Page 33 of The Storm
“Or we could choose to simply be.” Max walked around the tree toward her. “Children are never guaranteed for our kind. Don’t ever think that you aren’t enough, Reni. You have always been enough for me.”
She leaned her forehead into his chest.How can I be enough?
“I love you,” he whispered. “You will always be enough.”
What if Max was right? What if they had both lost their chance of a soul mate? Renata knew that she’d never love another scribe the way she loved Max. Her fear had been that he would find better. Findhisbest.
But what if it really was her?
“Are you frightened?” he asked.
“Yes. Aren’t you?”
“I’m only frightened you’ll leave again,” he said. “I’ve chased you for a long time.”
She lifted her head and met his eyes. “This was my last hiding place.”
His eyes danced. “As if you couldn’t find another.”
“I’m tired of running from you.” She leaned forward and took his mouth in a long kiss. His lips were warm and dry. Heat radiated from his chest and arms as he put them around her. Renata’s head spun. From pleasure or lack of air, she couldn’t quite tell. When they broke apart, Max was smiling as she gasped for air.
“You wanted to be caught.”
“Maybe. I suppose if I hadn’t, I would have shot you the first time you found me.” She closed her eyes and leaned on his shoulder “What do you want from me, Maxim?”
“I want you to give us a chance,” he said. “I want to love you when you don’t have one foot out the door like you did in Vienna. I want you to move to Istanbul and live with me and help me in my work. Help Leo and Kyra trainkareshta. Help me gather information about Grigori who are threats. You don’t have to stay in one place—you’re not that kind of woman—but I want to know that when you’re ready to come home, you’re coming to me.”
As he listed his wishes, Renata realized that what Max really wanted was a commitment. He wanted Renata to risk that his love would last. That it wouldn’t be usurped by an interloper who might or might not exist. He wanted her to trust him.
When she thought about it that way, the answer was obvious. Max was the most stubbornly faithful man she’d ever met. She’d trust him with her life. More, she’d trust her sisters’ lives to him.
“Yes,” she said simply. “We should cut this one and get back to the house.” She stepped back and looked at the tree, holding her hand out for the ax Max was carrying. “May I?”
His mouth was hanging open. “What?”
“We should cut this one. Unless there is something wrong with the other side. You looked at it. I did not.”
“You said yes.”
“I did.” And part of her soul was crouched in fear. She felt as if she’d stripped to her skin and walked into the storm that was coming for them.
“You’ll move to Istanbul?”
She nodded. “It’s a reasonable suggestion and a good base. I have no problem working with Malachi.”
“You’ll help Leo and Kyra.”
“When I can.”
He dropped the ax and reached for her hand. “You’ll come home with me.”
“And I’ll leave again.” She looked at him. “Understand that, Maxim. I won’t be with you every moment. I was that girl once; I’m not anymore. I need to be useful, which means that sometimes I’ll leave. Sometimes you’ll come with me. Or I’ll go with you. But sometimes I won’t be able to tell you where I’m going and I’ll have to go alone.”
His hand gripped her fingers. “But you’ll come home.”
“I will come home. So if you want to be that home, then I say yes. I’ll come home to you.”
* * *
