Page 24 of A Very Grumpy Sheriff
“No regrets?”
I shake my head.“None.”
Something in him eases.
“Good.”He kisses my forehead.“Because I’m not sure I could survive you regretting it.Me.”
My chest tightens, and I remember what he said about his dad, about the abuse.Maybe both of us are a little broken.Maybe we need each other more than I thought.
I vow at that moment to be there for Devon, to always show him how amazing, strong, and wonderful he is.I don’t want any of the crap his dad told him to still be in his head.
Devon holds me tighter, like he has no intention of letting go.
I squeeze him back just as tightly and drift off to sleep.
8
Devon
I wakeup with Suri in my arms, and for one long, perfect second, I don’t move.I don’t breathe.I just take her in.
Her cheek is pressed against my chest, her brown hair spread over my skin and the pillow, one soft thigh thrown over mine like she belongs there.Like she’s been sleeping next to me for years instead of one night.
My arm is wrapped around her waist, my hand splayed across the bare skin of her back beneath the blanket.She’s warm and soft and real.
Mine.
The word settles in my chest, fierce and certain.
I’ve been in firefights.I’ve jumped out of planes.I’ve tracked targets through hostile territory and waited in the dark with my finger on a trigger.None of it prepared me for this.
For waking up beside the woman who kept me alive, for feeling her breathe against me, for knowing I finally have her right where she should have been all along.
Suri makes a sleepy little sound and shifts closer, her breasts brushing my ribs.My entire body reacts instantly, my cock hardening beneath the sheets.
I grit my teeth.
Down, boy.
She had her first time last night.I did too, but it’s not the same for guys.There’s no pain or soreness for me.I’m not going to maul her the second she opens her eyes, no matter how badly I want to roll her under me and remind her exactly who she belongs to.
Her lashes flutter, and she inhales softly.A second later, she goes still.
I know the moment she remembers where she is.I know because her heart kicks against my side.
“Morning, baby,” I murmur.
Her face tilts up slowly, those blue eyes meet mine, and my chest tightens so hard that it almost hurts.
“Morning,” she whispers shyly, her voice rough with sleep.
It does dangerous things to me.
“How do you feel?”
Her cheeks turn pink.“Okay.”
My eyebrows pull together.“Just okay?”
