Page 97 of Kiss of Death
Plus, after the exhausting events of yesterday, we needed a few days to recoup and formulate a new plan. What that plan would be, I didn’t know, but I had no doubt we would find the remaining horsemen, or they would find us.
Resting my head against Hawk’s chest, I listened to the beautiful, reassuring beat of his heart as I closed my eyes. In the beginning, I didn’t want to be tied down by this man, but now I couldn’t imagine my life without him, and I would fight to the death for him. I was madly and hopelessly in love with him, and I was never going to let him go.
“When this is over, I want to start a family,” I said.
“I thought you didn’t want kids,” he said.
“I was wrong.” I tilted my head back to smile at him. “Because I wantyourkids.”
* * *
Hawk
My heart skipped a beat when she uttered these words; not because she was willing to give me something I’d always dreamed of, but because I couldnotwait to see her holding our child. I stroked her cheek as I closed my eyes and savored the softness of her skin.
“But only if our kid is as cute as Oliver,” she said.
I laughed as I leaned back to look at her. “They’ll be cuter.”
“Especially if they take after me.” She playfully bumped my hip and smiled before bending to lift a scavenged spear from the ground.
She was so different than the woman I first encountered. Then, she looked ready to bolt from me or throw up when learning she was my Chosen. But then, I wasn’t the same man either. It was impossible to hate myself as much over what happened with Sarah when Aisling was looking at me with so much love.
She didn’t see me as the monster I’d seen myself as for so long; she saw me as the man she loved.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?”
“For loving me.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but I silenced her with a kiss; something I couldn’t have done before she walked into my life. Lifting her against me, I deepened the kiss until I had to break it off before we gave everyone here a show.
When I set her on her feet, she swayed before she broke into a beautiful grin. “I’m going to make you finish what you just started later,” she said.
“You better,” I told her and lifted an ax from the ground as the others started up the mountain.
We fell into line behind Corson and Wren as Lix and Bale walked beside us. Bale still seemed distracted but determined as she stalked over the terrain. We’d scavenged clothes from the dead fog people, but most of them didn’t fit well.
I kept Aisling’s hand in mine while we picked our way over the rocks and further up the mountain. I didn’t know what the future held with the horsemen, but when all this was over, I knew it would contain only joy and love for Aisling and me.
In her, I’d found my home, and she was my family. One day, we would have children, and they would grow up knowing how much their parents loved them and how loved they were. We would put an end to our enemies and give them the secure future they deserved.
When I squeezed Aisling’s hand, she looked at me and smiled. Love swelled in my chest as I bent to kiss her.
The End
