Page 66 of The Chosen
God, I hated everything about this. Hated being torn between my need to keep her safe and the promise I made to never deprive her of her choice.
“Henry…,” she cautioned when I didn’t make any move to put it back on her. “Please. I want to do this. For you. For Sarah. And for myself. But I need to know you support me. That you’ll be there when I need you.”
“Of course I will. This is just… It’s really fucking hard for me, Ariana.”
“I know. But I need you to trust me. I’m fine.”
I pushed out a long sigh, searching my brain for anything I could say to persuade her not to do this. But I knew Ariana. Once she made up her mind, nothing anyone did or said could convince her otherwise. The best thing I could do was give her my unwavering love, support, and protection.
“If I see even the faintest hint of a panic attack, I’m taking it off,” I admonished.
“Don’t you dare,” she shot back. “If I panic, let me. It’ll make it look more authentic.”
I swallowed hard, my body fighting me as I returned the gag to her mouth.
“You are so fucking stubborn,” I mumbled, tying the material in a knot at the back of her head. Then I cupped her cheeks, forcing her gaze to mine. “But so fucking strong.”
This time, her breathing remained even, her eyes locked on mine, as if drawing strength from everything she saw in them. My trust. My strength. And my love.
I pulled her close, wrapping my arms around her as I pressed a soft kiss to her temple, wanting her to feel how much I admired her for doing this, even if I hated it.
Then I led her to the corner of the garage and helped her to the ground, arranging her body so she lay on her side. Her hair fell in front of her face, and I pushed it back so this asshole could see who it was.
“You okay?” I asked.
She met my eyes and gave me a soft nod.
I rose to my full height and stepped out of the way, remaining close by in case she started panicking. A voice in my head reminded me I wouldn’t be around if she had a panic attack once we left her at the drop location, but I quickly silenced it. I couldn’t think about that.
If I did, I doubted I’d be able to go through with this.
Blake grabbed Victor’s phone and began snapping photos of Ariana from various angles, each heartbeat testing my patience and resolve. It was probably only a matter of seconds, but it felt like an eternity when all I wanted to do was go to Ariana, pull her into my arms, and convince her she didn’t need to do this.
“There should be something usable in this batch,” Blake finally said, cutting through the heavy silence.
I didn’t hesitate. I rushed toward Ariana and helped her to a sitting position, slicing my knife through the zipties while yanking the gag off her head. She sucked in a deep breath and then my mouth was on hers, giving her my breath as I took hers.
“Easy there,” she giggled when I broke my lips from hers. “If you keep kissing me like that, I might want you to put those zipties back on.” She waggled her brows.
I didn’t say anything right away. Just stared at her. At this strong, surprising, beautiful woman who I once despised with everything I had.
Then laughter rumbled from my chest, filling the space.
“I think that can be arranged,” I growled, touching my lips back to hers.
After helping her to her feet, I took her wrist and pressed a kiss to the inside where the zipties had cut into the skin, leaving red marks.
And I hated I’d done that to her.
I had to remind myself there was a reason for it.
“What’s next?” Ariana asked Blake.
He finished typing on Victor’s phone and held it out in front of us to see the message he’d just sent with a photo of Ariana attached.
“Now, we wait.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
