Page 63 of Forever Theirs

“Somehow, we missed one hostile during our sweep. He blocked my only exit, and as I worked through how to shoot the bastard with the kid in my arms, he held up a lit Molotov cocktail. I couldn’t lift my gun fast enough with the kid screaming in my ear and thrashing around. I yelled for help when he threw it. A few seconds was all I had to act, though it was instinct.”

“You turned,” I whispered, voice cracking with the unshed tears clogging my throat.

“I turned.” His hand wrapped around mine and pulled it around his waist beneath the shirt. Grabbing a single finger, he brushed the tip along his side, allowing me to feel the rippled skin. “The explosion shot me forward down the stairs. Somehow, I caught myself before I crushed the little girl still clinging to me and sobbing for her mom. I found out later she was only ten years old.”

I slapped a hand over my mouth to quiet a sob.

“I took the brunt of the explosion, so she was okay but terrified. I just remember being unable to move, the flames roaring around me, the thick black smoke, and whispering in her ear over and over to not be scared. That help was coming. I knew my brothers had heard the explosion and would come, which they did, but it was too late for me. After pulling the kid to safety, they used anything they could to put out the flames.” His chest rose and fell with deep, labored breaths. “I have nightmares, memories of the pain. Feeling my skin on fire and there being nothing anyone could do about it. I passed out before they even carried me out of that shithole. When I woke up next, the pain was so intense I threw up. I was lying face down with doctors shouting around me, but thankfully, they knocked me out. Then I was on a flight to Germany, where I spent two months in the ICU before being transferred stateside to a specialized burn unit. The doctors did their best, but there wasn’t much they could do but keep me comfortable while I healed.”

“Miles,” I whispered. Palm to the mattress, I pushed off the bed to stare down at the amazing man, but he refused to meet my searching gaze. “Look at me.”

A lone tear leaked from the corner of his eye. “I’m afraid of what I’ll see,” he rasped, still staring at the ceiling, unblinking.

My heart shattered into a million pieces at his pleading tone. This amazing hero, strong, honorable, and selfless, was afraid.

My still-damp hair shifted along my shoulders with a small headshake. Reaching up, I cradled his beard-covered jaw and forced his face toward mine.

“Please,” I urged.

“It’s not just my skin that’s wrecked, Aspen. It’s all of me. From the inside out, I’m ruined.” More tears leaked down his cheeks. “I don’t deserve you, and you sure as hell don’t deserve to put up with all my bullshit?—”

“You shut the fuck up right the fuck now,” I snapped. That got his attention. Wide hazel eyes blinked at me in shock. “Do you think this changes anything? That I’ll look at you differently?”

“It has with others.”

And now I wanted to murder people.

Not sure what that said about me, that with those four words, I was suddenly okay with the possibility of becoming a serial killer. But I would. For him. To end the lives of any asshole who made this remarkable man beside me feel anything less than the true badass hero he was.

“Do you think so little of me?” I whispered.

“I’m just going off people’s reactions in the past.”

“But I’m not them. I see you, Miles. I see all of you and am so fucking honored that you’d share this piece of yourself with me. You’re a hero.”

“I’m not?—”

“Let me finish,” I begged. Grabbing his hand, I slid a leg over his torso and shifted to straddle his hips. “You’re an amazing warrior who has somehow kept a beautiful piece of yourself hidden deep in here.” I pressed our combined hands to his chest. “The way you treat me with such reverence and respect, more than I’ve ever had in my life, is everything. I’m safe with you, Miles. You make me feel like I can take on the world with you at my side. When my mom said all that shit, you being in the room gave me strength and confidence, which allowed her words to just slide off me instead of burying deep like they have in the past. Yes, earlier, I barged into your bathroom to make sure you didn’t think her beliefs were my own, but it was more than that too. It’s why I came to you, not Aiden. I needed this impervious strength that only you can give.” My hands trembled, and my bit of truth fought its way past my lips. “I need you both more than I’ve ever needed anyone or anything, ever. And I’m terrified of what it means and what will happen to me when it all ends.”

“It means we were meant for each other,” he said. Reaching up, he cupped my cheek and swiped at the rivers of tears streaking down my face.

“Then believe me when I say this. Those aren’t scars to be ashamed of.” His grip tightened but was still soft enough not to hurt me. “They’re a fucking badge of honor. You saved that little girl’s life and took the brunt of the explosion for her. You didn’t even think twice about sacrificing yourself, your body, and possibly your life for some stranger. And if I’m right, it wasn’t the first time you’d saved someone by putting your own life in danger, whether they were in your arms or at home snug in their beds with zero clue about the danger that lurked in the shadows that you and others handled so they could live and sleep in peace.

“So, no, Miles, these aren’t just scars. They’re a road map of the warrior that lives inside you. Yes, you’re insanely attractive, but that’s not what draws me closer every time we’re together. It’s you. All of you. And I’m sure as we go through this, getting to know the good and bad and worse, you’ll find I have scars too.”

He huffed. “Don’t think so. You’re perfect, Aspen.”

“I’m not. I’m so far from it that it’s scary you think so.”

“I have to agree with my bestie on that one, Aspen.” I jerked and looked over my shoulder. Aiden leaned against the doorframe, watching us with a soft expression. “You’ve never given yourself the credit you deserve, Miles. You’re a hero to so many, yet you don’t see it. Ever.”

“You two are ganging up on me,” Miles grumbled. Gripping my hips, he shifted me lower.

“Only because we see you, Miles,” I whispered, “and are so fucking proud of you.”

“Fuck,” the two men rasped.

“You know how to cut straight to the heart, don’t you, sweetheart?” Aiden appeared beside me, his palm sealing to the back of my neck. “How about you show him just how much you appreciate him?”

---