He lifts my violently shaking chin with his fingertips, his blue eyes rove tenderly over my swollen, snotty face.
He lets out a deep breath, “I couldn’t leave,” he says simply.
“What?” I ask stupidly.
He takes my hand and brings my fingers to his lips, he drops kisses on my knuckles.
Tears glisten in his blue eyes which I’d mistakenly thought were like Marjorie’s, cool and unchanging. But they’re not like the summer sky, they’re more like the blue of a soft, bottomless pool that keeps getting darker and richer the deeper you fall into it.
He reaches out and wipes my wet cheeks, his eyes becomes serious. “I don’t know if the pain of what’s happened will ever be completely gone. But I accept that it happened,” he offers me a crooked smile so guileless and perfect I feel my heart turn over in my chest, he says, “I loved Colt too.”
“Do you love me?” the words burn my throat.
He raises tender, vulnerable eyes to mine, his mouth twists in a grimace. “I tried to leave you. To go after last night.” Agony lances me and I try to pull my hands from his grasp but he tightens his strong fingers around mine. “Don’t,” he says tenderly.
I lower my chin, “You don’t have to say anything else,” I choke out.
He laughs and it’s the sound of renewed hope and he scoots down to search my downcast eyes. “I came back home for you, Ang.”
Tears start in my eyes, blurring his eager, happy face, I reach out blindly for him.
“Ouch,” he protests, I open my eyes and see that I’ve poked him in the eye, he glares at me from one eye.
“I’m sorry,” I hiccup and too full of the need bursting through my heart I throw myself into his open arms.
He catches me, a sigh of acceptance rumbles in his wide chest beneath my cheeks.
He sighs and rests his face on my head, he says roughly, “After the hurt had passed I found that my love for you didn’t go away … It forced me to understand what happened with Colt.”
I flinch but don’t look away, “What about Teag?” My voice trembles too scared to hope.
Tenderly his callused fingertips touch my lips, trail along the smooth bridge of my nose and finally come back to rest against my lips. I kiss it, his eyes smolder at my touch but they are completely clear.
When he speaks I know it will be alright, that everything that matters is finally the way it should be, “Naturally our son will come with us Angie,” he says gently.
My heart explodes, bursting apart all the pain and heartache it had carried. And every second of joy and agony I’d suffered since I’d stepped foot into this world of wild freedom and unlimited beauty had been worth every tear.
I relax into him and he holds me close.
Colt had told me everything would be okay, he’d even asked me to stay as he lay dying. Now I understood.
This is where I belong.
Coming in early May, 2015
“Falling Under.”
Love me ... Again Page 11