Page 45 of You've Got The Love
Release hits like a freight train, dragging me under. I bury my face in her neck, holding her like I’ll never let go, her soft cries mixing with my groan as I spill inside her.
We stay tangled, catching our breath, until the world bleeds back in—cold air, rain on the roof, the faint creak of the pines.
Amber curls into my chest, her heartbeat matching mine, and I wrap her up in the blanket, my chin on her hair.
She drifts off like that, soft and warm in my arms.
And the guilt comes creeping back, cold and relentless.
I shouldn’t have touched her.
I shouldn’t have let myself fall.
Because I know this can’t last.
Not while we’re running.
Not while Abel is without me.
Not while loving her could end in heartbreak, for both of us.
But as her breath evens out against my throat, I know one thing for certain.
If anyone ever tried to take her from me… they’d immediately find out just how far I’m willing to go. I’d burn through every last drop of blood in my veins, tear down anything in my way, just to get her back.
Chapter 26
Amber
Sunlight filters through the trees and in through the tiny crack of the van’s curtains, turning the dust in the air into little gold specks. It lands across Bastiaan’s bare chest, painting him in low light. His arm is heavy over my waist, warm and solid, like he’s holding me here on purpose. Anchoring me.
For the first time in what feels like forever, I don’t feel like I’m about to snap in half. My chest isn’t tight. My brain isn’t running through escape routes. I just… feelsafe.
His slow, even breathing tickles my curls. He smells like pine and Bastiaan, like last night is still on my skin. I should let him sleep—he barely has since this all started—but I can’t stop looking at him.
I whisper, barely loud enough to break the quiet, “What are we doing, Bas?”
The words slip out like a secret, like maybe if I say them softly enough, they won’t ruin this fragile bubble we’re hiding in.
He doesn’t answer. His face stays soft in sleep, his jaw rough with stubble, his lips relaxed. My heart twists because I don’t know what I even want the answer to be. Are we…usnow? Or are we just clinging to each other because fear and adrenaline demand it?
I think of Jess and Andrea back home. I picture them being guarded, not allowed to continue with their lives until mine is safe. The guilt hits sharp. I want to text them, call them, something, anything—but the last thing Dad said about burner phones and tracking echoes in my head. I can’t.
Beside me, Bastiaan stirs. His arm tightens instinctively, his face nuzzling into my hair. He doesn’t open his eyes, but he presses a soft kiss to my curls, and my chest aches instantly. He does these small, unconscious things that say everything he won’t out loud.
The silence is easy for a while.Soft. If I pretend hard enough, we’re just a couple camping in a forest in Denmark because we felt like it. Not because we’re hiding.
Eventually, his blue eyes blink open, still heavy with sleep, and the sight hits me low in my stomach.
“Morning,liefje,” he murmurs, voice all gravel.
The endearment slides through me like warmth. “Morning,” I whisper back, trying to keep it light. “You snore, by the way.”
One eye cracks open further. “The hell I do.”
“You do,” I tease, nudging his side with my elbow. “Like a tractor.”
“Tractor,” he repeats, deadpan. “You wound me, Amber.”
