Page 170 of Too Far

“You want to dance in the rain with me?” he asks, nipping at my earlobe as he sways to a rhythm only we can hear.

“I want to dance with you always, K.”

With my arms overhead, I circle his neck. He leans down and kisses me, skimming his hands up and down my sides as I grind back into him.

“I feel you, Mama. I feel you and I see you. You’ve never looked more beautiful.”

My stomach dips, just like every time he makes those kinds of declarations. I’m so distracted by Kendrick’s moves that I don’t notice Nicky’s covert attack until he swoops in and scoops me up in his arms.

“My turn!” he declares, shaking his head back and forth so water droplets fly off his hair and soak my face.

I laugh, relishing the pure joy emanating from him. His pain is under control, and despite the heaviness of yesterday’s events, there’s a deep contentment in his eyes.

He lifts me off my feet and spins me a few times before hoisting me onto the railing of the deck.

“It’s slick out here, Locke. Put my wife down.”

Nicky buries his face in my chest and snickers at the scolding, but he obeys without argument, turning me around to hug me from behind as he leans against the rail.

“We’re about to be subjected to a lifetime of ‘my wife’ this and ‘my wife’ that, aren’t we?”

Decker catches my eye and cocks one brow. If I have any say in the matter? We most definitely are. He knows what those two words do to me.

I duck out of Locke’s embrace and approach Kylian. He’s got one hand in the pocket of his sweatpants as he watches the radar on his phone.

“Dance with me, Kylian,” I urge.

He doesn’t look up. “I don’t dance.”

I expected as much.

So I pluck the device from his hand, stash it in his pocket, and wrap my arms around his torso in a tight embrace.

“Then just hold me in your arms and promise to never let me go.”

“Never, baby,” he vows as he bends to kiss me. “I’m never letting you go.”

I sway back and forth slowly, savoring the sense of security Kylian imbues in me as rain pelts our heads. He follows my lead, moving to the rhythm I set.

Tipping my head back, I grin. “Look at us. We’re doing it.”

His brows pull together as he processes my words, then, with a nod, he kisses me again. “I guess we are.”

I’m facing the lake when it happens.

A bolt of illumination that splits the sky. The first official strike of the impending storm.

Without uttering a word, Kylian hugs me tighter and turns so I’m facing the house.

“You’re safe,” he murmurs, running both hands up and down my back.

My heart aches, knitting itself back together just a little more. I can’t help but tear up.

Not from panic or overwhelm or the memories that lightning usually inspires.

But because of him. Because ofthem.

“I know,” I whisper against his lips. “I’m always safe with you.”