This feeling consumed me, and even though he plagued my thoughts, he faded away as uncertainty for the future loomed over me. The man’s screams became muffled, and anxiety coursed through me, as if I had been struck by lightning.
What would happen to us when this was all over?
Would we be together? Or was this just a chapter in our lives we would look back on and regret?
No.
I wouldn’t regret him—Collin. I couldn’t. He saw me,truly. He knew I had darkness in me, similar to his.
He was born from darkness, but I was thrown into it.
“Angel? Oh God, baby.” His panicked voice filled my ears, drawing me out of my depressing thoughts.
I was back in the room.
His bloody hands were cupping my face, and suddenly, everything came back into focus. He stood in front of me, bending a bit to get eye level with me. My demon’s eyes were still cold, his face splattered with blood.
“Look at me, Karina.Fuck. Look at me. See me, Angel,” he pleaded, his bloody fingers snaking into my hair.
“What?”
His brows drew together in concern. “I knew I should have sent you away for this. You didn’t need to see this—”
I cut him off with my lips, sealing mine to his in a passionate kiss. For a fleeting second, he hesitated, but when he gave into me, it was a supernova. He released a low growl, one of pure, raw emotion, as my tongue slipped through his lips. The words I wanted to say were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t—not yet.
I would show him. I would show him how much I loved him.
“Thank you,” I whimpered against his lips, wrapping my arms around his mid-section as he stepped in between my legs.
He pulled away, his pupils dilated with need and admiration. For me. “Never again,” he promised.
He didn’t need to elaborate. I knew what he meant. Never again would I be touched without consent. He was my protector.
“You’ll protect me? Always?” I breathed, pulling away from him. My fear gripped me by the neck and chuckled in my ear, taunted me. He pulled his hands away, turning them slowly so we could both take in the blood-stained tattoos along them.
“I will cover my hands in blood every day, for as long as I breathe on this Earth, to ensure no one but me ever touches you again,” he said, his voice low.
His words, that promise, broke me. I crumbled in front of him, letting out a strangled cry as I buried my face in my hands. It was over.
It was finally over.
Collin encased me in his arms, his lips pressing into the top of my head, his nose in my ponytail. “My sweet, broken angel,” he murmured. “I am so sorry. For hurting you. For not protecting you before. From the moment I saw you, I knew you were mine…I just refused to see it. For that, I am sorry. The time lost between us will be among my regrets, baby.”
I cried harder, my body shaking as he stroked my hair. He didn’t pull my hands away from my face. No, he let me hide, and I loved him even more for that. To the world, Collin Stevens was an evil, ruthless man, but to me…he was just the blue-eyed college baseball player who walked into that burger joint.
I love you, Col.
“You know what to do,” Collin said into his cell phone as he boarded the jet.
I was curled up in my favorite seat, left side by the window, with a blanket around me, despite the humid Florida air. The flight attendant, Gina, waited for Collin to take his seat before delivering my coffee. I had been on the plane for about tenminutes, watching Nick as he listened intently to what Collin was saying.
“Here you go, doll,” she beamed. I smiled up at her, noting the gold flecks in her brown eyes. She was always so damn nice to me and to the hitman she worked for. I found it interesting that she didn’t fear him. She treated him like she would any other person. The pilot, though, that was a different story.
He was terrified of Collin.
I couldn’t help but wonder if he had seen my demon slaughter the Romano cousins. He told me he did it on an airstrip.
“Can I get you anything, Mr. Stevens?” she asked.
