost my breath as his lips descended, and he kissed me like he wanted to devour me.
23
BOONE
* * *
Summer arched her sweet body up to meet mine as I slammed my lips down over hers. I told myself to be gentle, but the message wasn’t getting through from my brain to my body. The need to claim her had me feverish, but it was more than biology. She seemed to like it. Craved the contact as much as me.
It was love. That very human emotion I had somehow avoided until now.
She was my mate, but I was also madly in love.
Summer saw me. Like, truly saw me. Not for who she thought I was supposed to be or should be but for who I truly was. She saw and knew my failings and still wanted to be with me. Saw my wounds and wanted to help me heal them.
She wasn’t afraid of me. Summer, the woman who had an asshole ex.
“Baby, I need you,” I found myself saying moments before I ripped her sweatshirt in half.
I tried to check my strength, calm my aggression, but the scent of Summer’s arousal filled the room, and I was lost.
Thank fuck I was only in my boxers.
“You have me,” she murmured, helping me by unhooking her bra. Thank fuck for front clasps, too.
I unzipped her jeans and dragged them off her hips right along with her panties.
“Oh, damn.” Her laugh was breathy.
“I need to be inside you. Fucking you. Making you come.” I’d lost all ability to reason. The raw words just tumbled from my lips.
