Page 111 of Savage Keepsakes

Once we find our bearings, I get up and buckle my pants before heading out into the forest.

Grabbing her purse and phone, I return it. Lucy has put her shirt back on and is cautiously glancing around the cabin.

“Nothing bad in here,” I tell her. Handing the items to her, I pick my shirt up off the ground and toss it on the old floral couch.

“I didn’t think…”

I cut her off. “Yeah, you did. I’ve killed no one inside the cabin.”

“So you’ve killed since you left me?”

I walk over to the tiny kitchen, pouring water into two glasses. I hand one to her and nod to the couch.

“Only once. I’m trying, Lou.”

“You think you’ve been a wreck? Fuck you, Billy. As if you’ve been hiding right under my nose for these last months, you shattered me. My heart fucking hurt for weeks. All I fucking think about is you. The folds of my brain are branded by you.”

As she continues to yell at me, her face turns an even deeper shade of red. I deserve all there is, allher anger. I certainly don’t deserve her, but I will prove the rest of my life to her, or else I’ll have to give up.

A world without Lucy isn’t one I want to live in.

“What was the alternative?” I launch myself at her, straddling her lap, staring down into her eyes. “Go to prison? Be a jail wife? Come see me when they allow visits? Or how about the families that want me dead, Lou? I’m not fucking normal. I can’t change to be anything else.”

“You said you’ve slowed down,” she whispers.

Her fingers run over the tattoos on my chest, and her long nails rake over my skin.

“I have, Lou. You know I’d do whatever it takes for you. I need you.” Gripping her neck, a surge of desire courses through me.

Our lips collide, and the world fades into a blur of pure bliss.

I pull away while I press my forehead against hers, relishing the tender closeness we share.

“What happened to Leah? Because if she didn’t die, we couldn’t have gotten here.” It’s always been on my mind since I read the news.

“I killed her. Fucking cunt wasn’t going to take another man from me. This cabin was yours the whole time? You made me believe we were trespassing, that someone was on the verge of finding us. I was scared shitless.”

“Sure, but it made you come so much harder when you thought someone was gonna get you.”

I grin at the memories, the way she clung to me. Thoughts have plagued me over the time away.

“Asshole. What’re we supposed to do now? I’m moving. I bought a new place.”

A heavy sigh escapes my lips. When I saw the sign at the end of her driveway tonight, I knew she would move on to better things.

“I need you, and since you killed for me, I’m pretty sure you need me.”

“I can’t uproot my life and leave. I have a job, I have JoJo.”

I wrap my arm around her shoulders.

“Well, you gotta decide. I’m willing to offer you this. It’s not a lot, but it’s me. You hate your job, and I don’t know what you bought, but is it home without me?”

I have no qualms with keeping her against her will, because she brings peace to my darkness.

“Billy, I love you so fucking much. My heart knows this is where I belong, but I’m reluctant to toss my life away. What if you fuck off again? What’ll I do then?”

I push up off the couch and pace across the wooden floor, blowing out a deep breath.

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