by Shyla Colt
Family, I like the sound of that.
Pan stood and grabbed his duffle bag. “Thanks, Sandra.” He followed her out of his room and down the hall to the waiting area.
His woman was a vision in a red dress that hugged her curves and stopped above her knee.
The rounded neckline showed off her generous breasts and brought out the matching red streaks in her hair. She’d put the weight she lost back on and had a smile that would light the darkest night.
His heart raced and he melted internally. He held out his arms and she ran to him. He lifted her off the ground and she kicked her legs giggling. His little bird knew where her home was. No matter where she flew, she would always come back. He buried his face against her neck
inhaling her womanly scent. “I fucking missed you, babe.” He whispered.
“I missed you too.” She pulled back, took his face between her hands and showered his face with kisses. “Monster and I drove separately. I wanted to let you talk to him first, since I’ll be taking you home.”
“Thank you, little bird.”
Lark sighed. “I missed hearing that.”
He set her on her feet, kissed her forehead and reluctantly let her go. She walked to the other side of the room and he turned his attention to Monster. They gave one another a manly hug and he clapped his back. “Thank you for coming.”
“No place else I’d rather be, brother,” Monster said.
“I owe you an apology. We’ve had an unhealthy relationship for the greater part of our lives.
I wanted to think you were the one who wouldn’t let go of what happened. But the truth
was…You made peace with it a long time ago. You had to. The only option was bitterness and anger and you knew that wasn’t the way to go. I was so busy pretending to be okay, I never grieved, or addressed things. When I saw you with Symone, it did something to me. It showed me everything I was missing out on, because I was too fucked up to try for anything real. I resented you for that. It opened up the badly healed scar and all the sick shit oozed out. While I was here, I did a lot of thinking and looking in the mirror. I didn’t like what I saw and I’m out to change those things. I’m not perfect, I’m going to slip up. We both know habits are hard to break, but I’m the best I’ve ever been and I’m actively trying here.”
“That’s all anyone can ask. I only want you to be happy,” Monster replied.
“I think for the first time, I’m in a place where I can be.”
Monster smiled. “I’m guessing you’re anxious to be alone with your girl.”
“Yeah.” Pan ran a hand through his too long hair and laughed.
“I’ll let you get to it. It’s good to see you man. You look….Healthy.”
“I am.” He grinned.
“I won’t keep you. Word to the wise though. You need to lock that shit down, ring, title, all of it. Because she deserves that and more.”
“I know and I have plans for that.”
“Good man.” Monster tapped his shoulder with his fist and walked away.
Lark walked over, hypnotizing him with the sway of her hips.
“You ready to get out of here?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe. You ready to do this again, the right way?”
“How about tell me what you want?” She pursed her full lips.
Pan felt his body heat as he choked off a moan. “I want us to move forward and be two
whole people in love and totally committed. The first thing I want to do after I’ve proved to you that I’m on the straight and narrow is go pick out a ring. I love you little bird.”
“I love you too. I think I can handle that,” Lark whispered.
Pan leaned down and captured her lips, getting lost in the woman who’d become his catalyst for all good things. All the happiness in his life began the moment she came out at him, roaring like a lioness. Maybe she’d imparted some of her bravery to him. Happily ever after was cliché.
He couldn’t even allow himself to think along those lines. He could, however—be her nest. The comfy shelter she always came home to.
Yeah, he liked the sound of that.
The End
About the Author
Shyla Colt grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, but has lived a variety of different places, thanks to her wanderlust, interesting careers and marriage to a United States Marine. She's always loved books and wrote her very first novel at the age of fifteen. She keeps a copy of her first submission letter on her desk for inspiration.
After a lifetime of traveling, she settled down and knew her time had come to write. Diving into her new career like she does everything else, with enthusiasm, research and a lot of prayers, she had her first book published in June of 2011. As a full-time writer, stay at home mother and wife, there's never a dull moment in her household.
She weaves her tales in spare moments and the evenings with a cup of coffee or tea at her side and the characters in her head for company. A self-professed rebel with a pen. Her goal is to diversify romance as she continues to genre hop and offer up strong female characters.
You can interact with Shyla Colt online via her website:
www.shylacolt.com on,
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorshyla.colt and
Twitter: @shylacolt
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