She stayed still, but worry and fear webbed their way around her heart. “I’m hurting you.”
He winced but reached out to cup her face. “No, you aren’t. The rock hurt me. I’m just so fucking glad you’re alive, baby. I don’t know what I would have done if you had gotten hurt. You’re okay, right? Nothing aching?”
Just her heart.
Tears slid down her face as the others worked around them, talking, making sure everyone was okay, but she only had eyes for Brody.
“I almost lost you,” she whispered. She’d been so angry with him, but now it felt all wrong.
“You didn’t,” he croaked. “But I could have lost you because I’m a fucking idiot. I shouldn’t have pushed you away. I shouldn’t have destroyed what we could have because I couldn’t face myself. I lied, Holly. I lied, and I hurt both of us in the process.”
She swallowed hard. “What do you mean?”
“I love you, Holly Rose. I love you so fucking much. I was so scared to hurt you or let anyone close that I ignored the fact that you were already as close as you could possibly get. I love you. I want you in my life and in everything else that’s part of me. I want to make more lists with you and find out what else we can do together. Forgive me, baby. Forgive me for acting like an asshole with his head buried in the sand. Please tell me you still love me. Please don’t walk away like I did to you.”
Tears were flowing freely as she pressed her fingers to his lips. “This isn’t the shock of the accident talking, is it?” She wasn’t sure if she could bear it if it were.
He kissed the tips of her fingers, and she lowered her hand. “I came here today to tell you all of that. I just didn’t expect to almost lose you to water before I did.”
She hadn’t made the connection, and now she was breaking for him all over again. Oh, hell, this must be killing him, but if what he said were true, then he’d come down to the river for her, and had wanted to say all of this before the accident.
So she did the only thing she could do.
She took that risk.
Jumped off that bridge.
Fell once more.
“I love you, too. I’ll always love you, Brody.”
“Always,” he whispered.
The EMTs came over at that moment, and she got off his lap. “Hey,” he called out, gripping her hand. “Unzip my pocket, I have a present for you.”
One of the EMTs snorted, and Holly laughed. “What did I tell you about your lines? You need to work on them.”
Brody laughed and then coughed. “Ouch. Okay. Laughing isn’t good right now.”
The EMT who hadn’t made a sound before shook his head. “Pretty sure you bruised a rib, but you get to take an ambulance ride to make sure it’s not broken.”
“Yay,” Brody said dryly.
She pressed her lips together, worry for him washing through her. “Brody.”
“I’m going to be fine,” Brody explained. “Can she ride with me?”
The EMTs looked at one another and nodded. “Yeah. We’re going to check everyone out just in case, but she can ride with you.”
“Good, now check my pocket, baby. I promise it’s something you want.” He winked, despite the pain she saw in his eyes. “And not that.”
She huffed out a breath and bent to unzip his pocket. When she pulled out a small, waterproof bag, she frowned.
“Open it,” Brody said as the EMTs worked on him.
Her hands shaking, she did as he asked and gasped. It was a silver—or white gold, she wasn’t sure—charm bracelet. But that’s not what made her cry. No, it was the charms he’d placed on there that made her want to wrap her arms around the man she loved and never let go.
A water droplet for today.
A taco, of all things, for their meal.
A bike for their first meeting.
A star…a star for their nightly ride under the stars.
A bridge for her fall.
“I know a guy who makes jewelry, and he helped me,” Brody explained as they made their way to the back of the ambulance. Brody was on a stretcher, and she was blinking hard by his side.
“Of course, you know a guy,” she said dryly. The EMT helped her into the back of the ambulance and she sat next to Brody as the other EMT worked. “I can’t believe you got this for me.”
“I’m missing one, though,” he whispered.
“You got everything,” she said softly. “What on earth could you be missing? You even got the taco.”
The EMT gave Brody a look. “You got your girl a taco charm bracelet?”
Brody grinned at Holly, that dimple peeking out once more. “You had to be there.”
“Apparently,” the EMT said deadpan.
“What is it missing?” Holly asked again.
“A rose,” he said simply. “For the tattoo you’re going to get.”
She blinked. “How…how on earth could you know that? I hadn’t even thought of what I wanted until recently, and I didn’t tell you.”
Brody reached out for her, and she carefully took his hand when the EMT nodded at her. “I know you, Holly. Just like you know me.”
She swallowed hard and did her best not to cry again. She’d cried far too much lately, and all she wanted to do now was just be.
