Page 98 of Hush Darling

He stepped forward, crossing the threshold into her yard, and then stilled, looking up at the dark windows.

“They’re asleep.”

He took another step, and her heart whipped wildly behind her ribs. “They say there’s a phantom ache when you lose a limb, but my only pain’s been here.” He pressed his hand to his heart. “It’s an unbearable agony, the emptiness I feel since you left.”

“I have the same pain.”

He closed the distance and gripped her coat. Moonlight glinted off the polished hook where his hand used to be.

“What they did to you…” She caressed the cold metal and searched his gaze. “You didn’t deserve that.”

“It’s done. Of all the things they took from me that day, my hand was the least of it.”

“I would have stayed?—”

He smashed his mouth to hers, and her long-lost sense of balance returned. She climbed up his body, needing to be as close to him as humanly possible. His hands roamed over her with unapologetic entitlement until they finally knotted in her hair.

“I’ve been an insufferable tyrant since you’ve been gone.”

“I’ll never leave again. I want to see the world with you.”

“My ship is at your command.” His fist tightened in her hair, delivering the perfect pinch of possessive pain as he greedily took her mouth in a possessive kiss. “I could fuck you right here.”

“I could let you.” She moaned, grinding her body against his to get closer.

He grabbed her ass in an unmistakable claim. “I’m sorry,” he whispered against her throat.

She couldn’t get enough of his kisses. “Why?”

“Because now that I have you back, I’m never letting you go.”

She framed his face and smiled against his lips. “Black Jack has finally found his Red-Handed Jill.”

He growled against her mouth. “By far, the greatest treasure I’ve ever stolen.”

The only thing he’d stolen was her heart. “I love you, James.”

He stilled and searched her eyes. “Is that true?”

“I’d never lie to you.”

He hugged her tight. “Then this truly is your end, Wendy Moira Angela Darling. By dawn, you’ll be irrevocably mine and newly named Mrs. James Hook.”

“I look forward to it.”

And they lived happily—and wickedly—ever after…

THE END