Page 54 of Kian's Devotio
He grabbed her hand, “Don’t go. Let me handle it and then I will come back to you and we can figure it out. I don’t want you anywhere near that man and knowing that you could have been taken from me when I only just got you? Do you know how broken I would have been? I wouldn’t have been Kian anymore. He would have died with you. I would just be a husk of a person. Just breathing, but not living. I would have never moved on, and never been normal again, knowing that I had let you go alone, and you were gone. Just thinking of it makes me ill. I can’t do it angel. I can’t.”
His eyes were so agonized that it was all she could do to not burst into tears, “I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to try to be a good daughter and just put my mom to rest. She may not have been a good mother at all, but she was still my mother. She deserved to be put to rest, and then she needed to be forgotten. That was all. I promise.”
“I know babe. I know. That was truly your plan, but men like the man you described have people watching, knowing the second you go back to that town. You wouldn’t have been able to claim your mother’s body and he would have taken you the second he could. I have seen it before, and I won’t see it happen with you. I won’t do it.”
She unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed over the center console and into his lap where he moved the seat back to accommodate her better.
She cupped his face in her hands, “I am sorry baby. I am. I didn’t think that would happen. I didn’t realize that you have had to deal with things like that in the past. And I'm sorry.”
Kian put his forehead to hers, and shut his eyes, his arms a band around her waist.
When he opened them again, she could see just how scared he was, how hard this was on him.
“I don’t want to lose you. Not now. Not ever. I finally gained your trust back, finally got my girl in my arms, and in my life. I need you to be safe and protect you for as long as I live. And I will do that. I want our life, and you owe your mom nothing. Not a single damn thing. She never treated you the way you deserve and she doesn’t deserve it now. I know you are doing this because you feel like you have to, but let me. Please. Let me. You stay here and I will take care of everything. I'll make sure that I bring her ashes to you and we can do a funeral for her here if you want. Just stay here. Please. I am begging you to stay here.”
She knew he was right. “Can I come with you to the next state? I won’t go to our town at all. Okay?”
He nodded and she could feel some of his tension leave his body.
“I love you Kian. Thank you for protecting me.”
Kian nodded and kissed her and then put her in her seat, “We can’t do that here. Too many people to see and no one gets to see my girl naked but me.”
She nodded and they got back on the road. “I am sorry that I didn’t tell you earlier. I was just so scared.”
He grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it, “I understand, just from now on, you have to tell me these things.”
She laughed, “I hope these kinds of things never happen again in our relationship.”
He laughed hard, “I hope not either.”
They talked as they drove, and she loved being able to talk to him again, it was like they had never stopped and seeing him like this was everything she had ever dreamed.
He would kiss her hand often and it would make her melt, and when they went anywhere, he made sure she had whatever treats or drinks she wanted.
She fell in love with him even more and she asked him about his life as a cop.
He told her about his latest case that had made he and Reid question being cops.
She knew how much he loved being a cop, so hearing that he and Reid hated the crime scenes and had a hard time leaving them at work and trying to be a normal man again was harder than he was expecting.
He knew it would take some time, but Reid also felt the same and had some really rough cases before he had joined up.
She was glad he was in a much easier job now and that he was happy with it.
With each mile that they drove, she soaked up his love and attention, grateful that he was by her side and protecting her once again, like he had her entire life through.
