I dampen my dry lips.“So then why—”
“Why was I angry?”His beautiful mouth twists.“Because I thought you wanted to leave me.Because I misinterpreted something you said to your parents tonight.”
“What?”My eyebrows pull together in a frown.“What did I— Oh.”I recall my offhand comment, born of fear and insecurity.“No, Julian, that’s not what I meant,” I begin, but he squeezes my hands before I can explain further.
“I know,” he says softly.“Believe me, baby, now I know.”
We stare at each other in silence, the air thick with echoes of violent sex and dark emotions, with the aftermath of lust and pain and loss.It’s strange, but in this moment, I understand him better than ever.I see the man behind the monster, the man who needs me so much he’ll do anything to keep me with him.
The man I need so much I’ll do anything to stay with him.
“Do you love me, Julian?”I don’t know what gives me the courage to pose the question now, but I have to know, once and for all.“Do you love me?”I repeat, holding his gaze.
For a few moments, he doesn’t move, doesn’t say anything.His grip on my hands is tight enough to hurt.I can feel the struggle within him, the longing warring with the fear.I wait, holding my breath, knowing he may never open himself up like this, may never admit the truth even to himself.So when he speaks, I’m almost caught off-guard.
“Yes, Nora,” he says hoarsely.“Yes, I love you.I love you so fucking much it hurts.I didn’t know it, or maybe I just didn’t want to know it, but it’s always been there.I spent most of my life trying not to feel, trying not to let people get close to me, but I fell for you from the very beginning.It just took me two years to realize it.”
“What made you realize it?”I whisper, my heart aching with relieved joy.He loves me.Up until this moment, I didn’t know how desperately I needed the words, how much their lack weighed on me.“When did you know?”
“It was the night we came back home.”His muscular throat moves as he swallows.“It was when I lay here next to you.I let myself truly feel it then—the pain of losing our baby, the pain of losing all those other people in my life—and I realized I’d been trying to protect myself from the agony of losingyou.Trying to keep myself from loving you so it wouldn’t destroy me.Except it was too late.I was already in love with you.I had been for a long time.Obsession, addiction, love—it’s all the same thing.I can’t live without you, Nora.Losing youwoulddestroy me.I can survive anything but that.”
“Oh, Julian…” I can’t imagine what it took for this strong, ruthless man to admit this.“You won’t lose me.I’m here.I’m not going anywhere.”
“I know you’re not.”His eyes narrow, all traces of vulnerability fading from his features.“Just because I love you doesn’t mean I’ll ever let you go.”
A shaky laugh escapes my throat.“Of course.I know that.”
“Ever.”He seems to feel the need to emphasize that.
“I know that too.”
He stares at me then, his hands holding mine, and I feel the pull of his wordless command.He wants me to admit my feelings too, to bare my soul to him as he’s just bared his to me.And so I give him what he demands.
“I love you, Julian,” I say, letting him see the truth of that in my gaze.“I’ll always love you—and I don’t want you to ever let me go.”
I don’t know if he moves toward me then, or if I make the move first, but somehow his mouth is on mine, his lips and tongue devouring me as he holds me in his inescapable embrace.We come together in pain and pleasure, in violence and passion.
We come together in our kind of love.
The next morning,I stand next to the runway and watch as the plane carrying my parents home takes off.When it’s nothing more than a small dot in the sky, I turn to Julian, who’s standing beside me holding my hand.
“Tell me again,” I say softly, looking up at him.
“I love you.”His eyes gleam as he meets my gaze.“I love you, Nora, more than life itself.”
I smile, my heart lighter than it’s been in weeks.The shadow of grief is still with me, as is the lingering feeling of guilt, but the darkness no longer clouds everything.I can picture a day when the pain will fade, when all I’ll feel is contentment and joy.
Our troubles aren’t over—they can’t be, with us being who we are—but the future no longer frightens me.Soon, I’ll need to bring up the pretty doctor and Peter’s plan for revenge, and at some point later, we’ll have to discuss the possibility of another child and how to deal with the ever-present danger of our lives.
For now, though, we don’t need to do anything but enjoy each other.
Enjoy being alive and in love.
Epilogue
Three Years Later
Julian
