“And you’re still here,” he said, voice scratchy. He’d been intubated during his surgery, and one of the nurses had mentioned he’d probably have a sore throat.
The words made Haven’s belly sink, and she drew her hand away. “Uh, yeah. Well, they wanted to wait for you to decide what to do.” From the moment Caine had returned with their paperwork and logistics, Haven had been nearly sick with dismay at the prospect of leaving.
Dare frowned. “I’m sorry, Haven.” He pressed his lips into a grim line, and his eyes looked so bleak.
“For what?”
“For so much. For not protecting you. For not keeping my word. For putting you in the position of having to take a life.” He shook his head, and the grimace proved that it was more movement than he was up for.
“In case you didn’t notice,” she said, fight stirring up in her belly, “I’m completely unharmed. You kept your promise. And killing my father was one of the most justified things I’ve ever done in my life. He killed people we cared about. He hurt Bunny. He was going to kill you and kidnap me. He was evil, pure and simple. So I’m not sorry. Not at all. And you shouldn’t be either.”
Dare studied her like he was searching for the truth in her words. “You’re not upset?”
Taking his hand in hers, she shook her head. “Not about any of that.”
“About something else?” he asked.
She dropped her gaze to the envelope on the tray next to him. “Caine got the paperwork.”
“I know,” he said, holding up her driver’s license in his other hand. She hadn’t noticed he had it. “You named yourself after my brother.” He didn’t phrase it as a question.
Heat filled her cheeks. “I wanted the name to mean something.”
“My brother means something to you?” he asked, a strange expression she couldn’t read playing over his face.
Discomfort rolled through her stomach. Did he disapprove? She dropped her chin and her gaze. “Yeah, because he means so much to you.”
He squeezed her hand weakly. “Look at me.” She forced her eyes to meet his, and he stared at her a long, long moment. “What do you want?”
Feeling like she was standing on the edge of the tallest cliff, Haven knew she had to jump. Her life depended on it. “I want to live. To really live—”
Pain flickered over his face, making her swallow her words. “Then we’ll get you out of here as soon as we can. Because you deserve that, Haven.”
Wait. What? “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I want to live, Dare. And you’re the one who showed me that I could. Who showed me how beautiful it could be—”
“Killing your father was beautiful?” he bit out.
“I’m free now. For real. And someone who made a life out of hurting others is gone. Maybe that’s not beautiful, but it’s good. And if that makes me a horrible person, then I’m okay with it.”
“Should’ve been me,” he said, grit in his voice.
“I don’t need you to protect me, Dare. I appreciate it, but I can survive on my own. I’ve done it all my life. But I don’t want to just survive. Not anymore. I want to live and experience all the beauty and power and chaos of life. And I want that . . . I want that with you.”
Dare frowned, and then his eyes went wide. “Are you saying—”
“I don’t want to go,” she said. “Unless you don’t want me to stay. Unless . . . unless I’m really not that special to you.” Giving voice to those words was one of the scariest things she’d ever done. But she had to know. Once and for all.
She could barely breathe as she waited for him to reply.
On a groan, he reached for her with his good arm, and she leaned in to let him cup the back of her neck and pull her closer. “Come here,” he whispered. She got as close as she could without putting any of her weight on him. His gaze went soft and unshuttered, and then words spilled from that harsh, beautiful mouth. “I love you,” he said. “I fucking love you so much that I don’t think I can exist without you. Not anymore. I don’t want you to go. Not at all. You’re the most special thing I’ve ever found. You’ve given me love and acceptance and peace and comfort and made me realize that I want things out of this life, too. Things I hadn’t realized and certainly hadn’t been pursuing. But the world I live in . . . fuck, this life isn’t—”
Haven kissed him, happiness, relief, and overwhelming love making it impossible for her to speak. So she poured everything she felt into the way her lips caressed his, the way her hand stroked his hair. And then she looked down into his questioning eyes. “I love you, too,” she rasped. “You own my heart and you always will, because you taught me what love was and you showed me what life could be. You gave me wings, Dare, and they brought me right back to you. And they always will.”
“You love me?” he asked, raw wonder in his voice.
“Maybe from the very first time we spoke,” she said, happiness welling so big and warm inside her chest that she wasn’t sure how she could hold it all in.