Page 104 of Inked Desires

“You’re adorable, really. Always so delicate.”

A weak smile pulls at his lips.

“When was the last time you went home? Wait… how long have I been here?”

“Don’t you want me to call a doctor first? You’re barely awake, babe.”

“‘Babe’?” he repeats, raising an eyebrow.

“Does that bother you?”

His smile widens slightly. He shakes his head slowly.

“No… I like it. But no doctor. Not yet. Tell me what happened.”

So I tell him everything. The resuscitation, the police breaking in through the window, thinking I’d killed both men. My arrest. The endless interrogation. The night at the station pacing like a lion in a cage until Robert showed up to get me out. No one wanted to believe me. And Ares… Ares wasn’t there anymore to confirm my story. I didn’t even know if he was still breathing.

“I was terrified for you,” I confess, my throat tight.“I didn’t know where you were or if you were alive. I didn’t care if they locked me up. All I wanted was for them to tell me if you had survived. But they said nothing…”

I leave out that Jace had been watching us for some time already. That the FBI had found his camp in Maple Creek. That my ex-husband was just waiting for the right moment to kill me. Ares was just collateral damage in his eyes.

His hand tightens around mine, as if to pull me back to the present, to remind me that he’s here, truly here. He’s the one trying to reassure me, when it should be the other way around.

“I’m here now,” he murmurs.

I lift my eyes to him. His dark irises shine with an intensity I’ve never seen before. A shiver runs through me. It took me a long time to understand what he meant to me, but now, it’s clear as day.

Ares is my anchor. He is what I’ve been searching for all my life.

“Please… don’t ever stand in front of a gun for me again,” I whisper.

The smile fades from his face. His gaze grows serious, piercing.

“I don’t think you realize how much I love you, Andrew,” he replies softly.“I will always throw myself in front of you, little rabbit.”

I know he means it. And I also know that here, in this hospital room, I can’t convince him otherwise. Because I, too, without hesitation, would always stand between him and a weapon.

No doubt about that.

We are anything but perfect. We’re battered, scarred by the past, made of wounds and mistakes. But in my eyes, he’s perfect.

Ares is alive. Against all odds, against the fate that seemed bent on tearing us apart, he’s here. And I will never leave him again.

Even if that damn ex-husband of his reappears. Even if other obstacles rise in our path. It doesn’t matter. He’s mine, and I’m his.

I’m ready to do anything to give him the happiness he deserves. To prove to him that, despite our flaws and shadows, we deserve this light.

CHAPTER 24

ANDREW

Two years later.

Some days I still struggle to realize how much my life has changed. Sometimes, upon waking, I still expect that tight knot of anxiety in my stomach, the urge to run, the need to constantly look over my shoulder. But this morning, like every other, the only thing that disturbs my sleep is the weight of a warm arm around my waist.

Ares is still asleep, his steady breath brushing my neck. I don’t move, savoring the moment. Serenity is still fragile for me. It feels unreal, fleeting, like it could vanish at any second. Yet, it’s here.

He mumbles something unintelligible, then his arms tighten around me. He doesn’t want me to leave. The thought warms me more than I want to admit.