Page 16

Kiy

I could see what she was thinking. It was written all over her face. “Luke will be in jail by now. I’ve dealt with it.”

Her face twitched, a micro-expression of hope that she quickly dashed. It hurt to see that her life had never let her truly hold on to hope before and be rewarded by it. “How?” Her voice was cautious.

“I convinced him it was in his best interests to be honest. I had to leave to come and? find you. But if he’s changed his mind, then I’ll convince him again.”

“Convinced?”

“A small bar fight with him and five of his friends.”

Her face contorted with shock and she looked me up and down to see if there were injuries she had missed.

“I’m fine. They came off worse?”

“All five of them?”

“Yes. Honey, I’m a very large, thick-skinned monster. They are just humans. You underestimated me. Don’t do it again.”

The sternness in his voice sent a tingle through me. “Won’t you get in trouble? From your boss?”

“Hmmmmmm. Maybe. Probably. Yes. But nothing too bad. A bit of a scuffle now and again is expected in my life of work.” I stood and found her clothes. They were a bit of a mess now. Muddy and damp and torn in places. I handed them over with an apology.

“It’s alright, I have a change of clothes in my bag.”

I nodded before looking at the remnants of my own pants. They were torn up the legs, but they’d cover what needed to be covered.

We dressed and walked in comfortable silence, stopping occasionally when she got cold so I could wrap my arms around her and warm her up. When we got back to the diner, I kissed her thoroughly before we drove back separately. I had to work hard to focus on the road, as the thoughts of us in the forest kept wandering back into my head.

We stopped once at a remote gas station. We grabbed some food and then I pulled Fern into my car desperately. Neither of us cared who was around and she rode me slowly until we came, our mouths locked together. She was absolute perfection.

When we got back, I resisted the temptation to fuck her senseless again. Or to go and apologise to Gariss for running off. I went straight to the police station and checked on Luke. He had done as I had suggested and decided to do time but keep his dick intact. A quick conversation with him in his cell with no officers around revealed that he’d gotten one of his friends to send the text to Fern. Since he admitted it, I didn’t hurt him too badly. Just enough to never want to mess with her again.

After I’d apologised to Gariss and he’d torn me a new one, he gave me a few days off. Which was just as well, because I knew I was going to struggle to do anything other than bury myself in my mate as often as possible. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to deserve such perfection in my life. But I knew I would cherish it every day and never stop making sure she felt loved and adored. She deserved everything I could give and more. My beautiful love.