Page 29 of Carter
37
Carter
Her words cut straight through me.I choose you.
I’d been holding myself together with steel and rage, keeping the soldier in front so the man underneath wouldn’t slip out. But now, with her hand warm on mine, with those eyes steady and unflinching despite the fear, the armor shattered.
I turned fully toward her, framing her face in my hands. God, she was everything I shouldn’t hold this close—and the only thing I couldn’t let go of.
“You don’t know what you’re doing to me,” I rasped. My thumb traced her cheekbone, rough against soft. “I’ve faced down warlords, mercenaries, men who’d burn villages to ash—and none of them scared me half as much as the thought of losing you.”
Her breath hitched, but she didn’t look away.
“I need you to understand,” I went on, my voice shaking despite my grip on her. “Protecting you isn’t just instinct anymore—it’s survival. Mine. I don’t know who I am without this—without you.”
Tears welled in her eyes, but her chin lifted, proud even inthe tremor. “Then stop trying to push me away. Let me be what you need.”
The plea broke something in me. I didn’t think. I didn’t plan. I just bent my head and kissed her.
It wasn’t gentle. It couldn’t be. It was raw, desperate, everything I’d buried since the moment I first saw her chained and terrified. Her lips trembled against mine, then softened, then gave—like she’d been waiting, just as lost, just as found.
The blanket slipped from her shoulders as I pulled her closer, my arms caging her in, not to trap her, but to keep the world out. She clutched at my shirt, holding on like she believed I’d never let go.
And she was right.
When I finally tore my mouth from hers, I pressed my forehead to hers, breathing hard. “You’re mine, Harper. Not as leverage. Not as a target. As the only damn thing I want in this world.”
Her whisper was shaky, but steady enough to wreck me. “Then don’t just fight for me, Carter. Fight with me.”
And in that moment, I knew. The battle ahead wasn’t just mine—it was ours.
38
Harper
His kiss still burned on my lips, every nerve alive, every fear silenced by the way he’d said it—you’re mine.
For once, I didn’t want to think about the danger waiting outside these walls. I didn’t want to replay chains rattling in the dark or hear that voice whispering threats in my head. I wanted this. Him. Us.
Carter’s hands framed my face, rough and trembling, like he couldn’t believe I was real. I covered them with my own, holding him there. “I’m not going anywhere,” I whispered, the words breaking but true.
Something broke in his eyes then, the soldier’s steel giving way to raw need. His mouth claimed mine again, slower this time, deeper, his thumb brushing tears from my cheek as if he could erase everything that had come before.
The blanket slipped away, and I didn’t reach for it. His arms pulled me in, solid and unyielding, and the world beyond his embrace simply ceased to exist.
I felt the strength in him, the tension in every muscle, but beneath it all was something softer, something he didn’t letanyone else see. Vulnerability. Devotion. Love, even if he hadn’t said the word yet.
When he finally lifted me, carrying me toward the bedroom, my breath caught. Not from fear. Not even from surprise. But because in his arms, I finally understood what it meant to be safe—not untouchable, not without scars, but safe because he would never stop holding me up.
He laid me down with a reverence that stole my breath, his body hovering above mine, his gaze searching, asking without words.
“Yes,” I whispered, cupping his jaw. “I need you, Carter. All of you.”
The sound he made was rough, almost a growl, before his mouth was on mine again, before his body pressed against mine in a way that promised he wasn’t just protecting me anymore—he was claiming me, heart and soul.
And as the night bled into morning, the terror that had gripped me for days finally loosened its hold. Because in his arms, I wasn’t marked. I wasn’t broken.
I was his.
