Page 102 of Zain

Her stomach bunched. “What’s that?”

He moved his ministrations to her calves. “August spoke to his contact at the police department and they found the DNA of a missing person in thehouse you were in. It’s very likely Drake murdered someone there.”

She rounded her eyes and brought her fingertips to her lips. “I found blood on a piece of plastic. It was hidden in the closet beneath wet towels. I totally forgot until now. It’d looked like the floor had been recently mopped.” She shook her head. “I’m almost mad he’s dead and won’t face any prison time.”

A muscle in Zain’s jaw jumped. She moved closer and let her cheek rest on his sternum. The gentlethump,thump,thumpof his heart echoed in her ear, calming the fear that oscillated inside her. One of his large, strong hands held the back of her head and the other moved up and down her leg.

So many things could have gone differently. There were a lot of scenarios that would’ve resulted in her being another body to search for. Her knees shuddered, but she forced away the intrusive thoughts.

“It really drives home how close I was to losing you,” he finally said, his words carrying the weight of an anvil.

She wrapped her arms around his waist. “It’s all over now, though.”

He lowered his head and brushed his lips over her hair. “Damn right it is.”

He pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I know I said this earlier, but you really need to understand something.”

She blinked but didn’t move her gaze away from his unwavering golden hues.

“I love you, Dana. I went insane when they took you. I’ve never been so damn helpless and... gutted. I realize I don’t have a clear picture of my future right now, but I know for damn sure I want you in it. Will you do that? Be with me.”

Tears clouded her vision. She didn’t need a play-by-play of their plans, didn’t need to know what career he’d find. None of that mattered right now. All she wanted was him. Forever. “Yes,” she choked out. “That’s all I want.”

He brought his lips to hers, and his tongue gently licked into her mouth. The warm scent that was all Zain filled her with promise.

She swept her fingers through his hair, gently tugging the strands.

“Mmm.” He pulled his mouth away and kissed her cheek, then her lips again, and then her forehead. “We need to stop before I get carried away. No sex until your concussion’s all clear.”

She pouted, but in truth, she was much too weak to do anything more than kiss.

A soft, pensive look took hold of his eyes as his fingers traced her chin. “You smell so damn good.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Considering I threw up twice today and was covered in sweat and blood, that’s quite the compliment.” But the gentle look on his face piqued her curiosity. “What do I smelllike?”

He touched her cheek with his thumb and was silent for a fraction of a second. “Home.”

A warm tingling sensation surrounded her. Before she could respond, he gave her body a gentle shake. “While you were in the bath, Gigi brought over food. You hungry?”

Her salivary glands tingled. “Starving.”

“Good. You need to get your strength back.”

She grinned. “I sense an ulterior motive.”

He laughed, and the sound was so free, so unrestrained, that she grinned ear to ear. He caught her hand and helped her to the kitchen table.

The future might be as dark and scary as the cave in Afghanistan. But with Zain, she’d always have light by her side.

EPILOGUE

Dana lifted thelid of the slow cooker. The scents of tomato sauce and ginger wafted to her nose and she groaned. Gigi’s recipes might be the death of her. She removed the marinating chicken breast, pulled it into strips, then placed the strips in the slow cooker with one cup of coconut milk, just as the cookbook called for.

Zain would be home any minute, and she couldn’t wait to sit down and have dinner with him. It’d been almost two weeks since she was kidnapped, and the normalcy she and Zain had fallen into made it seem so much longer. Today was the first time Zain had left the house without her.

Gigi, Ivy, and Savannah had all brought meals over, and she and Zain had holed up in her apartment while she rested and healed. They’d showered, watched movies, lain in bed—and she’d received more foot and back massages than she’d ever had in her life. A few days ago, they’d startedtaking morning and evening walks.

Life with Zain was an effortless rhythm.

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