Page 34 of Murder at Lava Point
“That’s because you learned from the best.” His smile came easily without the weight of a killer on the loose, but Murray realized he might have unintentionally done more damage than Jaylan Kennex ever could between them. “It was never about you, Aslen.”
Her smile slipped. She seemed to stand a bit straighter but wasn’t cutting him off entirely. “I know.”
Where he expected hesitation and fear to strangle him, courage took the lead. He’d already faced the nightmare of losing her, watched her nearly be taken from him. There was nothing left to fear, and he was tired of letting the grief win. He loved his parents, he loved Jackson, but denying himself the ability to remember the moments he had with them had been nothingshort of a disgrace to their memories. And he didn’t want Aslen to become one of those memories he refused to acknowledge. “I lost everyone I’ve ever cared about. First Mom, then Dad right after her. I suddenly had these two teenagers to take care of and all the pressure that came with it. I was determined to give you and Jackson everything you deserved no matter what sacrifices needed to be made, but when he disappeared…” Murray cut his gaze to the rising sun still hiding behind the mountains to the east and let it cleanse the final remnants of grief from his system. “I let myself become numb.”
She didn’t interrupt, didn’t give them a way out with shallow attempts at forgiveness or platitudes.
Murray ran a bandaged hand through his hair, igniting the pain in his palm. It kept him in the moment, allowed him to push through. “I didn’t want to feel anything for anyone ever again, including you. I counted down the days until you graduated high school, and you would go off on your own and leave me for bigger and better things. I wanted the misery of being alone because it was easier than letting anyone else in, but you decided to stay in state for college and live at home. You kept insisting to be part of my life, to remember Mom and Dad and Jackson, and I kept trying to push you away because I was afraid of the pain I’d been ignoring.”
Tears glinted in her eyes.
“When I made that promise to protect you all those years ago, I meant physically. I wasn’t going to let anyone else hurt you that way, but over time, that promise transformed into something bigger. I found myself protecting you from me. You deserve better than me, Aslen. I’ve always known that. I’ve always wanted that for you.” The muscles in his jaw ached under pressure of his back teeth as all the wrongs he’d committed in the past few years rushed to the forefront of his mind. “I was supposed to let you come to Zion alone. I told myself you werebetter off, but you were the last link I had to my family. You felt like home. You always have, and I couldn’t let you go. You stayed strong for years, stronger than I could ever be, and now I know I don’t want to let you go.”
“What are you saying?” Her voice barely carried over the chaos of the scene as shouted orders, fire hoses and sizzling trees demanded attention.
Murray closed the distance between them, locking his gaze with hers. She could run, she could leave Zion like she’d planned and never give him a second thought, but Aslen only stood her ground against him. Just as she’d done from the beginning. “I’m saying I crave your scent on my clothes and the glances you steal when you think I’m not looking.” He secured a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I’ve come to need you in the same room as I’m in and get anxiety in less than five minutes if you’re not. I’ve never slept better than when you’ve been next to me, every single time.”
Her inhalation hitched as she looked up at him, and a single tear slipped free down her face.
“I love the way you fit in my arms, even though I’m three times your size. I love the passion you have for your job and all those random facts you spew when you’re nervous.” He skimmed his thumb over the tear then across her split lip, careful of the injury but needing to make himself very clear when it came to the woman standing in front of him. “I respect the hell out of you, Aslen, for a lot of things, but especially for showing me how to face my fears. You became a firefighter after everything you’ve survived, and I’ve always admired that. And I need you to know you will always be safe with me. You will always belong. You’re a gift I’ve been denying myself for twenty years. I care about you, and if at any time you didn’t feel those things from me, I failed. Because I love you, and I will dowhatever it takes to make sure you know that every day for the rest of our lives if you’ll give me the chance.”
“Took you long enough.” Aslen shot onto her toes and threw her arms around his neck. Crushing her mouth against his, she pressed herself against his chest as if in attempt to make them one. But they’d always been two halves of the same soul. That familiar tug in the center of his chest where he could’ve sworn a thread of connection stirred was like a balm for the wounds that’d been bleeding for years.
His heart beat so hard he was sure everyone on the scene could hear it, and he didn’t give a damn. Murray wound his arms around her waist, hauling her off her feet. The hollowness behind his sternum screamed to let it survive, to go back to thriving in loneliness and misery, but as long as he had Aslen, that darkness would never take hold again.
This was nothing like that kiss they’d shared on the couch a few nights ago. This was something more, something he’d never imagined.
A small moan escaped up her throat. She pulled back, her eyes brighter than he’d ever seen them before. Fisting her fingers in his shirt, she pressed her mouth to his with a smile that threatened to buckle his knees. That smile. He’d waited so long to see that smile, and now it was his. “Oh, I love you, too.”
An animalistic growl resonated through him as he fought the urge to simply claim her right here in the middle of the woods in front of their colleagues. He’d waited twenty years for Aslen Woods. He could wait a little longer. For her, he’d wait forever. Murray narrowed his gaze on her kiss-swollen mouth and thumbed the sensitive flesh again. “Your lip is bleeding.”
“I don’t care. I don’t care that everyone can see us making out in the middle of the scene. I don’t care I don’t have any place to live. I don’t care that I look like I lost a fight with a kangaroo.”Aslen shook her head then dragged his mouth to hers. “You’re finally mine, Murray Simpson, and I’m never letting you go.”
He liked the sound of that, kissing her hard enough to leave another bruise. “Forever.”
