Page 16 of Redwood Blaze
It’s not as frantic as I expected. It’s definitely calmer than mine’s beating right now.
“You do that to me. You calm my fears. I’ve always tried to fight my own battles, even when I knew I’d probably lose. But I need to realize that there are people who want to fight with me.”
“Bab— Millie…”
She leans forward and puts her lips on mine, maybe to shut me up, but I’m assuming because she wants to. When she backs away, her blue eyes glisten. “You can call me ‘baby’ when we’re alone, Millie when we’re around people in the community, and Supe Archer at HQ.”
“I like that, baby.” I peck her lips and lift her onto my lap.
She snuggles in. “He is a monster, Rusty.”
“Then I’ll be the monster-slayer.”
She nuzzles her forehead against my neck and I pull her closer. I can’t remember how long it’s been now that I’ve wanted to hold her. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“We’re safe here.” I rub her back slowly.
“Safe isn’t a word I’ll ever use when he’s looking for me.”
The way she says it sends a chill down my spine.
She’s seen some shit, but only because of this man. To think that she fled into the forest to fight raging infernos just to get away from him… that tells me something.
He was worse than potentially being burned alive.
“Why is your name Rusty?” she asks, her fingers playing a piano on my chest.
“My dad gave me the nickname.”
“And why?”
“It’s embarrassing.”
She looks up and cocks her head expectantly. “And…”
“Because one time we were at our grandparent’s farm and I was six or seven and my dad caught me licking rust because I thought it looked like Doritos dust.”
She doesn’t move and then her whole body starts shaking. “You’re making that up!”
I huff. “Nope. Most people think it’s because of my red hair, but he called me Callum up to that point and then I became ‘Rusty.’”
Millie’s laughter starts to roll from her and although I used to be afraid to tell people, this time, I start to laugh with her.
“Did it taste like Doritos dust?”
“Not that I can remember. My dad said I kept trying to wash my tongue off, so I’d guess not.”
“Wash your tongue off!” she exclaims and her ass wiggles against my lap as she laughs.
“You think that’s funny?” I tickle her in the ribs and she squirms more. I do it a little more and she falls back onto the couch rolling in a fit of giggles.
I lean over her and she slowly stops laughing. Her hands cup each side of my face. “I wanted to love you from the day I met you, but I couldn’t trust myself to know if you were good or not.”
Her words cut into me. She’s been broken by a man, but I want to put the pieces back together.
I lean over and lightly brush a kiss across her lips. “I’ll wait for you to trust?—”
“I do, Callum. I trust you.” She pulls my face to hers and her lips are like soft pillows of sweetness.
