Page 21 of Reaper's Rival

How many times was he going to burn me before I learned my lesson? Was the Reaper really capable of love? I glanced at him, his eyes locking with mine. Looks like I wasn’t the only one doing some heavy thinking.

I sucked in the smoke, holding it in before lightly blowing it out.

I was afraid. The fear was slowly creeping through every blood vessel in my body. I loved him. I think I’ve loved him since I was sixteen. Still, was that enough?

I handed back the cigarette and sighed.

Everything about him pulled me in. The scars across his body, the badly scarred bullet wound on his stomach, the marks across the Satan’s Sons tattoo on his back. His chiseled face, the way when his eyes locked with mine, it was as if he could see through me.

Like right now.

Could he see my doubts?

Could he see how much I was in love with him?

Maybe the Reaper wasn’t capable of love, but Kade was; I had seen it.

My hand reached for his cheek, and he pushed his head into it. Blowing out the last of the cigarette, he dropped it on the floor, stomping on it once with his heavy boot.

“I love you.” I blew out, finding myself needing to tell him again. My whole world was him. Without him, I couldn’t cope. With him, I was a mess, but I was his mess. “Always have.”

He stood up, placing his tattooed hands on either side of my body. I fell backward on the bed, just looking up at him. He hovered over me, those soul-sucking eyes locked with mine.

“I’m never letting you leave me again.” His voice was thick with emotion, as if he was scared. Scared I would leave him. “Never gonna let you out of my sight again.”

I ran a hand down his face, “I don’t want to be out of your sight again.”

His hands linked with mine and with one quick pull, I was standing, and he wrapped his arms around my body, bringing us chest to chest.

“Can we really do this? You and me?” My hands locked around his neck. “You and I have always been close but yet so far. I don’t know if I can survive something pulling us apart again.”

Who was I kidding? I knew I couldn’t survive something pulling us apart again. Look how I reacted without him.

His hands ran down my back. “I’m telling you this now, Abby. I’m going to protect you. I’m going to wake up with you every morning. I’m going to fuck you, a lot. And I’m never letting you go.” His forehead rested against mine. “I’ve done a lot of fucked up shit, and I didn’t think I deserved you. But if having you is what sends me to hell, then I’ll take the ride willingly.”

He reached for the hem of my tank top and pulled it up over my head.

He inhaled sharply, and then his hands were unbuttoning my jeans and pulling down the zip.

“You still going to take the President patch in the South Charter?”

He nodded his head while dragging my jeans down my legs. I stepped out of them.

“That means I’ll be the old lady of a President.”

He stood back up, slowly nodding his head. “Can you handle that?” His expression was masked, as if he was expecting me to say no.

Could I handle anything without him? No. So yes, I could handle it. Would handle it gladly.

Nodding my head, his hands ran down my back, stopping at my hips. He lifted me up with ease, my legs wrapping around his waist.

“Means you will be leaving your old man.” His lips ran over my collarbone while he walked us back to the bed.

“No.” I grabbed his head, bringing us nose to nose. “It means I’ll be starting a life with you.”

I knew it wasn’t going to be a crystal-cut type of life. I knew that there was going to be times when I wanted to kill him, and other times I wouldn’t want him out of my sight. Still, I would take it. I would take all the bad every day if it meant I fell asleep by his side every night.

He gently lowered me till my back rested on the bed.

---