Page 73 of Walking in Darkness

Surprise froze me for a beat.

Not once in this grueling, torturous life had I ever given thought to being married. The idea of it was nothing but a fucking joke. Like I’d ever let anyone get that close to me. Like I’d ever care. Like I could imaginethis.

And there I was, picturing this woman in a pretty white dress with flowers in her hair.

Love rushed through the darkness that had always tainted my insides, and I slowed, slipping my hand to her waist as I dropped my forehead to hers ... just breathing her in.

Swarmed by her scent.

The coconut.

The goodness.

The light.

“One day, Aria ... one day I’m going to give you everything you want. Everything you have ever imagined that might make you happy. A normal life where you’re safe and you don’t have to forever look over your shoulder.”

We were going to make it through this. We had to.

Aria’s fingertips fluttered across my lips. “I just want you.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Pax

We touched down at a small airport outside of Portland just after 1:00 p.m.

Here, everything was green and wet. A ton of trees covered the rolling hills, the area lush, though the surrounding mountains that peaked into the sky were capped in snow.

The second the tires hit the runway, the breath whooshed out of Aria, though her anxiety seemed to double down. The frisson of it snapped across the surface of her skin, that overwhelming desperation to do something so clear I was close to suffocating from it.

Her need my own.

“Told you I was gonna get you here safe and in time to be with your mother,” Ken’s voice crackled through the speaker as we taxied down the runway toward the hangars. This airpark was quite a bit larger than the last, and there were at least eight hangars stacked in rows that went all the way back to a perimeter fence in the distance.

“You don’t know how much I appreciate it,” Aria returned.

“Ah, made my day, honestly. The two of you seem truly connected to each other. Love to see it. I’m just sorry your honeymoon got muckedup with the news about your mom. Hope it all works out right, that she’s good as new; then the two of you can get that time to celebrate together.”

“Me, too,” Aria whispered, and she glanced back at me, her eyes hidden behind her sunglasses.

Ken brought the plane to a stop in front of a larger building, and he said a few things into his mic before he pushed something on the dash and the propeller began to slowly wind down. Once it did, he popped his hatch and jumped down, and he came around to the other side.

He helped Aria out, then did the same to me.

“Just head in there through the doors. Here’s my card so you can forward your information.” He handed it to Aria.

Felt bad since the guy was cool and had saved our asses, but that was not going to happen.

“Thank you. I hope your flight home is safe,” Aria told him.

I shook his hand, mumbling my thanks, before I set my hand on the small of Aria’s back and guided her toward the door he’d pointed to. My attention swung back and forth, taking in the area as we went, making sure there wasn’t already some twisted bastard here waiting for us.

Heat embraced us when I whipped the door open and we stepped inside.

A chill rushed down Aria’s spine, though I wasn’t so sure it was coming from the clashing temperatures.

“I already texted for a cab the second we touched down,” I told her, hoping to give her some encouragement. Some belief that we’d made it in time.