Page 144 of Resisting Isaac

She smiles through her tears. “I’m hoping there won’t be a next time, cowboy.”

I kiss her then, long, slow, and full of every promise I intend to keep.

When we come up for air, I rest my forehead on hers. “You never have to face anything like this alone again, Elena. Understood?”

She nods and I kiss her again.

“We’re a team now, baby. ‘Til death do us part.” I knock my forehead gently against hers. “And I’d like for that to be a really, really long time from now.”

She snuggles against me then, as if she can’t get close enough.

Even with sirens wailing, engines rumbling, and the rain coming down in sheets, the only thing I hear is her whisper, “til death do us part.”

And just like that, every mile I chased her, every obstacle that we’ve faced, feels worth it.

Because I’ve got her.

And I’m never letting go.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

elena

It’s quiet now.

The storm passed. The flames are out though the scent of smoke permeates the air and the stables are in severe need of repairs. Much like the lingering chill beneath my skin, the effects of what happened won’t just disappear.

But the threat is gone—for the moment at least.

The local Sheriff took Diego and the dickheads he had with him in, but they said they’d keep an eye out for more of the members of the motorcycle club that was supposed to have left town long ago just in case.

They have local ties so they expect to track them down soon.

Hopefully before Isaac and Wyatt do.

We filled out reports. I played them the recording on my phone. They checked it into evidence. Then Isaac took me to the hospital to get every test known to man.

The baby and I are both fine, but we’re getting to be regulars at the ER at this rate.

Isaac declares, loudly, that our child is obviously a badass since he or she has already survived a fall off a horse, a sortof kidnapping, a car chase, and a rumble involving criminals and cowboys.

The ER nurse looks understandably alarmed.

Even when we get safely back to his place, the fear is still here. Lodged in my throat. Tangled in the way my heart hammers in my chest as I watch him move around the kitchen in sweatpants and bare feet, making me tea in the middle of the night like we didn’t just live through hell.

I’m sitting at the island wrapped in one of his soft worn-in high school football hoodies, the sleeves swallowing my hands, the scent of him everywhere.

And I can’t take it anymore.

“Isaac.”

He turns, mug in hand, worry etched into every line of his beautiful, stubborn face. “Yeah, baby?”

“I need to tell you something. Something I almost didn’t get to tell you.”

He sets the mug down carefully, eyes locked on mine. “What is it?”

My fingers curl around the hem of the hoodie but the truth comes out easily.