“Where is this all headed, Taylor?”
“The choice is yours, I guess. If I have my say, you are never leaving my side again. We can go wherever you want, do whatever you want to do, but I want to do it together.” She’s still facing away from me, gazing out the window, so I slide up behind her and wrap my arms around her. She relaxes into my chest and exhales loudly. I can’t help but sigh at how good it feels to hold her in my arms.
“I want you to know I heard everything you said and I respect every decision you’ve made, but there are a few things I want to get off my chest as well.” I feel her body stiffen and squeeze her gently to reassure her that everything is going to be fine. “I have never, in my entire life, felt as completely drawn to someone as I do you. I’ve dreamt of the moment I would get to hold you in my arms again and those dreams don’t even begin to compare to the reality of it. I know you probably want to run away from me so your heart doesn’t break again. Before you go, there is one thing I want to ask you first, though.”
I wait a few beats for her to ask. I need her to ask me because I’m not sure I’ll have the strength to ask her if I’m not positive that she wants to know.
“Okay.” She hesitates longer than I thought she would. Is it because she’s scared of me or of what I’m going to ask? Either way, I have to ask her now before I lose my nerve.
I lean in close and whisper in her ear, “Will you stay with me?”
I swore to myself that if I ever found her again, if she came to me on her own, without a hidden agenda to take me back to the States and turn me in, that I would never let her go again. After seeing her, listening to her and realizing my feelings for her, I realize that it’s not my decision. If I hold her hostage, if she stays and it’s not her decision, then I’m no better than the man I once was.
“Yes,” she says on a breath, “I will, but I have one question. What does the note say?”
I chuckle a little, causing her to turn in my arms. I contemplate letting her go, but my arms won’t budge. I want to hold her and she just agreed to stay with me. I’m not letting her go again until she forces her way out of my life.
“Why don’t you read it?”
She pulls out of my arms and I let her go. So much for holding on to her for as long as she’ll let me. I feel cold without the feel of her skin next to mine. My heart is warm, however, as I watch her walk over to her purse and dig through it for a moment. She walks back to me with the note in her hand and a smile on her face. I look down to find that it’s still folded just as it was when I left it with her.
She carefully unfolds it and reads it to herself. Her eyes are filled with tears when she finally looks up at me. I wipe away a stray tear which has broken free with the back of my hand. Even with tears in her eyes, she’s the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on.
“Is it true?”
“Every word. I meant them then and I mean them now.”
She folds the paper back up and closes her hand around it. “I’m not sure when it happened, but I fell in love with you too. You stole my heart somewhere along the way and I want you to have it. All I ask is that you’re gentle with it.”
Knowing she feels the same is such a relief that I’m pretty sure I’m having an out-of-body experience right now. I lift her off the ground and swing her around once, then twice, before gently laying her on the bed. Her smile radiates and I’m sure mine matches. I kiss her softly, hoping she can feel the love that I have for her pour itself into her body.
“Forever, Magdelyn. I will love you and take care of you until the end of time, you don’t have to worry about that. As for your heart, I will be as gentle as possible. Right now, however, I need you, all of you. No more secrets and no more lies. From here on out, it’s you and me against the world.” I press my body against hers to let her know just how much I need her right now. A small moan escapes her lips and her eyes close for a moment before opening to meet mine with a fierce intensity I’ve never seen before.
“The truth. Always.”
The End
The Secrets Duet Page 29