Page 55 of Cruel Love
He yanked me back, and I fell into his lap where he wrapped his arms and gazed down at me with awe in his eyes.
A small smile played on his lips, and just before exhaustionconsumed me, his lips brushed lightly against mine.“I told you, Mouse. If I caught you again, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to let you go.”
Chapter 19
James
Tucking my cock away, I scooped Willow into my arms, doing my bestto avoid the scrapes marring her body.
Exhausted, she buried her face against my chest, a contented sighescaping her as I started the trek back through the forest to the waiting car, more than relieved that I’d found her.
There were moments when I was stalking through the dark woodswhere I didn’t think I’d be able to track her down, she’d managed to get further than I thought she would. But I had years of training on my side. Hunting my prey was my specialty, and my mouse wasn’t going to escape my clutches.
Not once I’d made my mind up that I was going to keep her.
Acceptance was a funny thing. As a rule, humans didn’t like change,and often spent more time resisting it than just accepting it. But that moment when you realized you had no choice but to accept your fate, a weight was lifted.
You could breathe again.
And that was what happened when Willow disappeared into thedarkness. Instead of the sweet relief of knowing I’d never have to see her again, barbed wire wrapped around my heart, squeezing until it pierced the useless organ.
I slid behind the wheel, telling myself that all I needed to do was putthe car in drive and get the fuck out of there, but the wire tightened until I couldn’t breathe. Until all I could do was accept my fate.
Accept that Willow was mine.
Accept that I was falling for her.
Accept that I would risk everything, including Legion, if it meant Icould keep her.
It would result in a war against my father. He’d made it clear thatWillow’s life was at risk once she’d had my child, but I wasn’t going to let him take another person away from me.He’d taken Shona, taken the best parts of my mom away, andtried his hardest to take Keira away from me. I’d be damned if I was going to let him take Willow too.
Reaching the car, I managed to open the passenger door andlowered Willow into the seat. She didn’t stir. As I reached across to strap her in, my eyes roamed over her bare arms and legs, taking in the countless scratches and dirt coating her porcelain skin.
She was a mess, but fuck me, she was beautiful. I’d never let myselfacknowledge it before.
Sure, she’d grabbed my attention when she scurried into the room allthose weeks ago clutching my drink, but that was because of how timid and submissive she was. She’d managed to keep most of her face hidden, so it wasn’t her looks that drew me to her. And in the weeks that had passed, I’d looked at her, but I hadn’treallyseenher.
But staring down at her then, my cold heart filled with warmth, afeeling solely reserved for Billie and Kiera as I took her delicate features in.
Thick black lashes rested on high cheekbones, and even in sleep, afrown pulled between her mousey-brown brows. A light dusting of freckles covered her nose, and her lips, her perfectly soft lips, formed the shape of a heart.
She was my perfect mouse.
Moving her hair to one side, I pulled the collar out of my jacket pocketand gently placed it around her throat again.
Back where it belonged.
Unable to resist, I brushed my lips against hers before shutting herdoor and marching around the car to the driver’s side, throwing the key to her collar into the woods, a sense of calm filling me now that I had Willow back.
How could I have ever considered letting her go?
Noting goosebumps had taken over Willow’s arms, I turned theheater up and floored the gas so I could get her home and cleaned up. For the rest of the journey, my gaze kept wandering over to her in the seat next to me, almost as if I needed the reassurance that she was still there.
When I finally brought the car to a stop outside the house, Edith waswaiting with the front door open. I quickly hopped out and dashed around to Willow’s side, and lifted her into my arms. She mumbled something incoherent, her lashes fluttering before she rested her head against my chest once more.
Edith, usually so stoic, watched me with her brows furrowed as Icarried Willow up the three stone steps to the front door.
“Welcome home, Mr. Carter,”she said, failing to hide the curiosity inher tone, especially when she saw Willow’s battered body.
