Page 58 of Complete Me
Her face nuzzles into my palm, and I slowly lean in closer, ready to claim this woman’s lips for the first time. There will be no one who comes after her, and I want to remember this moment.
“Reid . . .” she breathes roughly, looking up at me with so much hope and desire. I know she wants this, wants me, wants us. But she’s scared I’ll be like every other man that came before me. Never putting her first, never willing to fight for the right to be with her. Kinsey is everything, and I’m going to prove it to her.
“I know, sweetheart, I’ve got you.”
My heart beats frantically in my chest as I slowly lower my head, resting my forehead against hers, sharing air, loving the way her breathing has picked up, the way her free hand has gripped my T-shirt into a fist, as if she’s holding me in place, not wanting me to run.
Just as I’m about to connect with her perfect lips, my phone blares from my pocket. Kinsey startles, but I just drop my head in irritation and disappointment.
Reluctantly pulling out my phone, I look at the caller and turn it around to show Kinsey.
“It’s your brothers. Again. You need to talk to them, Kins. They’re worried about you.”
“Just tell them I’m sleeping. I’m not ready to hear them go off on how they knew something like this would happen. All of this is happening to me, Reid. The worst part of coming out alive is that they’re all going to look at me differently now. They were insufferable before, and now that everything they said could happen to me, did, it’s just going to increase tenfold. So,no, I’m not eager to talk to my brothers so they can prove their point.”
“You really think that, Kinsey?”
“Yes!”
“They love you more than anything in this world, and they’ve been losing their minds over not hearing your voice or seeing you. They don’t want to throw anything in your face; they want to hold you through it so you can heal from it. Sawyer hasn’t slept. Dallas tore down a barrel house in rage. Liam and Carter haven’t been to work; they’re all together, waiting for their sister.”
“I don’t want to hurt them, I’m just scared.”
“Of them?”
“Of everything, Reid! I’m scared!” Her voice cracks, and tears flow from her pretty eyes. I take the steaming mug from her hand and set it on the table behind me before scooping her up into my lap, rearranging us so that I’m in the center of the bed and she’s lying on top of me.
“Shh, I’ve got you. It’s okay to be scared, baby. But you’re so goddamn strong. Look what you survived?”
“I don’t want anyone to look at me with pity, or like I’m the reason I was kidnapped.”
“No one would think that, so get that out of your mind right now. And if they do, I’ll happily straighten their shit out because they’re wrong. You survived, Kinsey. You fought. You get to move on and see the light of another day. Are you gonna let it break you and swallow you whole now that you’re free, or are you gonna fight back?”
She shakes and sniffles against my chest, and I keep my arms wrapped tightly around her, rubbing my palm up and down her spine.
“Why are you so good to me?”
“Because you’re mine, little fighter,” I whisper the truth toher for the first time against her hair, inhaling the scent of my soap on her. “And I’m always gonna be good to you.”
“You gotta get her outta that room, Rogue,” Chaos tells me from where we’re sitting at the bar inside the main room of the clubhouse.
“You think I don’t know that?”
“She’s sleeping way too much. If you know what she needs, then give it to her. Stop treating her like she’s broken and push her to be the strong woman you keep sayin’ she is.”
“Don’t tell me what to fuckin’ do, Chaos.”
Camden slams his hand down hard between us, the slap echoing loudly, demanding my attention away from my phone, where I’m willing it to go off. It’s been three days, and still nothing from Sawyer’s guy on the information we need to move forward and end this once and for all.
“Watch it, Rogue. You may be goin’ through some shit right now, but I’m still your president. Get her out of that room or she’s gonna wither away.”
My phone goes off, and I give Chaos a few more seconds of silence before nodding my head in agreement. I’m trying to let Kinsey lead this, trying to let her heal the way she naturally wants to, but she seems to be doing the opposite.
Sawyer: Emailed you over everything. Wes got it all. It goes back decades.
Me: Thanks. I’ll keep you updated on what we find and when we make a plan
Sawyer: How is she today?
