Page 66 of The Reaper
The rain was heavy, and I had to blink fast to keep it out of my eyes and focus on him, but I did, because I didn’t want to miss a second. This was a side to Devon I’d rarely seen before––a vulnerable, open side. One that felt uniquely mine. I couldn’t quite believe that he was all mine.
I wrapped my arms around him as we swayed in the wind and rain. And he held me in his arms like I was that angel he’d talked about on the step. His guardian angel. Closing my eyes, immersing myself in the whole experience of what dancing with Devon in the rain felt like, I began to sing.
ChapterThirty
DEVON
The rain was soaking through our clothes, the wind blowing a gale, but I didn’t care. Neither did she. This was our world, and nothing would stop me from holding her in my arms like this. I buried my face in her hair, the scent of vanilla and everything that was uniquely her made me hold her even tighter. If I were a religious man, I’d thank God for bringing her into my life. I’d praise the heavens for making her so perfect for me. And I’d worship for every goddamn day of my pitiful life if it meant I got to hold her like this in the rain. Soaking her up, getting lost in her, feeling like the whole world was in my arms and nothing else mattered. She made the rest of the world appear blurry, bland, pointless. And she was the one beacon of light that I clung onto. My little raven, my beautiful Leah May, and now, as she started to sing, my songbird.
At first, I couldn’t make out the gentle words she was singing as we swayed in each other’s arms. But then I heard her mention being brave and afraid to fall. And then my heart stilled, an ache growing in my chest that I almost couldn’t bear. She sang words about dying every day, waiting for me. Told me she’d loved me for a thousand years. I wasn’t normally emotional, but damn did I have tears in my eyes, and I hugged her as close as I could, breathing her in, wanting to consume every inch of her and be a part of her forever.
She hugged me back and I listened to every word she sang in a state of absolute wonder at this amazing woman. How the fuck had I gotten so lucky to have her in my life? To hear her tell me she loved me, and I hadn’t even said it back. She was so fucking brave, so strong to put herself out there for me. But then, hadn’t she always done that? Right from the moment she met me, she took a chance on a skinny little punk from the wrong side of the tracks, and she locked me in her heart. Never knowing if I’d ever feel the same.
I did.
I loved this girl with everything I had, and she needed to know it.
I stood tall, peering down at her and taking her face in my hands so I could look at her––look right into her eyes as I told her what she meant to me. I needed her to hear it and I wanted to see the look in her eyes as she did. Her eyes always told me so much, and this was something I didn’t want to miss.
“That song,” I said, my voice cracking from the emotions. “Those words, they’re… everything.”
“I always listened to that song in my room and thought of you. It’s from the movie, Twilight.” She was breathless and her cheeks were flushed, but the love she’d sung about glowed in her eyes.
“I’ve never watched it, but that song has just become my new favourite.” She smiled at my words and her eyes dipped, but I brushed my thumb against her cheeks and said, “Look at me. I need you to look at me when I say this.”
She was always my good girl, and just like I’d asked, she looked up at me, her eyes wide and her lips slightly open, like she wanted to say something but didn’t know how.
“I might have taken a little longer to notice you, Leah. But trust me when I say, you are all I see now. You’re my first thought when I wake up. You’re the person I long for throughout the day and I feel like I can’t function until I’ve seen you or I know where you are. You’re my person. And I never thought I’d find anything like this, this bond that we have. When I’m with you, it’s like there’s this invisible connection from me to you and it doesn’t matter who else is in the room, or what anyone tries to do, because nothing can sever it. I look at you and whole conversations pass between us, and we haven’t even said a word. Like that night, at Merivale town hall, when you sangCreep. We looked at each other and I knew you felt it too. That I was there for you. I’ll always be there for you. And I know I’m not good with words, but what I’m trying to say in a really bad way is that I love you, Leah. I love you so fucking much.”
Our breaths mingled as one as I held her face and watched, waiting for her reaction. Her eyes softened then filled with tears I didn’t want her to shed. The gentle pants she took as she processed what I’d said, and the way her body leaned further into mine, all of it spoke volumes to me. This was exactly what I’d meant. Whole conversations without words. We didn’t need them, because right here, holding each other, we were saying it all.
It was always you.
I’d wait a lifetime to find you.
I’ll love you until my last breath, and even then, my love will go with me, into the afterlife, forever etched into my soul.
This was meant to be.
The Reaper and the raven.
Two halves of the same whole.
Forever.
“Devon,” she whispered, her voice full of emotion. “I love you, Devon. I always have and I always will.”
My lips crashed onto hers, and all the love I felt poured into her. She was the fire that lit my dark, empty soul alive. She was the warmth that made my once stone-cold heart simmer with need. The spark she ignited in me was like nothing I’d ever felt before. Fireworks were too weak to describe it, even dynamite. She was a fucking nuclear blast that’d torn through my world in the best way and made me see what was always right there in front of me, waiting.
Her.
Our tongues teased as we tasted. Our lips fused, and the want, the need I felt for her became too much.
I pulled away first and placed my forehead against hers saying, “Love feels like it isn’t enough.” She frowned at me, so I added, “I meant the word. It doesn’t seem strong enough to describe what I feel. Addicted, maybe? Consumed? Crazy and insane?”
She laughed and added, “Those too, all those words are perfect. I’m addictively, crazily, insanely consumed by how much I love you, Devon Brady. I’m also a little crazy about the ways you show me that you love me. I like your creativity, to put it politely.”
“You like my dirty mouth.”
