“Not going anywhere. I know I fucked up, but you’re going to forgive me and I’m going to stay here until you do. And afterward I’m not going anywhere either.”
There it was, the obey-me-or-else Jack she knew. It figured being near death hadn’t mellowed him. She crossed her arms over her chest, her chin up defiantly. “Really? And why is that?”
“Because you’re the one.”
“Not the one. You were very clear about that. I offered you my heart and you stomped all over it. I’m the same person you rejected. I haven’t changed. Well, I have; you taught me something very important, that it doesn’t pay to love someone. You let them in, they break your heart.”
Before she could react or fully comprehend what was happening, Jack enveloped her in his arms and took her mouth.
God, he felt so good, and she’d missed him so much. Elle fought the overwhelming need to give in to the kiss.
“I’m still mad at you,” she said the second she managed to break away. “We are in the middle of an argument. What are you doing?”
“Continue to be mad, pet. I’m kissing you.”
“Why? To shut me up?”
“No. You said you loved me. I couldn’t stop myself. I need you. I need to be as deep inside you as I can. As close to you as humanly possible. I guess fucking you now is out of the question.”
She blinked, her stomach dropping, and tried to backtrack. “I didn’t say I love you.” Her tone wasn’t too convincing, she knew, but she found it difficult to lie to him. And she loved him, so much. Her heart had broken when she’d left the hospital, but telling him that wouldn’t heal her wounds. It would make her more vulnerable than she already was. And she’d never made herself as vulnerable as with Jack. Ever.
“Yes you did, pet. And you can’t take it back. I won’t let you, because I love you too.”
“You do?” she asked, her eyes welling, her voice breaking.
He nodded and spoke against her lips. “I’ve been in love with you since the very first moment I laid eyes on you. Just too fucking stubborn to admit it to myself. I was pretty out of it, but I recall telling it to you then, before you know…”
He didn’t finish the sentence. Didn’t have to.
“You were dying. I thought you were delirious.” Heck, she’d been delirious too.
He cupped her face. Brushed her lips with his thumb. “I was not going to die without telling you.”
Tears rolling down, she hugged him, so damn hard her arms hurt. “I love you too, Borg.”
She felt the tremors going through his body at her words.
“Why did you leave me at the hospital?” he whispered against her lips.
“You’d made it clear that you didn’t want anything to do with me.”
“At Exxum’s, I told you I’d go to hell and back for you.”
Elle shrugged, uneasy. “I figured that’s what all the heroic types do for everyone.”
Jack let out a soft snort. “No, pet, they don’t do that for everyone. Nor get a hole in their stomachs.”
“You talking about the ulcer I allegedly gave you, or the bullet?”
Jack barked out a laugh, tightening his embrace. “Both.” She caressed his scratchy beard and spoke with a barely-there voice. He deserved the truth. “I left the hospital because I didn’t want to be pushy.”
“You are pushy.”
“You don’t like pushy,” she said, feeling awkwardly embarrassed.
He kissed her softly. “I love your kind of pushy, pet. Never doubt that. For the record, we aren’t a good fit.”
She froze at his words. “No?”
“No. We are a fucking perfect one.”
Jack took her into his arms and kissed her long and deep. At some point, she heard the patrons at Rosita’s clapping and whistling, but she didn’t care. Her Borg was home.
Jack would have trailed after Elle like a puppy the whole night, gladly, but Tate took pity on him and pushed them out of Rosita’s.
Not a word was uttered as they walked to Jack’s truck, or all the way to Elle’s house.
Once they had a closed door between them and the rest of the world, he cupped her face, kissing her, feeling more complete and at peace than he’d felt in the last four weeks. Heck, in his whole life probably. “I want you.”
Her eyes said yes, but her expression was hesitant. “You’re injured.”
Jack cracked a smile. “Not badly enough, pet.”
“I want to see it.”
“Why? You’ve seen it before.”
“No, you dork. I don’t mean your cock.”
She grabbed his T-shirt, bunched it up, and with trembling fingers, proceed to caress the angry red scar on his side, her eyes welling.
Jack put his hand on top of hers. “It doesn’t hurt, pet.” Which wasn’t totally true, but in comparison with the pain he’d endured without her in his life, this little scar was nothing.
She glanced at him, her voice quivering. “I’m so sorry that the biggest scar on your body is related to me. All the other wounds seem insignificant.”
“This is the most important of all of them,” he corrected her. “This I wouldn’t trade for anything. This says I saved the woman I love. I know I’m not the easiest man to be around, but I love you with all my heart. No one will ever love you more than I do. I’d give my life for you.”