by Snow, Jenika
She opened her eyes, stared into the bottomless depths of Cameron’s, and then heard a sound that had her heart beating again. It was like the world was in slow motion around her. She looked back at Adrian. His face was pale, so very pale. He reached a hand to her and then closed his eyes, his other hand going up and cradling his head. There was movement at her side, but she didn’t tear her gaze away from Adrian’s.
And then Adrian shook his head, straightened to his full height, and charged forward. He slammed his body against Cameron’s, taking the other man to the ground. The sound of a skull cracking against the floor was loud. Taking a step back, she knew there was motion around her, action that wasn’t from the fight. But when Cameron reached between them, grabbing a knife he’d had stashed in the waistband of his pants, she felt her heart jump to her throat.
Adrian was pushed off Cameron, but the rage in his eyes, the fact she knew he’d die right now to make sure she was safe, had tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
Cameron lifted the knife and charged forward and the same time Adrian did.
A gunshot rang out, and everything went still, silent.
As if the slow-motion reel sped up, there was commotion in every direction. When the haziness in her brain dissipated, she realized that her crummy living room with the broken pieces of her life scattered around was filled with men in blue uniforms. Turning back toward Cameron, she saw his lifeless body lying a few feet from her.
Blood pooled from behind his head, and she could see a single gunshot wound to his temple. His eyes were open, staring at her. Even in death he was still watching her. Police officers had their guns raised, and their mouths were moving. Although she could see that they were talking, no sound came to her. One of them stood in front of her, seeming to shout things at her, but all she could do was stare at him, the ringing growing louder.
She searched for Adrian. She had to get to Adrian.
And then he was there, in front of her, cradling her face in his big hands. Slowly, as if someone were turning the volume up, the noise filled her ears. The blaring of the alarm was now silenced, but the yelling of officers all around her filled the void.
“You’re okay. It’s okay.” Adrian kept saying those things over and over again.
Blinking, she couldn’t find her voice to say anything in response.
“I’m here. I got you, and I’m not letting you go.”
The sound of his voice sucked all the air from her lungs. He embraced her, and she didn’t hold back her tears. This time she wasn’t crying because she was scared or in pain.
This time she was crying because she was happy and right where she wanted to be. Right where she should be.
****
After they’d been cleared medically, the police had brought them to the station. The room they’d put her in was cold and as colorful as a sheet of notebook paper. The chair was uncomfortable with one of the legs uneven, causing it to rock from side to side every time Brea shifted. They’d put Adrian in another room, and even though they said it was just for routine questioning, it felt like an interrogation.
After sitting in the boxlike enclosure for over an hour and telling them every horrid and nightmarish detail of her relationship with Cameron, they were finally letting her go. She just wanted to see Adrian, wanted him to hold her and wanted to feel his warmth, to know he was okay.
When the police had come to her house because of the alarm being tripped, they’d walked in and saw Cameron coming at her. At that point she’d blocked everything else out. It had just been the two of them. Maybe she would have made it out alive, shot him, killed Cameron and ended the nightmare he caused her, but none of that had mattered.
The police had taken matters into their own hands.
Now his body was in the morgue, lifeless, just like how he’d made her feel this entire time.
And then there was the issue of the scumbag Cameron had hired to follow her and take intel on her every move. He’d been gone when the police had shown up, but they’d found him.
Mic Loughton, a piece-of-work lowlife with a criminal record who deserved to rot in a jail cell.
As if fate, or karma, looked down on her, that asshole had been pulled over for speeding, of all things. He’d caved and told them everything when they found the weapons, drugs, and cash in his back seat. With Mic’s confession, her statement, all her medical records, and that lone police report that she’d filed on Cameron, they closed the case.
Now here she sat, wanting nothing more than to put all of this behind her and finally move on with her life.
This was it. The end. She could finally start living now.
24
One month later
“How are you coming with the self-defense training?”
Brea glanced up at Susan, the psychologist she’d started going to shortly after the incident with Cameron and Adrian. Although she should’ve gone to talk to somebody long before now, it felt good to get everything out, to just unload and feel that weight lift off her shoulders. She knew she’d always have lingering issues, nightmares that sometimes woke her up in a cold sweat, but with time she knew she could heal.
“It’s going well,” she said honestly and couldn’t help but smile. It had been Adrian’s idea for her going back to self-defense classes after all of this had gone down. It made her feel better, but she also knew it made Adrian feel more secure that she could handle herself when he wasn’t around.
And when she wasn’t in class, she was at his place working out, learning tricks and moves from him until she felt her strength slowly starting to grow. Over time, with that as well, she’d get stronger, not just emotionally but mentally and physically too.
“And how are you feeling with our talks? Have they been helping? Has the activity of writing in the notebook, getting your feelings and emotions down, been working out well?”
“Surprisingly—to me at least—they actually have. Although I was a little skeptical when you suggested writing what I thought and felt down in a notebook, once I really started doing it, I felt … lighter.”
