Page 65 of The Fighter who Needed Me
Brooks
Whitechapel, England March 1813
Persephone gave him a confused look, “What do you mean you almost failed me?”
She had walked over to his bed and had sat down, and Brooks dropped to his knees and crawled to her.
He put his head down on them and she ran her hand through his hair. “I have failed to protect you from the start. When we wed, I told you that I would be the person to protect you from your parents. And I failed. They were able to take you and keep you away from me. And then when I could take our separation no longer, I tried to get you to leave. Instead of just throwing you over my shoulder and stealing you that night like I longed to do, you were taken. And I broke. The person I was left, and I became a hateful, broken person that wanted to hurt everyone. With my words or with my fists. It did not matter. I tried to hurt Burk. My brother. The only person who has stuck with me my entire life through. And I said horrible things to him and to Lily because I could not stand it. I hated to see their happiness because mine was gone.”
He lifted his head, “I tried to do everything I could to protect you, and I worried that if your parents found out about our marriage they would hurt you more, and I wanted to give you your happiness, no matter if I was broken inside. I tried to get our marriage annulled so that you could be happy. Even if it wasn’t with me.”
She let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes filling with tears of pain, “Grant and Bran did more than just save you tonight. They saved me from making the worst mistake I could have ever made. They knew we could not get an annulment and they would not let me do it if they could figure out a way. They knew it wasn’t what I truly wanted.”
“I hate that I had ever resorted to that. I just did not know what to do. Could not live one more day without you. And knew that you were lost to me. I was not me. Not without you. It has always been you. You are the person who I have waited for. Longed for. Dreamed about in my secret dreams in the dead of night. And you were taken from me again and again. I had to live with that knowledge. Had to make myself hurt because of my failures. That was the only reason I started fighting. I was trying to punish myself. I needed to stop the pain.”
She shook her head, “I never once believed you failed me. You did what you could to protect me. You love me. That is all I wanted. All I still want. To know that someone loves me. Do you know how much I wished for that? For the smallest bit of affection? I have never had it. Not in my entire life. Only in my dreams did I think someone loved me. That is how my life was. I had nothing either. Not even love. Not until Eden. And Lily. And Rose. And then, you.”
She looked up into his eyes and made him see the truth of her words.
“You. The person who would have given all he was for me. The person who sacrificed it all because he saw me. The girl who has never been noticed. Not by men, not by women. I was always just there. An inconvenience and a problem. And yet, you saved me. Knew that I had a name. Knew that I was more than my illnesses, more than my past. That I had hopes and dreams and fears. And you fell in love with me. Me. I did not want someone to just protect me. To simply be there to make sure no harm came to me. I wanted someone to live their life with me. To grow old beside the other and to know that we would be together forever. That was all I wanted. And you gave that to me.”
She cupped his face in her hands, “You did what you could to give me hope. To let me have faith that you would find me again. And I was right. That thought was the only thing that pushed me through. Knowing you were out there and that you loved me. It kept me going. Kept me fighting and doing what I could to get back to you. You almost gave up everything for me. Once again, you would have given me everything because you love me. That is what I want. To love the man that loves me. I do not need a warrior now. I never wanted one to fight for me. I have done my best to fight my own battles. I just wanted you. As soon as we are out of London, your warrior can go back into hiding. He is not needed. Not anymore. You found me. Have me, and you are never getting rid of me.”
He leaned up on his knees and kissed her. Burying his hands in her wealth of hair that had come free from the braid it was in earlier, he tilted her head to where he wanted it and kissed her, licking the seam of her mouth and waiting to be invited in.
And then delving deep when she parted those sweet lips.
She tasted like the sweetest honey and like his woman.
Her tongue dueled with his and he sucked hers into his mouth and she whimpered when he sucked on her tongue.
The sounds she made. Lord. And when he finally broke the kiss to kiss down her neck and suck on the skin lightly there, and then unbutton her dress, and kiss every inch of skin he uncovered there.
She was pulling at his hair with one hand and running her other over his still bare skin with the other.
With everything that happened, he and Burk had not put their shirts, or boots back on.
They just were not important. And now he was grateful for it. Feeling her hands on his bare skin was everything and his cock jerked in his breeches.
He finally got her dress unbuttoned and pulled it from her body and attacked the next layer of clothes.
He was gasping, “You have too many clothes on.”
She was breathing hard and helped him untie the laces on her corset and then on her chemise.
He kissed where he could and she pulled his mouth back to hers, and they kissed for long moments, as his hands kept pulling her clothes free from her body.
There were ripping sounds every once in a while, but she was too far gone into their kiss to care.
He felt her naked breasts press to his hard chest and her nipples were hard, making him groan at the feel of them.
He pulled her hair back in one fist, dislodging their mouths, needing to suck on those hard nipples.
He almost lost her again, and by damn it, he was going to claim her to let her know just who she belonged to.
He sucked one hard peak into his mouth, and she cried out when he gave it a soft bite.
Her hair was still in his fist and she was gasping, crying out and writhing on his bed.
