“But we can’t just hide forever,” she said doubtfully.
“No. We wait for him to come to us. He’s desperate, and desperate men eventually fuck up. They always do. Eventually he’ll grow tired of waiting for us to go out and he’ll be furious that he’s been thwarted, and he’ll make a move to come after us. And we’ll be watching and waiting and when he does rear his ugly head, we’ll take him out.”
Her breath hiccupped in a sigh of relief and she sagged against him, resting her cheek on his chest. “As long as I have you with me, it doesn’t matter where we are,” she said, sincerity audible in every word.
“You’ll always have me, baby. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you. I need you, Jenna. I’m not ashamed to admit that I need you in order to breathe, in order not to lose the last vestiges of a soul you restored with your love and your light. Before you I existed in the shadows, never seeing the sun until the day you touched me and filled me with the most beautiful peace I’ve ever known.”
“I don’t know what to say, what to do when you say things like that,” she said, her eyes filled with bewilderment, her words laden with emotion.
“Just say you love me too and that you need me even a fraction as much as I need you,” he said, knowing his expression, his eyes, his entire demeanor was as serious as could be. And truthful. It was all he needed from her. It was all he’d ever need from her. Just her love. She didn’t even have to love him as deeply as he loved her, because he loved her enough for both of them.
“And promise me you’ll never give up on me,” he added, anxiety gripping him because he hadn’t included this in his previous statement. “Never give up on us. I know it’s not easy right now and at times I won’t be easy to live with. I’m well aware of the disparity in what you offer me—how much more you offer me and can give me than what I can offer in return. I’ll always be trying to catch up and while I know it isn’t possible that I ever will, what I can offer is given with all my heart, my soul, my life. I belong and will always belong to you. I’m yours to command. Any wish you have, I’ll move heaven and earth to make it come true. Just never give up on me, baby. Please. I can’t even think about the possibility of a life without you in it because it makes me insane. It hurts.”
He felt as though he’d just carved his heart out of his chest and laid the still beating organ in front of her as proof of just how utterly, completely, insanely in love with her he was. He’d just stripped himself of every defense, every shield that had become permanent fixtures over time. He’d never allowed anyone to see beyond those barriers and now he was completely vulnerable before her, his heart, his expression, his tense body begging her not to deny him and to trust him enough to give herself to him forever, even through the rough times.
Her eyes grew soft, her face suddenly glowing, and her smile chased away every doubt, fear and worry. She caressed his jaw, cradling it in her small palm, the very palm she held his heart in, and looked at him with such love that it caused a physical ache in his chest.
“Isaac, have you not been listening to anything I’ve been saying to you?” she teased, running her fingers over his lips and then back to his jaw. “I’ve been sick with worry over the thought, the very real possibility of losing you, of you dying because of me.”
Her gaze went misty and she swallowed several times as if trying to collect herself.
“You don’t ever have to ask for my promise not to give up on you or us or worry that at the first sign of adversity, I’ll decide you aren’t what I want or need and just walk away. You’re my entire world, the very best part of my world,” she whispered softly. “I believe with all my heart and soul that God sent you to me. To save me. To protect me. To love me. To be the man to give me all the things I’ve dreamed of having but never thought possible. I never thought I would be free, much less find freedom and a man who is everything I’ve ever imagined, when all I had were my hopes and fantasies of a life outside the walls of my prison. It’s me who should be on my knees begging you not to ever give up on me or decide I’m not worth the trouble and anguish I’ve caused you and every single person you work with. You aren’t getting the best deal,” she said wryly.
“I’m ignorant of so many things that others take for granted. The world, what I’ve seen of it, still mystifies me and at times I feel utterly lost and like I’ll never fit in. I don’t know what’s correct and what isn’t. The city overwhelms me and makes me feel like I’ll get swallowed up by it and never find my way out. People intimidate me and I’m painfully shy. I don’t even understand why you would want someone like me, but I’m not questioning fate or the fact you love me and that I love you. I’ll never give up on you, but please, don’t ever give up on me either. I need your patience and understanding and for you to help me find my way in a vast, unfamiliar world that’s suddenly been thrust upon me.”
Isaac silenced her with his mouth, crushing his lips to hers. He couldn’t bear to hear her disparage and doubt herself. He kissed her long and deep, fiercely at first, infusing all the passion, love and longing he felt for the woman who owned every single part of him.
Then he softened his movements and they became more gentle and tender, absorbing and savoring the sweetness of her taste, her smell, the way she felt in his arms. Finally, a long while later, Isaac drew back, sucking in great mouthfuls of air into his oxygen-starved lungs. Her face was flushed and glowing, her eyes were shining with wonder and her lips were swollen and a darker pink. She had the look of a woman who’d been thoroughly kissed. He loved that look on her, knowing that he’d been the one to mark her, the one to make her light up and to put the slightly dazed look of love and happiness in her eyes.
“Are we really okay here, Isaac?” she asked, placing her hand on his chest, right over his heart.
He slid his hand over hers to trap it there so she could feel the beat, that it beat only for her.
“We’re safe, baby. We just have to be patient and wait for Jaysus to get impatient and start making mistakes. And he will. Men as obsessed and fixated as he is always fuck up and take stupid risks. And that’s when we nail his ass to the wall.”
TWENTY-TWO
JENNA sat in the corner of the L-shaped sectional amid a mound of pillows, pointing the remote control at the television as she slowly browsed the different channels. She’d driven the guys to the point of insanity within half an hour of surrendering the remote to her after she’d shyly asked if she could try it out.