“What if I don’t want to leave?”
After a pause, he finally drew his gaze back to mine. The look in them twisted my gut. “I don’t know what the next few daysare going to look like, let alone the coming months. If they don’t find Amos, I cannot guarantee your safety. I haven’t been able to keep you safe at all, let alone now. When the danger is at its peak.”
I took a step closer, my stare hard and burrowing into him until he couldn’t deny the words I was about to say.
“It’s not your job to keep me safe. If I get hurt, that doesn’t mean you have failed.” I grabbed hold of his wrist with my free hand, gripping it so tight my knuckles ached.
He didn’t look at me, so I stepped closer until he had no choice but to lift his eyes.
“Graham,” I said, my voice firm with certainty. “You don’t have to protect me from the world. It’s already taken enough from me. You don’t have to carry everything alone.”
His throat bobbed; his pulse hammered under my fingers.
“I can’t stand the thought of someone hurting you,” he said, voice hoarse. “I can’t—” His breath stuttered. “I haven’t been able to breathe since I pulled you away from him. And next time, it could be an even worse monster.”
Tears pricked my eyes.
“Graham,” I whispered. “I’m okay.”
“You’re not.” He shook his head. “You’re trying to be. But you’re not.”
“I didn’t come here because it was safe,” I continued. “I didn’t stay because it was easy. I stayed because I wanted to. Because you matter to me. Because being near you feels like the first right thing I’ve done in a long time.”
His jaw trembled.
“I get to choose where I stand,” I said softly. “And right now, I’m choosing to stand with you. Not because it’s safe…but because you deserve it.”
Graham closed his eyes, jaw clenching.
I slid my hand up his arm, resting it over his heart.
“You don’t have to be my shield,” I whispered.
He opened his eyes, and they looked like fire—blue glowing flames.
“I would be,” he said, voice low and certain. “I would be your shield if you needed me.”
He was still holding on to my wrist too; he lifted it toward his mouth and slowly brushed his lips against the sensitive skin on the inside. He placed a hot, soft kiss there that sent waves of heat rolling over me. His gaze never left mine, and my knees nearly gave out.
“Graham…”
His lips rested there for a second longer, then he let go and reached up, pressing his palm against the side of my face. I leaned into it. I couldn’t stop myself and I didn’t want to.
He inhaled sharply, but it wasn’t laced with devastation this time. It was something hotter.
The air in the room changed. The emotion shifted, tension crackling like invisible sparks of static.
He looked at me like he was standing on the edge of something he couldn’t come back from.
As I stared up at him, I realized I wanted him to fall.
I stepped into him, into the heat radiating from his bare chest until it was flush with mine. His breath hit my exposed collarbone, and he slid his hand into my hair, fingers trembling.
“If you don’t want me kissing you right now, you should say so,” he murmured, forehead dropping to mine.
I exhaled shakily. “Kiss me, Graham.”
His hand fisted in my hair, and then his mouth was on mine.
