Page 33 of Kaz (Salvation Kings MC: New Freedom Chapter #2)

Miles

HIS FATHERS left, claiming they wanted to give him some time alone. It was bullshit. He didn’t believe them, and he fully expected his sister to show up any minute, but when the doorbell rang and he jerked the door open to berate her, the words got stuck in his throat.

A breath shuddered through him as he took in the sight of Kaz standing before him, his hair flat from his helmet, his cheeks red, and his expression haggard. Those startling gray eyes looked haunted but sharp.

“What are you doing here?”

Kaz’s lips twitched. “Your sister told me you were here.”

Kaz stepped inside, and Miles stumbled back, his heart beating fast and hard as he scrambled his brain for words while Kaz closed the door behind him, leaving them completely alone.

“Did she tell you she got our dads to leave, as well?”

Kaz blinked, his lips pressing together in a measly attempt to keep from smiling. Miles closed his eyes with a sigh. His sister was ever meddlesome. He wasn’t sure if he should thank her or curse her.

“You didn’t answer the question,” he muttered, opening his eyes to level Kaz with a displeased glare.

Kaz tilted his head to the side, eyes burning a path across Miles’s face.

“I thought that part was obvious.” Kaz stepped forward, putting their bodies within inches of each other, and the man’s heat hit him. His eyes fell shut, and his heart flickered as Kaz’s scent washed over him.

He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a shuddering breath.

“I’m done letting you go,” Kaz said, his words making Miles snap his head up to stare into stormy gray eyes.

“I know I don’t deserve you,” Kaz started, and Miles shook his head. “I’ve tried, but I can try harder? I will try harder. I don’t want to lose you, Miles.”

“Kaz…”

“Please.”

Kaz’s plea went straight to his heart, the sound so soft and yet so powerful, so all-encompassing. It tore at him because how could Kaz not see? How could he ever think he wasn’t enough?

“I don’t deserve you. I never have. It’s why I’ve…” Kaz dropped his gaze to the floor, his knuckles white from how hard he was clenching his hands. “I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted to be perfect for you. I can―”

“I don’t want the perfectly curated Kaz,” Miles yelled, finally finding his words.

Kaz blinked at him, brows scrunching in confusion.

Miles grabbed his hair, tugging hard while he spun around himself in frustration. How did he make Kaz understand? How did he explain it in a way that would get through Kaz’s thick skull?

A groan ripped from his throat.

“Miles?”

Kaz’s voice was soft. Hesitant.

He dropped his hands and faced Kaz, looking up into eyes like gray thunder clouds. The fear in them felt like agony, burning a path through his chest, heading straight for his heart.

“I don’t need you to be perfect. No one’s perfect, Kaz.” His voice was trembling, his heart thundering in his chest. “I just need you . All of you. I need your honesty. Your loyalty.”

He watched Kaz swallow hard, a pained expression crossing his face. Kaz’s gaze dropped to the ground, and his shoulders slumped. Fear clogged Miles’s throat as he waited for the words that might destroy their relationship for good.

“I know I don’t deserve you,” Kaz finally said, the anguish in his voice making Miles suck in a sharp breath. Kaz slowly raised his head, stormy eyes catching Miles’s. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

Miles shook his head, but Kaz continued. “I wanted to show you that I could be those things. That I succeeded. That I was someone worthy of your trust and loyalty. Miles… I want to give you the fucking world.”

Something warm trailed down his cheek, and Kaz became a blurry mess as he blinked away tears. Kaz reached for him, and a sob escaped him when he felt those calloused hands against his cheeks. He wrapped his fingers around Kaz’s wrists, holding on as he stared into eyes full of anguish and love.

“I don’t want the world,” he whispered, his throat thick. “I want you to be my world.”

Kaz sucked in a sharp breath. “You have me. You’ve always had me.”

He stepped back, Kaz’s hands falling from his face.

“No, I haven’t. I get it. Being scared of giving all you are to someone.”

“All I am… Miles. I’m nothing without you,” Kaz mumbled, eyes a raging inferno of fear and insecurities.

Miles shook his head. “I don’t want that. Don’t put that on me, Kaz.”

The line between Kaz’s brows deepened, and Miles sighed.

“You think you’re nothing? Look at everything you’ve done.

All the people you’ve saved. Do you think they’d say the same?

Do you think the others follow you because you’re nothing?

No. They see you. They know who you are, Kaz.

You’re loyal. You’re dependable. You’re fierce and protective.

” He quirked a brow at Kaz. “A little possessive, too.”

Kaz’s lips twitched, and he put his hands on Miles’s hips, tugging him closer. “A little?”

Miles nodded, his heart thudding loudly in his chest.

He needed Kaz to know that he was more than what he was worth to others. He would make Kaz see that. He would show Kaz, if he let him.

He buried his face in Kaz’s chest, the man’s shuddering breath wracking through his body.

He squeezed his eyes shut, holding on and taking in the way Kaz’s body felt against his.

Warm, firm, protective. Kaz’s arms surrounded him, and he melted into his embrace.

When they were like that, everything quieted.

Every fear and worry dissipated like dew in the sun. He wanted to stay like that forever.

“I want to do this. I want to be with you, but I need to know what’s going on,” he whispered, his heart beating a staccato rhythm in his chest. He felt Kaz tense and held on tighter, fingers digging into the muscles in Kaz’s back.

“Miles?”

He shook his head, refusing to let go when Kaz tried to nudge him back. He wasn’t ready for this to end.

“Sweetheart?”

He reluctantly leaned back in Kaz’s arms and met his worried gaze.

“If the others have anything to say about me telling you more than I should, they can fuck right off,” Kaz said, something dangerous in his voice. Kaz slid a hand to the back of Miles’s neck, thumb brushing over his raging pulse.

The words came pouring out of Kaz, then. Everything that had happened, everything he’d done, every concern he had. Miles took it all in. Soaking up every word because they were a testament to Kaz’s trust in him.

“If I thought for even a second that you were in danger, I never would’ve let you stay. If you only trust one thing, let it be that. I will never let you get hurt. I don’t care who I have to kill, what I have to do, I’ll always keep you safe.”

Miles let his eyes fall shut, a lightness in his chest he hadn’t felt before. Hope. There was a bright flare of hope spreading inside him, and for once, he dared grasp onto it.

“I love you,” he said, looking up into Kaz’s eyes and getting caught in that perfect storm that always felt like home.