Page 86 of Branded By Shadow
His eyes move over my face.
Possessive.
Wrecked.
Certain.
“I know what you are to me.”
My breath catches. “What?”
His hand slides to the back of my neck, holding me like he is afraid the world might try to take me again.
“Mine.”
The word should scare me.
It does.
But it also settles something broken in my chest.
I touch his face. “And you?”
His mouth brushes mine.
“Yours, love.”
My heart cracks wide open.
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It is.”
His thumb strokes once at the side of my throat.
“But it’s true.”
This time, when he kisses me, it is not fire.
It is not panic.
It is not a bad idea with a heartbeat.
It is a vow.
Behind us, men shout and engines rumble and the world keeps breaking apart.
But Shadow holds me like he can keep every piece from touching me.
And for one fragile, impossible second, I believe him.
Epilogue
Talia
Threeyearslater
The baby monitor crackles on the nightstand.