“You’re way too good, you know that?” she said after a moment.
He frowned. “No, I’m not. But you make me a better man. So that’s all I need.”
She gripped his hand as they raced to the ER to make sure Brody was okay, but she knew they would be. They’d come from places where the world had threatened to take them down, and yet they’d risen from their own ashes. They weren’t the people they were when they’d been forced to face the fact that those who should have loved them couldn’t. But now, they were together, and she knew that no matter what happened, they would have each other.
She’d taken the greatest risk of all with Brody Deacon, and now she’d be able to have the most challenging adventure yet—loving him until the end of her days.
Epilogue
Brody threw his head back into the pillows, tangling his fingers in Holly’s hair as she sucked him into her mouth. He’d been right in thinking that the sight of her lips around his cock would be one of the sexiest things he’d ever seen in his life. He was just happy as hell that his ribs were finally healed from being bruised so that he could enjoy this.
She grinned as she let go of him and winked. “Like?”
“Love,” he growled. “Now get back to it. You promised me a birthday blowjob.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s my birthday.”
“I know,” Brody teased. “That’s why I ate you out twice this morning already and made you come. Now, it’s my turn, since I always deny you my cock.”
She rolled her eyes and slid her hand up and down his shaft, the other hand playing with his balls. His eyes crossed when she squeezed, and he knew he was one lucky man.
“You always pull out and then fuck me into the mattress, so I really can’t complain,” she said with a laugh.
The sound of the word fuck from her lips made him want to do just that and grind her into the mattress as she mentioned, but he’d promised her he would behave.
For at least a little while.
He lay on their bed and groaned when she took him into her mouth again. Damn, she knew exactly what she was doing to him with her tongue, and if he weren’t careful, he’d blow before he was ready.
He’d moved into her place the week after the rafting accident since neither of them had wanted to wait any longer. They weren’t engaged, but they were close to it. He wanted a little more of her to himself before he had to share her with the world of wedding planning and all of that.
Plus, neither of them were in any hurry now that they slept side by side every night and she wore his bracelet on her wrist at all times. He let his free hand slide up his chest to rest on the chain she’d given him and grinned. It was a simple white gold chain that didn’t get in th
e way at work, but the clasp actually had a rose on it. If anyone noticed it, they would give him hell, but he didn’t care. His woman had given it to him so he’d wear it until the end of his days.
When she pulled away, licking her lips, he tugged on her hair. “Crawl up me, baby, and fuck me. I want to see your tits bounce as you ride.”
She crawled up his body, all feline grace and feminine wiles.
Hell, he was beyond hard and ready to come, but he wanted to be inside her first.
She kissed him roughly, her breasts swaying over his chest, and he groaned. He gripped the base of his cock and slapped it firmly against her pussy since she hovered right over him. No need for a condom. Not anymore.
“Ride me, woman.”
She laughed, but it was a throaty chuckle that did wicked things to him. His Holly wasn’t some innocent rose, and he loved it.
When she slid over him, they both groaned, and he put his hand on her ribcage right on the side of her breast.
“I love this ink on your skin,” he breathed. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Holly. So fucking mine.”
She’d gotten her rose right on her ribcage. Of course, she hadn’t gone for something easy but had instead gone for one of the most painful areas. But she’d said she wanted it where he could grip it easily when he played with her breasts. She’d then told him her next tattoo would be on her hip so he could grip there, too.
As they’d been in Montgomery Ink at the time, his groan had echoed off the walls, and Maya had laughed before doing the tattoo.
Apparently, they’d heard worse in their time, and sweet little Holly talking all dirty wasn’t a surprise.
He was definitely one lucky man.
She rolled her hips. “You’re mine, too,” she said with a small smile. “Don’t forget that.”
He let her ride him a bit longer before flipping them both over so he could pump into her slowly. It was her birthday, after all. She shouldn’t have to do all the work.
Her eyes went dark as she crested, and he took her scream into his mouth. “Love you, Holly.”
“Love you, too,” she panted, still moving with him as he made love to her. Then she squeezed her inner muscles, and he was lost.
He came hard inside her, bare and open in every way. When he rolled to the side, his cock still hard inside her and their bodies sweat-slick, he kissed her slowly, leisurely, like a man with all the time in the world and the woman he loved in his arms.
“I adore you,” he whispered.
She smiled sleepily, sated and his. “Yeah? Always?”
