Page 487 of Summer Heat
“I’m okay,” I tell Daniel weakly as he rubs my back.
“I promise I’ll love you forever.” Daniel whispers words that frighten me. Words that threaten to take him from me one day. I hesitate to say it back and he adds, “Just stay with me.”
It’s a plea from the lips of a man who could destroy me.
Sometimes when you walk into a darkness, a place filled with both what terrifies you from the past and what will forever haunt you in the future, you get a sick feeling that washes over you.
Like you know bad things are coming.
“I love you too,” I whisper to Daniel and let him take my hand.
He squeezes lightly as I step further into the Cross estate.
It’s brightly lit, but it doesn’t fool me. The darkness is here.
There’s a certain feeling in the pit of your stomach. I felt it when Tyler brought me to his home all those years ago.
It’s a feeling that tells you you’re doing something wrong. Something you know you shouldn’t, but it tempts you and whispers all the right things; it promises you that you’re meant to be here.
Not unlike what I’ve felt since the moment I met Daniel. This force of needing to be with him. Of knowing I was supposed to be his all along.
Even if the very thought of being his was enough to send a chill over me each time he dared to breathe near me.
That feeling is supposed to warn you, to keep you safe.
Daniel kisses the underside of my wrist as I let the feeling settle through me.
Sometimes that feeling is terrifying.
Sometimes that feeling is home.
Chapter 30
Carter
I’m not used to the anxiousness ringing in my blood.
But times have changed and until this shit is settled, I’m going to be on edge.
I need all the help I can get.
And judging by the way Daniel can’t take his eyes off of Addison, he’s not in the right mindset.
But the important thing is that he’s back.
Daniel cranes his neck to look up at me from where he’s seated with her in the den.
Addison Fawn. I never thought I’d see her again. I thought I’d lost her when I lost my brother.
“Do you have a minute?” I ask him, getting their attention. Addison glances between Daniel and me, and I give her an easy smile. I’ve barely spoken to her, but it’s only because of everything else. The war that’s starting. That’s what has my attention. That, and whoever decided to fuck with us.
Whoever decided to touch Addison and fuck with Daniel.
It’s only a matter of time before we know who. Although the thought of Marcus being involved sends a chill through my blood.
Daniel winces as he stands, reminding me of the gunshot and rekindling that anger inside of me. He bends at the waist to kiss Addison. My eyes stay on her, noting how she pulls back slightly, but his hand on the back of her neck keeps her there. Her doe eyes look back into his and he brushes the tip of his nose against hers. And then she reaches up to kiss him this time.
I don’t know what she did to my brother, but it’s been a long damn time since I’ve seen him care about anything other than himself.
