Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Because if that monster had continued his path...I wouldn’t be sitting here so calmly.
Slater made sure he didn’t give me anymore horror.
Slater made sure no more of my mind was damaged.
I owe him everything for that.
“I’m headin’ off,” Malakai murmurs. “Hope you’re feelin’ okay, Ellie.”
“Thank you,” I tell him. “With all my heart, Malakai. Thank you.”
He smiles, but he looks exhausted. “We die for family, darlin’. You know that.”
Then, he leaves.
I look to Slater, who hands me the cup of tea. I want to wrap myself in his arms. I want everyone else to just disappear so I can hang onto him. I need him. More than I’ve ever needed anything in my life.
“If you all don’t mind,” I murmur, still holding his eyes. “I’d like to be alone with Slater.”
“Just because he shot and killed a man, through a window, and saved your life, doesn’t mean he should get the top treatment, you know,” Damon says.
I turn and smile at him. “I think it does, Damon.”
He grins, and walks over, leaning down and kissing my head. “Glad you’re okay, Ellie.”
I beam up at him.
“Yeah,” Lincoln says. “Fuckin’ glad, sweetheart.”
“What they said,” Finn nods. “Only I’m not going to call you squishy names or kiss you. But, I am glad, Ellie. So fuckin’ glad.”
My heart expands.
“Well,” Erin says, letting me go. “I guess that means I have to leave, too.”
I turn and let the blanket fall so I can hug her. “I’ll call you later. And come into the bakery tomorrow.”
She leans back, and cups my cheeks. “You’re free, honey.”
“I’m free.”
She beams, and then stands. “Gentlemen, as always, it was a pleasure.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Finn says, and my brows go up.
Erin looks to me, wiggles her brows, and then grins.
I laugh.
They all leave, and I turn to Slater.
“Kickin’ everyone out...” he murmurs, voice low. “Must mean good things for me.”
He walks over and sits down on the sofa beside me, and I move quickly, turning and climbing onto his lap so I’m straddling him. I lean down, tucking my arms under his, and slide them around his back, and then I press my cheek over his chest, and just hang onto him.
“Fuck,” he rasps, clutching me so tightly I feel like I could just stop breathing.
But I’d be completely okay with it.
“You saved my life, Slater.”
“Owed it to you, darlin’.”
“No, you didn’t,” I pull back and look up at him. “You don’t owe me anything. What happened, it all needs to remain in the past. There is no reason for it to ever come back. It’s finished now. We have a chance to move forward, and leave our darkness behind us. Please, don’t hang onto it anymore. We’ve both lived with enough. We both deserve this freedom.”
“You sayin’ you want to move forward with me?” he murmurs, staring at my lips.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“You don’t remember anything...”
“I don’t have to remember anything to know how I feel,” I say, reaching up and cupping his firm jaw. “All I need to know, is that I want to be here. That everything inside me tells me I want to be here. The rest, it’ll come if it wants, or it won’t. I hope it does, but if it doesn’t, I’m okay with it. All I need right now, and probably forever, is you.”
“Fuck. You have any idea how long I’ve waited for those words?”
I lean up, kissing his lips softly for a moment. “Probably ten years.”
He snorts, and then kisses me, long and deep. My whole body comes alive, and I shuffle closer, kissing him until I can’t breathe.
I pull back, and look into his eyes. “If there is ever a single person out there who has gone above and beyond to prove themselves, it’s you...”
“Told you once I’d turn the world upside down for you, Ellie. I fuckin’ meant it.”
I grin at him. “Anyone would think you like me, Slater Knight.”
He smiles.
Big. Beautiful. Real.
And my heart melts. Right then and there. It just melts.
That smile is everything.
It. Is. Everything.
“I think you might be right.”
Oh.
I’m right.
Yeah. So damned right.
~*~*~*~
NOW – ELLIE
“I wanted to give you these,” I say, handing some flowers over the counter to Shania.
I’ve wanted to come in here for a few weeks now, but with everything happening, I haven’t had the chance. Now I’m safe, and can move around as I please, it is time I came and thanked the lovely waitress who helped me that day.
I owe it to her.
If it wasn’t for her kindness, and not calling the police on my crazy ass, then I probably wouldn’t be here.
“What for?” she smiles, taking them.
“For helping me out that day. You could have kicked me out. Called the police. Anything. But you didn’t. You took care of me, and I know I looked completely crazy.”
She laughs. “I don’t mind. We’ve all been in that position before, you know? I don’t blame you for reacting the way you did.”