Susan smiled and nodded, clearly pleased with Brea’s answer. “Good.” She started jotting something down in her own notebook, and Brea looked out the window. There were trees in sight outside, the thick branches moving back and forth as the wind picked up.
“How are things with Adrian going?”
She found herself smiling even wider and glanced down at her hands in her lap. She played with a loose string from her shirt as she thought about how far they’d come. Whenever she thought about Adrian, she felt this happiness fill her. “It’s going really well, actually. Being with him is … I feel like it’s where I should have been all along.” She glanced up at Susan and smiled. It had been so long since she was happy.
“That’s great to hear,” Susan said. “You’re doing well, Brea. You’re making real progress, and I can see that the burden you carry is lessening.” Susan set her notebook down and crossed her legs. “But it’s going to be a long, slow road. You just have to be patient and take your time, accept that there will be ups and downs, but that eventually you’ll find that peace and harmony that you deserve.”
Brea felt like she was already getting there, that with the closure from Cameron and the peace and happiness she’d found with Adrian, that she was actually starting to find her life once more. She knew that with time everything would be okay.
* * *
Three months later
The scene was the same Brea had witnessed a dozen times. The crowd, the sweat, the blood. Except this time she was a spectator. The atmosphere from the “other side” of it all was different, and Brea found the adrenaline rapidly racing through her bloodstream.
So this is what it’s about.
Adrian had just done a TKO on his opponent, but the roaring crowd didn’t draw his attention from what he was looking at.
Her.
There wasn’t anything better than watching Adrian in his element, even thou
gh she wasn’t the biggest advocate of fighting. There was just something about watching him fight, about seeing all his power and strength. It made her feel like nothing on this planet could harm her as long as Adrian was with her.
And then the fight was done, the crowd roared, and all she could focus on was the man who made her heart beat … the one she loved.
When he left the cage, he went straight to her. Hand in hers, Adrian led her through the crowd, up the stairs, and out the back. His truck was parked right outside the side door, but that’s not where he took her when they stepped outside. She knew what he wanted. Hell, it was what she wanted, too.
After every fight, both of their libidos were on overdrive.
His big body pressed hers against the brick wall, and his lips claimed hers in a searing kiss. He smelled of sweat from the fight, but the scent aroused her and she found herself pressing closer to him. The idea that anyone could come right outside the door and see what they were doing should have embarrassed her, but it did the complete opposite.
But the truth was in just the last month she’d found her strength rising, her own independence consuming her. Brea felt stronger with Adrian, but it wasn’t because of him. He might have given her the path, but she’d found it, traveled it herself.
“God, Brea. I want to take you right here.” His hot breath slid across her neck, and she shivered.
“Adrian…”
“I know, pretty girl. I know it’s a stupid thought, but Brea…” The feel of his tongue up her neck had her turning her head to the side to accept more of his wicked touch.
“No, Adrian. I want you. Now.”
His muffled groan sent a spike of lust straight through her core. He cupped her ass, bringing her pelvis flush with his. He was hard against her belly, and she wanted to feel all of him pushing inside of her. He lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.
Thank God she’d worn a skirt tonight. The material slipped up her thighs, and a cool breeze slid across the most intimate part of her. With her arms wrapped around his neck, he took one of his hands and cupped her bare ass cheek. The thong had also been a very wise choice.
“Fuck, baby. Do you want to kill me?” His words came out as a half groan, half plea.
“Adrian. I ache for you.” The feel of his teeth along her collarbone sent her into a frenzy. She needed him now.
“Don’t worry, baby. I’m going to make you feel so fucking good. I’m going to take care of you.” Hooking his finger in the material of her thong, he shoved it aside and ran the digit along her soaked cleft.
He tore his fingers away just as quickly as he’d touched her. The sound of his zipper being ripped down had her pushing herself on him, tempting him to go faster. She reached between them with one hand and gripped his scorching-hot shaft.
They both groaned in need.
His cock was hard, so stiff against her. Adrian pulled her panties aside, sliding against her moist folds. With each thrust of his hips against her pussy, she felt her clit tingle, her arousal swell. He hooked his hand behind her leg, brought it up and over his waist, and bent his knees, positioning the tip of his erection at the entrance of her pussy. In one quick move he buried himself inside of her.
She gasped, cried out in pleasure.
“I got you, pretty girl. I’ll always have you.”
Adrian was hot and hard and filled her to the brim.
“Have I told you lately how good it feels when I’m deep inside of you?” His lips skimmed along the shell of her ear. He used the wall behind her as leverage as he started to pump in and out of her. Another sharp thrust into her. “So tight and wet. So hot and perfect.” One more thrust. “Being inside of you will be the death of me, baby.”
She let her head fall against the wall. The feel of the rough scrape of brick against her back heightened the pleasure of his thick cock shoving in and out of her. Brea held on to his shoulders, her knuckles surely white from the force.
Adrian brought them both closer to easing the tightly strung tension inside of them.
