Page 86 of Burn Like An Angel

“Probably not in the same way you see me in your head. Images look different to me now. More textured and amorphous.”

His inability to see me doesn’t take away from the intense bond we’ve formed. Raine was the first person to worm his way inside my heart in a very long time. He did the impossible.

“Does it bother you?” he asks worriedly. “The fact that I can’t see?”

“God, no!” I rush out. “Of course not.”

“Then what’s on your mind?”

“It’s just… I thought it was safer to be alone. That’s why I kept you at arm’s length for so long. I feel like I wasted a lot of time by doing that.”

“And now?” he urges.

“Now I’m glad we’re in this together. It makes no sense, given what we’re facing… but I’ve never felt safer than when I’m with you.”

Raine listens intently, but his silence fires my uncertainty.

“Am I going insane?” I laugh.

“No.” He tenderly brushes a hand through my short curls. “You’re not.”

“I want us to work, Raine. I want everything I was scared to even consider before. That fear has gone. We could be killed or thrown in prison at any moment, and I’m tired of wasting time.”

The smile that blossoms on his lips is breathtaking. I just wish it didn’t make my stomach curdle when my thoughts stray to whether I’ll ever see a smile like it on Xander or Lennox. If they’re even capable of it.

“But…”

“But… the others,” he finishes for me.

“They’re important to me. Even if I don’t understand how or why, I know that much.”

“You still don’t get it. Do you?” Raine asks after a beat.

“Get what?”

Shifting closer, his nose brushes mine as he crowds my personal space. “I’ve accepted their place in your life.”

“You… uh, have?”

“Because I don’t have an image of your looks, and I don’t need it. I’ll never need it.”

“I’m not sure I follow?—”

“Just listen,” he interrupts

I seal my lips, waiting for him to explain.

“I know your soul, Rip. I know your voice. Your scent. Your breathing patterns. Your intonations. I have the incredible privilege of seeing intimate, invisible, even unconscious details about you. I’ll never have to share that privilege.”

Numbly, I wonder if he can sense my heart soaring right now, racing at breakneck speed. Raine’s self-satisfied smirk tells me he’s all too aware of what his confession is doing to me.

“That’s why I don’t care how Xander obsesses over you,” he continues. “Or how Lennox can’t even comprehend the depths of his feelings because they’re so overwhelming. I don’t care ifmy brothers love you too because what we have will always be unique.”

My toes curl when his lips press against mine.

“They can own their individual pieces of your heart, but what we have is just ours. And that’s enough for me.”

Too shocked to respond, I let his kiss linger. It’s deep and passionate, our mouths familiar enough to fall into a tempo that feels natural. Raine kisses the hell out of me then rests our foreheads together.

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