Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 114551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Chapter 9
OAKLEY
My head snaps up, my eyes already filling with tears as I see Zade standing before me, and for a moment, I wonder if I’m seeing a ghost. He’s covered in cuts and bruises, and his dark eyes look haunted. Yet as he stands here looking down at me, they’re also filled with relief.
How can he be here? I thought he . . .
Zade lifts his wrist to his face and presses a small button on his watch. “I’ve got her,” he says, keeping his stare locked on mine. Then before I get a chance to even question how he’s here, he bends down and scoops me into his warm arms, holding me close to his chest, and I hold him with everything I have left.
He turns and starts making his way out of the dark alley, and all I can do is breathe him in, the tears still streaming down my face. Locking my arms around his neck, I hold on as tight as possible, my heart racing with . . . I don’t even know. Fear? Relief? It’s impossible to tell. I know Zade will keep me safe. He’ll have my back and look out for me, but at the end of the day, he’s the one who’s going to kill me.
Burying my face into his shoulder, I wipe my eyes against his shirt. “How are you here? I thought you died in the explosion. I—”
“What? You think a little blast like that is going to take me out?” he rumbles, his deep tone vibrating right through his chest. “Maybe you’ve forgotten who I am.”
I shake my head, glancing up and meeting his heavy stare. “Not possible,” I whisper before swallowing hard, my heart thundering with unease. “If you survived, then—”
Zade nods before cutting me off. “They’re alright,” he tells me, stepping out of the dark alley and into the street. “All of them, but fuck, Lamb. They’re pissed you ran.”
Relief slams through my chest, and for the first time in the past few days, I feel as though I can finally breathe. I was so torn up and filled with pain and grief when I thought I lost them, and all this time, they were right there, searching for me, needing me to come home.
My head falls back against Zade’s chest, my eyes closing as relief and exhaustion begin weighing down on me. I don’t even care if they’re angry with me, nothing else matters as long as they’re all alive. “I did what I had to do,” I tell him, my fingers knotting into the hair at the back of his neck. “And if the roles were reversed, you would have done it too.”
“I know,” he says. “I get it, and I’m proud of you for fighting, but the only difference is if the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t have been captured in the first place.”
My fingers unknot from his hair, and I pull my arms away, rolling my eyes. “Wow. I’m glad to see the explosion didn’t manage to knock back your ego.”
“Just stating facts, Lamb.”
I push against his chest, wanting him to put me down before I remember how much I hate his stupid ass, but he only holds me tighter, refusing to let me go. “Stop calling me that.”
“FIREFLY?”
My head snaps up at the familiar deep tone that comes booming from down the street, and the tears return, finding Dalton racing toward us. I suck in a breath, somehow clambering out of Zade’s arms until my feet are slamming against the pavement.
My heart thunders in my chest as I run toward him, not able to get to him fast enough.
He runs right into me, our bodies slamming together as I jump right up into his arms, my legs locking around his waist. He holds me against him as his lips crush down on mine. I sink into him, tasting my tears in our kiss as his hands roam over my back and into my hair.
Dalton kisses me deeply, and I never want to leave the security of his warm arms. He keeps walking us back to Zade, not once pulling away from me until my back is pressed against the door of a black SUV. We come up for air and he drops his forehead against mine. “Fuck, Firefly. You scared me.”
“I thought I was never going to see you again,” I tell him as he strokes his thumbs across my cheeks, wiping the tears away. “That explosion! I thought—”
“I’m fine,” he murmurs, holding my face.
Zade scoffs and my brows furrow. “You’re not fine, man.”
I stare at Dalton in horror, searching his eyes as unease pulses through my veins. “What does he mean? What happened? Are you okay?”
“It’s nothing,” Dalton says, his tone soothing. “Zade’s overreacting. It’s not like I got shot or anything. Just a small stab wound. Nothing a few stitches couldn’t handle.”