Her eyes dropped away from mine, her lids lowered and her thick black lashes fanned over her white cheeks.
“Gracie…” My tone was slightly harsher than I intended.
“What, Kaden?” Her voice cracked on my name.
“Tell me. Please?”
Her eyes fluttered open and she gazed at me with sadness. Her beauty caused my breath to catch in my chest. My jaw clenched at the sight of the pain swimming in her eyes, they were laced with regret.
Time seemed to stand still whenever we looked at each other, I couldn't take the hurt etched deep in her expression. I reached up and cupped her cheeks, not easy when I was still connected to an IV and other monitors. Even the damn sheet felt like cement and wouldn’t allow me to move.
I shook my head when tears rolled from her eyes. “Gracie, baby, let me in let me love you.”
Her eyes snapped to mine, surprised at my gesture and my admission.
“It hurts, Kaden.” Her words stung like a slap to the face and cold washed over me.
“He's hurt me so badly, the scars run deep and I fear if I open up, I’ll drown in the sorrow.”
My breathing rate increased, my heart slammed against the walls of my chest. I was determined to wipe the fucking man who had hurt her from the face of the earth. Mark my words, he was done for.
She shook her head and swiped at her tears. “Forget it, forget I said anything.’
Her body twisted away from me, readying to leave, to run. I wouldn’t allow it. I was infuriated, she was about to flee and I was stuck in a fucking hospital bed.
Nope, I was not having it, she wasn’t leaving. I wouldn’t allow it I didn’t care she was married. I didn't care she was someone else's. If he’d loved her, he wouldn’t have placed so much fucking hurt into her stunning eyes and broken her heart. Shattered her soul.
My hand reached out and locked onto her hips, she was so fucking thin. The bones stabbed into my fingers as I gripped her hard. Her tears fell freely now and her breath hitched.
Her tear-filled eyes found mine and when she looked at me and shook her head, my heart broke all over again. I wouldn’t let her walk away, I wouldn’t let her down. I wanted to save her from the situation she was in. I had a second chance at love, with her. She also had a second chance at love and life. I would do all I could to make her see it.
“Gracie, I'm here, I'm yours. I will always catch you. I won’t let you endure another ounce of pain at his hands or from this place. I am drawing a line, baby, you are stepping over it and into me.”
Sobs racked her body; the grief was consuming all the air in the room. Her body shook before I felt her go limp in my grip, she giving up. I drew her down and into my embrace. Her body was so small as it fell onto my bed.
I pulled the sheet back and placed it over her body before I dragged myself, with a great deal of effort and sheer determination, onto my side. I pulled her back into me, wrapped my huge arms around her tiny, shaking body, pulling her deep into me.
Gracie was the one my body had been waiting for. I wanted to start a fire with her and I wanted to love her more than I loved the art of war.
“Baby, you and I, we’re like lightning and thunder. Together we can light up the world. How about we create a storm, hold our breath and jump into whatever this is. Let’s be reckless and crazy, fall into the waves of this unknown with our eyes on each other and our breath held. No matter what, at least we can always say we were in it for better or worse.”
She blew out a breath, her body shaking with so much more than fear.
“I don’t wanna say goodbye, Gracie.”
I breathed into the warmth of her neck and she relaxed into me.
“I will always make it right, baby, let me catch you.”
I was rambling, but I wanted her to know I would do so much more than just fight for her.
“Just you and me together, wrapped around each other forever. Baby, I will never let you go. The world is spinning around us, fast and furious, but if we have each other, we can tackle anything that comes our way. I want to love you until it hurts, baby girl. I want to become completely consumed by you, I need you to stay away from this side of pain. So, baby, stay. Please stay the night with me. Don’t leave. Gracie-May stay.”
The End....
Continued on inside the pages of
SAVING HER
