Page 137 of His Retribution

As a matter of fact...

"We need to talk," I say with a smile so he doesn't freak out. "It's important but not bad; at least, I don't think it's bad. Maybe it is, I dunno. But we do need to talk because I—"

"Cora, angel, shut the fuck up."

"Excuse me? Who the hell—"

Havok swallows my words as his mouth crushes mine. He moves so damn fast I don’t even register him walking into the shower but he does and dammit I really missed him.

My fingers dive into his hair as his tongue invades my mouth, dig deep and grip the roots so I can tug him closer. His growl is guttural, so deep and satisfied it sends a delicious shiver down my spine, heat and steam be damned. Havok wraps his arms around me, pulls me off the bench into his lap, pulls my naked body flush against his while he kisses me so fucking good I might just come from that alone.

And now that every single inch of my skin is plastered to the front of him, every nerve ending lit up like the Fourth of July, I realize why I still feel like I can't get close enough.

"Lovey..." I pant in between violent kisses. "Lovey your clothes..."

Havok buries his face in my neck, drags his fangs along my flesh then kisses away the delicious sting. "I'll buy more."

He'll do what?

"No..." I moan. "No, I meant take them off."

His assault on my neck abruptly stops, he kisses it slowly and sweetly before his lips come to rest over my pulse. "My angel..." Havok takes a shuddering breath and I instantly go on alert.

"Lovey? Havok, what is it?"

He holds me harder. "I failed you."

"Havok, what are you talking about?" I tug his hair and tilt his head so I can see his eyes, his eyes that are filled with tears, the red barely contained on his lower lid. "Oh, lovey..." I cup his cheeks and kiss him. "You have never failed me, my love, my beautiful heart. Never."

He presses his forehead to mine, squeezes his eyes shut tight. "I've done nothing but fail you for nearly three hundred years. I could not save you the first time, could not stop that bastard from..." Havok swallows hard. "And I could not find you. I spent two hundred and seventy-five years searching, practically following you across the entire world and not once was I able to find you and prevent him from getting you again. Then the other night, I knew something was wrong the second I couldn't hear you, couldn't hear either of you, but I wasn't quick enough, I didn't get to you in time and—"

I press my lips to his and silence his words. I understand them, completely understand why my sweet mate feels the way he does but it isn't true. None of it is true. Havok never failed me because the cards were never stacked in our favor, something I will share with him as soon as I make him see how perfect he is.

"Havok, lovey, my heart, you have never failed me." He opens his eyes and meets mine though he doesn't lift his head. "Something I'm quickly learning about my kind is that things happen to us precisely how and when they're supposed to, no matter what the short term outcome is. You and I have taken this journey the exact way we were supposed to, and if we hadn't then we wouldn't be here right now. Would I rather have had the last two hundred and seventy five-years with you, especially considering at least three quarters of that would have been time spent naked?"

Havok finally lifts his head and smirks a little through the remnants of his tears.

"Absolutely. Not only do I just love every minute spent with you but you look phenomenal when you're butt ass neckid." He rolls his eyes as I giggle. "But I know now, more than I ever did, that there is a reason for the way our life played out, a reason that is greater than we could have imagined and it is definitely not because you have failed me."

He looks away briefly, his gaze wandering as he rolls those beautiful lips between his teeth.

"You have done nothing but love me, cherish me, and show me what it is like to actually feel those things. Your love has never wavered and our love, our bond has only grown stronger, means more because of everything we've had to go through in order to have it." With gentle fingers on his cheeks, I turn him to face me once again. "You could never fail me, Havok, not when you love me as fiercely as you do, not when you've devoted yourself to me, to our bond, and to making sure our future is a reality by fighting your ass off for us every step of the way. You could never fail me because that would mean one of us gave up and I know for a fact that neither of us ever will. We are forever, lovey. Forever and always."

With a sigh of defeat, Havok nods. "As long as I have your love I will never stop fighting, will never give up. You are far too precious to let go."

"And that right there is why you will never ever fail me." I kiss his lips and smile when I feel him do the same. "Now take your clothes off and mark the hell out of me. I need to feel you; seven days is way too long to go without."

After a playful nip of my lips and a growl too sexy to be anything but primal, Havok does exactly as I ask right there in the shower.

Twice.

Insanity Rising

"You are sure you want to do this now, angel?" I watch her from the doorway of the bathroom, watch as she tries to pull on a pair of leggings, dry her hair, and stuff more food into her perfect mouth at the same time.

Gods, how I have missed her.

It is one thing to miss her when she was gone from me, when her soul was still searching, but it is an entirely different sort of longing to miss her while she is right in front of me, and the fact that I've now done that twice is ridiculous.