Page 62 of Crucified By the Dark
“What are you trying to tell me, then?”
“I’m trying to tell you that I may not always laugh with you like that, nor am I able to reminisce in the same way, but you make me feel like I’m human and cared for and….” She paused and searched his face. “You make me feel safe in my skin, and that is—I have no words for what that means to me.”
“So you believe I’m not about to run off with the next sweetbutt who walks through the gates?” He challenged.
“I’m working on that particular piece of baggage. You can’t expect me to be perfect overnight.”
“You are perfection. You just don’t like to accept that someone sees you that way,” he said, and her face and ears went hot as she blushed. Grabbing her hand, he kissed her palm and pulled her toward the bathroom. “I’m going to show you what I mean.”
He always made her feel like she was young and foolish again. The girl that flirted, partied with friends and giggled over the cute boy. The girl who drank expensive coffee and walked arm in arm with Lindsay. The girl she thought was long dead.
They entered the bathroom, and Jeremy directed them to the one luxury she’d installed in her room, the whirlpool-style tub. It might have been foolish to fall for him—hell, it just might be the stupidest thing she’d done yet. The thing was, Morry didn’t care anymore. If she fell and it didn’t work, then at least she’d allowed herself to try. And if for some reason, he really did see them together long-term, and they got the chance to grow old together, then it would be another miracle in her life.
The sound of running water filled the room, along with the sweet scent of the bath salts. Jeremy turned to face her, and she bit her lip as he stripped off his cut and hung it up carefully on the back of the door. She loved the respect he showed for traditions, it was just another thing she could add to her ever-growing list of things. His T-shirt was next to follow. She couldn’t take her eyes off his every little movement. Next were his boots, and as he bent over, the muscles along his back and shoulders flexed, making her mouth water. She felt like she needed to pinch herself to make sure that this was all real. This freaking hot ass guy who could have any girl on the property— including all at once— said he wanted only her.
As his jeans pooled to the floor, he was left standing before her in all his God-given glory. The tattoos on his arms announced how long he’d been here. With each new piece adding to the canvas of his life story since arriving. Her eyes tracing the artwork to his pec and the design with the wordsLast Chance.
They were words she would say to him daily.This place… this moment in your life… this is your last chance.Those two words held a double meaning tonight. This place had been Jeremy’s last chance, and it felt like he was hers.
“Fuck, you’re so beautiful, Morry. Like run-into-a-post-while-driving-because-you-were-too-busy-staring kind of sexy.” She felt the blush creep across her skin and rolled her eyes. “Don’t do that. Don’t roll your eyes at me.”
Jeremy stepped toward her, and she stared up into eyes so intense they took her breath away. Grabbing her shoulders, he turned her, so she faced the mirror while he stood behind her. Her heart galloped in her chest, and the tank top and jeans felt tight and uncomfortable against her skin.
“Tell me what you see,” Jeremy said.
She locked eyes with him in the reflection. “This is ridiculous.”
“Is that the answer you’d let anyone who walked through that gate get away with?”
Morry squirmed as her pulse rose a little higher. “No, probably not,” she admitted.
“Then tell me what you see. Tell me who the woman in the mirror is.”
Swallowing hard, Morry searched her face and bit her lip as she tried to see herself not as the scars but as the woman.
“I see someone who has been through a lot of crap and has deep scars, but someone that still fights.”
She couldn’t stand looking at herself and turned her gaze to the floor, but Jeremy wrapped his hand around her throat and forced her to look up, tilting her head back until it was pressed against his chest. She was once more staring into his eyes. The heat of his body and the feel of his cock pressing into her back were enough to detour anyone’s thoughts.
“Keep going,” he ordered his lips against her ear. His tone was surprisingly authoritative, and she trembled in his hold.
“I don’t want to do this,” she said, her voice no more than a whisper.
“Fine, I’ll tell you what I see. You’re a woman who loves so deeply that it terrifies you. It rips you apart when someone you finally let into your life breaks your trust and hurts you. You would sacrifice your life to save others, even if you’ve never met them.”
Morry closed her eyes, trying to hold back the sting of tears as Jeremy picked at the pieces of herself she tried so hard to hide.
“I see a woman who is passionate and strong, a good friend, but a fucking great mother. You’re also sexy as hell, and no scar on your face could ever detract from that. You call yourself old at thirty-five, and maybe with everything you’ve lived through, that is how you feel, but all I see is someone who has ridden storms and survived.”
A tear trickled down her cheek, and she watched it drip off her chin and land on his arm. He was ripping a hole in her heart and repairing it at the same time.
“You’re a woman who lost her mother at a young age and lived with a man who insisted you call him General growing up. You have a son who adores you and fought battles I can’t even imagine. You’ve loved hard, lost even more, and experienced all this world has to offer, good and bad, and you’re still standing. That is who I want to be with. I don’t give a fuck about wild parties and notches on my belt for the women I managed to fuck that week. None of it interests me.”
Jeremy slowly turned her around, and she had to cover her mouth as she fought hard to hold back the last barrier before the floodgates opened. How did he always manage to do this to her?
“Look at me, Morry,” Jeremy said, and she slowly lifted her eyes to his. “You saved me when no one else could. You made me respect myself and love who I am, and it’s time you did the same for yourself. You are worthy of anyone and anything you want, and I’m shocked that somewhere along the line, I’ve managed to trick you into thinking I’m good enough to even stand beside you, let alone call you mine.”
“Who are you? No one talks like this. You’re like a unicorn,” she cried, and his lips curved up.
