Chapter 3
Avidya
Hushed voices reached me, causing me wake up from the unexpected nap. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but given the lack of sleep I’ve gotten the past month, it was no wonder that I had.
Now, I felt more tired, if it was possible. My eyes were blurry and I attempted to rub the sleep out of them with the tips of my fingers. It didn’t help any as I let out a yawn. Man, would I ever feel rested again?
The voices, one more prominent than the others, reached me once more. I wasn’t able to make out what they were saying as they attempted to keep quiet to not wake me, most likely.
These days, it didn’t seem to take much to wake me up. I was constantly jumpy, jerking at almost every noise, even when the house would creak in the dead of night.
Looking outside, it was darker than I expected. The sun had just set, leaving shadows outside cast by a few of the lights that were lit up along the driveway.
Pushing myself up off the window seat, and leaving the blanket that I had used in the empty spot, I slowly made my way towards the kitchen where the voices were coming from, still trying to rub the sleep away.
I paused near the doorway, not sure what to do. There stood Zachariah in all his glorious tiredness. His shoulder was no longer in a sleeve or supported. His dark brown hair was growing back from where it had been shaved for the surgery to take pressure off of his brain from the swelling.
Yet another scar on his body that showed that he lived to tell the tale.
Zachariah was in need of a shave as his once dusting of facial hair was now scraggly and uneven in spots.
Even with being dragged down and in the hospital for such a length of time, my heart beat in double time at just the sight of him. He was always able to take my breath away; now was no different.
He had been gone for way too long. I know we weren’t married yet, given everything that had happened, but I never thought I could have missed him any less. I had grown to enjoy his presence, enjoyed the thought of a life with this man.
I hadn’t known I wanted something, anything, until it wasn’t there.
There were many things I hadn’t had, but what Zachariah and I had, I knew I wanted. It didn’t matter the cost that came with it, either. I wanted him. A life with him. And I’d do anything to make sure we could have that.
Didn’t I deserve to be happy? Didn’t I get a say on how I wanted to live my life?
If it wasn’t for Zachariah, all my choices would have been taken from me. That, I knew without a doubt. I was afraid to think of what would have become of me if Cody had his way. I’d have married who knows who by now. Who knows if I’d even still be alive.
Our life together wasn’t one I’d even have thought about before five months ago. With it came a lot more than I could ever imagine. I was a different person than I had been once before. When looking back, I wouldn’t know the girl I was before. So much had changed in such a short amount of time.
Love could do that—change a person from the inside out. I wasn’t the only one changed, either.
“Avidya,” Zachariah sighed out as he saw me. His eyes lit up as he shot me his famous smile that caused my knees to weaken.
“Hi,” I breathed, nearly at a loss for words.
I wanted to run to him, wrap my arms around his neck and never let go. I needed him as much as I needed air. Instead, I took the few steps forward, meeting him halfway as we both closed the distance.
I was careful as I wrapped my good arm around his torso, resting my head on his chest and soaking up his warmth. His arms pulled me tight to him, breathing me in.
He needed me just as much as I needed him. I never wanted to be apart from him again. Ever. He was my home; he was my other half.
By God, nothing better separate us again.
“You have no idea how much I missed you,” Zachariah mumbled against my head.
“Oh, I think I do,” I sighed quietly. I forced myself to not let my emotions take control, knowing I would be a bawling mess if I did. It wasn’t hard these days to burst into tears at any given minute.
I couldn’t let him think I doubted what we had. What we have is stronger than anything else.
Pulling back slightly, with both hands, he cupped my face. His eyes were as dark as I remembered, matching his hair. His eyes told me how much he, too, missed this. Missed us being together.
Slowly, as though time froze, our lips came together in one of the most heated kisses of all time. It went straight to my core like it was the beginning of the hottest fire known to mankind.