He kissed her again. “Always.”
* * * *
Also from 1001 Dark Nights and Carrie Ann Ryan, discover Wicked Wolf and Hidden Ink.
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1001 Dark Nights fabulous novellas...
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Four
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ROCK CHICK REAWAKENING by Kristen Ashley
A Rock Chick Novella
ADORING INK by Carrie Ann Ryan
A Montgomery Ink Novella
SWEET RIVALRY by K. Bromberg
SHADE'S LADY by Joanna Wylde
A Reapers MC Novella
RAZR by Larissa Ione
A Demonica Underworld Novella
ARRANGED by Lexi Blake
A Masters and Mercenaries Novella
TANGLED by Rebecca Zanetti
A Dark Protectors Novella
HOLD ME by J. Kenner
A Stark Ever After Novella
SOMEHOW, SOME WAY by Jennifer Probst
A Billionaire Builders Novella
TOO CLOSE TO CALL by Tessa Bailey
A Romancing the Clarksons Novella
HUNTED by Elisabeth Naughton
An Eternal Guardians Novella
EYES ON YOU by Laura Kaye
A Blasphemy Novella
BLADE by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright
A Bayou Heat Novella
DRAGON BURN by Donna Grant
A Dark Kings Novella
TRIPPED OUT by Lorelei James
A Blacktop Cowboys® Novella
STUD FINDER by Lauren Blakely
MIDNIGHT UNLEASHED by Lara Adrian
A Midnight Breed Novella
HALLOW BE THE HAUNT by Heather Graham
A Krewe of Hunters Novella
DIRTY FILTHY FIX by Laurelin Paige
A Fixed Novella
THE BED MATE by Kendall Ryan
A Room Mate Novella
NIGHT GAMES by CD Reiss
A Games Novella
NO RESERVATIONS by Kristen Proby
A Fusion Novella
DAWN OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
A MacKenzie Family Novella
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Discover More Carrie Ann Ryan
Wicked Wolf
A Redwood Pack Novella
By Carrie Ann Ryan
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The war between the Redwood Pack and the Centrals is one of wolf legend. Gina Eaton lost both of her parents when a member of their Pack betrayed them. Adopted by the Alpha of the Pack as a child, Gina grew up within the royal family to become an enforcer and protector of her den. She’s always known fate can be a tricky and deceitful entity, but when she finds the one man that could be her mate, she might throw caution to the wind and follow the path set out for her, rather than forging one of her own.
Quinn Weston’s mate walked out on him five years ago, severing their bond in the most brutal fashion. She not only left him a shattered shadow of himself, but their newborn son as well. Now, as the lieutenant of the Talon Pack’s Alpha, he puts his whole being into two things: the safety of his Pack and his son.
When the two Alphas put Gina and Quinn together to find a way to ensure their treaties remain strong, fate has a plan of its own. Neither knows what will come of the Pack’s alliance, let alone one between the two of them. The past paved their paths in blood and heartache, but it will take the strength of a promise and iron will to find their future.
* * * *
Hidden Ink
A Montgomery Ink Novella
By Carrie Ann Ryan
Click here to purchase.
The Montgomery Ink series continues with the long-awaited romance between the café owner next door and the tattoo artist who’s loved her from afar.
Hailey Monroe knows the world isn’t always fair, but she’s picked herself up from the ashes once before and if she needs to, she’ll do it again. It’s been years since she first spotted the tattoo artist with a scowl that made her heart skip a beat, but now she’s finally gained the courage to approach him. Only it won’t be about what their future could bring, but how to finish healing the scars from her past.
Sloane Gordon lived through the worst kinds of hell yet the temptation next door sends him to another level. He’s kept his distance because he knows what kind of man he is versus what kind of man Hailey needs. When she comes to him with a proposition that sends his mind whirling and his soul shattering, he’ll do everything in his power to protect the woman he cares for and the secrets he’s been forced to keep.
On behalf of 1001 Dark Nights,
Liz Berry and M.J. Rose would like to thank ~
Steve Berry
Doug Scofield
Kim Guidroz
Jillian Stein
InkSlinger PR
Dan Slater
Asha Hossain
Chris Graham
Pamela Jamison
Fedora Chen
Jessica Johns
Dylan Stockton
Richard Blake
BookTrib After Dark
and Simon Lipskar
Table of Contents
Book Description
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Epilogue
Adoring Ink: A Montgomery Ink Novella Page 10