“Squeeze me, baby,” Adrian groaned. She clamped her inner muscles around him, and they both let out a harsh breath. “Oh God, baby. Please tell me you’re close because I can’t hold off for much longer.”
She could hear the sound of people talking right behind the steel door. It was exhilarating and had her orgasm coming fast and hard. “I’m right there,” she breathed. As soon as the words left her mouth, he slammed inside of her hard. She came instantly and let her head lean against the crook of his neck.
She bit down on his shoulder, trying to muffle her cries of pleasure. Adrian followed right after her, and she felt the hot spurt of his cum fill her. He swelled even farther as he found his own release. Never had she felt so intimately close with someone, but with Adrian she felt bare to him, laid out heart and soul.
He stayed buried inside of her for several long seconds before finally pulling out and helping her to stand. She let her head rest on his chest and listened to the steady drum of his heart as it returned to a more normal rhythm.
“I love you, Brea.”
She smiled against his chest, knowing she would never get tired of hearing him say it. “I love you, too.” There would never be a day that went by that she wouldn’t tell him those words. She’d spent too much of her life not feeling.
Adrian bent down and kissed her, soft and sweet. It brought a good kind of pain to her chest.
Home. That was exactly where she was with Adrian.
Epilogue
Eighteen months later
He was nervous, more so than he’d ever been in his entire life. As he stared at Brea, the ring box in his hand hidden under the table, all he could think about was what if she said no.
He thought of a hundred different ways to go about doing this, asking the woman he loved to marry him, but in the end he wanted something intimate, private. And so he’d made her dinner at their place, a little two-story cottage by the beach that he’d purchased for them. It had been a risk, a gamble that she’d even like the place. But he’d seen it, saw that the beach was right outside the back door, and knew that this was something that would help her emotionally, mentally, hell maybe even spiritually. He hadn’t hesitated in getting it.
And thank fuck she’d loved the cottage, had cried and held on to him as she told him how happy she was, how perfect it was. Seeing those tears roll down her cheeks, seeing that smile cover her beautiful face had been perfection.
Two hours outside of the city, away from the club and the fighting had them in their own little world. Although he still fought illegally for Tate, it was more on his terms, a few times a month, fight after fight during those nights for him to earn enough to keep him and Brea comfortable.
And so they’d moved in together. Although she still saw Susan twice a month, driving to the city because of the close relationship with her psychologist, because Susan helped her so much, Brea had also found a new therapist close to the cottage. She’d even found a waitressing job at this little seaside café despite the fact he’d told her she didn’t have to work, that he’d take care of them, take care of her.
He wanted her to be independent, to go after what she wanted, what she thought was important. Because that was what was important to him. Although there were no self-defense classes in the little beach town, thirty minutes away he found a hole-in-the-wall gym that they could go to together and practice all she’d learned. She’d never be a victim again. He wanted her to keep training, fighting … to grow stronger. It was important for him that she took care of herself despite the fact he’d level anyone who tried to hurt her.
She was his world, after all.
“Are you okay?” she asked softly, and he glanced up, not realizing he’d been concentrating on his hands, on the little box he held.
“I’m fine,” he said with a thick voice, clearing his throat and shifting on the seat. Damn, he was nervous. He lifted his free hand and rubbed it on the back of his neck, feeli
ng dots of perspiration line his nape.
Adrian knew if he didn’t just do it, didn’t just tell her how he felt, he’d regret it. Nerves or not, he wanted Brea by his side always. He wanted her in his life, as his wife, the mother of his children. Although he wasn’t in a rush, would allow her to take her time, lead the way, he had to do this for himself.
And so he grabbed life by the balls and stood, walked over to her, and pulled her chair out slightly. He shifted her in her seat and sank down to one knee. She looked genuinely confused, but when he lifted up the white box and popped the lid, showing her the ring, he saw her eyes widen, her hand lifting to her mouth and covering her lips.
“You and I have shit that tarnishes our pasts, nightmares and horrors that no one but us can ever fully understand.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “But we prevailed, grew stronger, healed and found each other.” His throat was so tight, his heart racing. “All I can think about is you. You’re the first thing on my mind when I wake up, the last thing when I go to bed. The very thought of you not in my life is too painful to even contemplate.” He pulled the ring out of the box and reached for her hand, slipping the diamond on her ring finger. “Brea, you’re the love of my life, the woman I’d kill for, give my life for.” He stared into her eyes, wanting her to see how serious he was, how much he loved her.
“Adrian.” She whispered his name softly.
He might say those three words to her every day, telling her that there was no one else in the world for him, but even still he worried she might not know. Even still, Adrian worried she didn’t understand how deep his love for her really ran. “Brea, be my wife, marry me. Let me be your protector, your provider. Let me show you how good this world can be with the man who loves you by your side.”
Fat tears rolled down her cheeks, and he lifted his hand and brushed them away with the pad of his thumb. She licked her lips and stared him in the eyes.
