Page 61 of Sin of Love

“Yes. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

I don’t feel safe. I’m burning… too hot. Oh God, I’m boiling.

“I’ll give you some medication soon. Just hang on a little while longer. I can’t give you any for another forty minutes.”

I must stiffen, because he adds, “Can you trust me, Deirdre? I promise I’ll keep you safe.”

I trust you. Where are we?

“Right now we’re fifty thousand feet up, but we’re on our way to Ireland. Ever been?”

I don’t know if my smile is visible, but I feel it. I’ve never been out of the country—by choice, that is—and I asked him to take me somewhere cold.

Gideon.

“Shh, don’t cry.”

You came for me.

“Yes. I’m sorry it took so long. I’m so fucking sorry.”

Pressure around me increases. The burn inside me fades the smallest degree as familiar arms hold me close. This touch is safe. This dark soothes—this man heals.

He is my tree-root cave.

But I’m a poisoned seed inside him.

Inside me is… wrong. Too dark.

“No, mon bijou. There is not one thing wrong with you. And if you think it’s dark, I’ll bring you the sun.”

But I’m so far away. What if I can’t come back?

“Then I’ll come for you again. And again. However long it takes.”

Why?

“Because I refuse to live without you.”

Stubborn.

Soft lips on my forehead. “Yours. Sleep now.”

Miraculously, I do.

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