Page 38 of Desire Him

Jim screams as Wayne bites into his arm. Jim had shielded his face just before Wayne could tear out his throat. He throws Wayne off of him, and Wayne slams into a wall with a yip.

Gasping, Val climbs to her feet and starts forward to help Wayne, but Draven moves to stand in her way.

Wayne peels himself off of the floor and leaps on Jim once more. He starts tearing flesh quickly while Jim punches at him. Blood sprays everywhere, coating the walls, the floor, their bodies. The area fills with the scent of iron.

To Val, it feels like it goes on for ages, though she knows it’s not that long. Jim is a bloodied mess, and the gashes are so deep that Val can see his insides.

She turns away from the scene with her hand over her mouth as she hears Jim’s shouts dying out until all is silent. All she can hear now is her heavy breathing.

“Val?” Wayne says from behind her. She hadn’t heard him shift back, nor had she heard him approach. Her blood was pumping in her ears.

She turns around to face him. Draven lifts his head to Wayne, huffs, and walks away, down the hall that Jim and Val had taken. She looks back at Wayne. He’s naked but completely unharmed. Thankful, she throws her arms around him and sobs into his chest.

“It’s okay,” he whispers, holding her head. “I’ve got you now. I have you.”

At those words, she pulls away from him. She wipes a tear away. “Where’s Eme?”

“Logan has her. She’ll be fine too.” He touches the bruises on her face and she winces. “Did he do this to you?” he asks. She nods and watches his face harden. “If I could kill him all over again, I would.”

“I know,” she hiccups.

Wayne leans forward and kisses each bruise and then feathers his lips against her own. She kisses him back, and their tongues begin to explore each other. Wayne backs her up against a wall and pins her there. He rests his forehead against hers and whispers, “I love you, Val. I don’t know how you did it, but you made me love you. You made me want to settle down. You made me want one woman for the rest of my life. I should have told you what I felt, but I was so stunned, and when I found out you were taken, I–”

She starts sobbing again.

He cocks his head to the side and swipes a thumb over her tears. “Is that not what you wanted to hear?”

She shakes her head quickly. “No, it is. I promise these are happy tears.”

He breathes a sigh. “Good. Because I mean it.”

It should take her to the moon, but now she’s having mixed feelings about it. If she had to name the emotion, it would be ‘confused.’ She shoves the thought aside. Now isn’t the time, and this isn’t the place to have this discussion. “So, what now? What happens now?” she asks instead.

He gives her a small smile. “Now, you and I go home while Eme, Logan, and Draven work out this mess with the rogues.”

Val cocks her head to the side, bewildered. “You’re not going to stay?”

He shakes his head. “No, I’m going to take my girl home.”

She inhales a deep breath and blows it out slowly. “Okay.”