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Chapter Sixteen

Cyprus

“Where do we go fromhere?” Birch asked, angling his head to look at me. His face was tender and soft, full of the pain he felt from years of lies.

Lies he kept, lies he helped build. Lie on top of lie, on top of lie.

But that wasn't what his question was about. It wasn't about whether or not I wanted to still be Cyprus or go back to Fiona. It wasn't about how I wanted to handle the truth or what I would do with it.

His question was about us and where we stood.

“We're not going anywhere, Birch. You and I still exist, I still love you. That hasn't changed.” Cupping his cheek, I brushed my fingers up and down his jaw. “None of this was your fault, you were just a kid. You did what you were told, I can't blame you for what your father did.”

“But I should have told you—”

“You did, you did tell me. It doesn't matter if it was now or then, nothing you say can change the way I feel about you.” My arms curled around his neck, hands taking his face and holding it tight. “I love you, and I'll always love you.”

“How can you say that? How can you stand there and not feel sick to your stomach being around me? How can you not hate me? I lied to you, I spent our entire life together pretending that I found you like it was some miracle.”

“No, Birch, that's not what you did. Your dad might want to think that he gave me what I deserved, but he didn't.” Tangling my fingers into his hair, I played with the ends. “It was you. You saved me, you gave me everything I ever needed, everything I ever wanted. You loved me, and that was enough.”

A thin smile spread over his face as he looked into my eyes. “Do you realize how much you saved me?” I felt his hands slip over my ass, pressing me in closer. “If I didn't have you, I don't know where I'd be. I fucking love you, Fiona Cyprus Rottera, and I'll always love you.”

Giggling, I tilted my head and squinted my eyes. “Fiona Cyprus?”

Shrugging his shoulders, his lips curled into a playful grin. “Who do you want to be?”

“I'm just me, Birch, that's it. But you can always call me Cyprus, it might not be my birth name, but it's still my name. Just because I know who I am now, doesn't mean I'm ready to forget the person I have been. There's still so much I need to learn about the person I used to be.”

Birch kissed my forehead, curling his fingers into my backside. “I'm here to learn with you, no matter what, I'll always be right here.”

Placing light kisses across my face, he reached my neck, causing my head to sway and roll to make room. His mouth was warm, it relaxed me, it made me forget about all the hurt I felt and focus on the only person I cared about.

I loved him. I was loved by him.

He was my everything.

There was no part of me that blamed him for anything that happened back then. It hurt that he had hid it from me, it broke my heart that he thought our love was too weak to stand up to something this big.

But what happened, no, that wasn't enough to tear me from his arms.

I felt his fingers run up my spine and down the outside of my arms. His lips traced the curve of my ear and he whispered. “I was so afraid I'd lose you.” Firm hands clutched my skull, digging in with a fierce passion brewing inside. “I can't ever lose you.”

Exhaling, I felt my eyes close as he kept kissing me along my collarbone. My hands caressed his head, working down his shoulders. All I wanted was to feel him, to touch him, to hold him.

Birch's breathing became heavy and gritty as our bodies rubbed and need took over. There were no more words between us, there was nothing else to say. He had me, he's always had me since day one.

Nothing would break us apart, nothing could ever crack and destroy what we had. Because our love was stronger than the pain of my past, our love was stronger than orders delivered in threat, our love was all we needed to keep going.

There was no doubt in my mind that our love was strong enough to rebuild a life outside this horrible truth.

The thick pads of his fingers scraped across my back, palms latching on to my shoulder blades and pulling me in. His cock was engorged, piercing my thigh as he grunted like an animal in heat.

Everything that had happened had formed this wall of tension and I wanted it gone. I wanted him to remind me of what we could be together, I needed him to show me that what I felt inside was right.

I love him.

The sharp edges of his teeth dug into my shoulder, gripping the skin and turning it red. Groaning, Birch rocked his hips up and down, rubbing his hard cock against my thigh.