Page 61 of Consume Me

Alexander would come. He would make it out of there. I tried not to think of the smoke or the flames.

He would be find and we would find each other. It was just that…

I’d expected him to be here. To walk in and carry me off like we were in a fairytale. That’s how love stories ended. But even as disappointment cracked through me, I knew that our story wasn’t ending. It never would. I would find him. He would find me. We always found each other.

Someone tried to place an oxygen mask over my face but I pushed it away. I could handle this with or without him. His strength was with me even if he wasn’t. That’s what love meant. Love filled in the parts of you that you never knew were missing. He was here with me now and then…

There he was.

Alexander.

Our eyes met across the space, and then there was no chaos, no yelling, no fear. My heart stopped and restarted in rhythm with his. Maybe it hadn’t been beating this whole time.

He looked worse for the wear as though he hadn’t been sleeping either. Dark stubble shadowed his jawline and his hair, which was usually combed into submission these days, was an unruly black mess. I wanted to tangle my fingers through it and pull him against me.

Yesterday, I’d thought I lost him forever.

This morning, I struggled to remember the taste of his kiss.

An hour ago I wasn’t certain if he would ever hold me again.

But Alexander always found me, even the times I hadn’t wanted him to. I’d clung to his memories while we were apart, building him until he felt almost real. But he’d been nothing but an illusion then. This man? He was flesh and blood and anger and love. He was real, and he was mine.

And seeing him was like coming home.

Chapter 24

ALEXANDER

Clara. She was here. She was real.

I tugged off my tactical gear and tossed it to Georgia as I ran towards the helicopter.

I needed to touch her. I needed to feel her skin against mine. My heart beat frantically against my chest, suddenly awake—suddenly alive. I’d been half a man for the last week and now the rest of me sat crying only a few meters away.

I closed the space between us in a few bounds and then she was there. I cupped her face, drawing her against me, and mashing my lips to her forehead. Her fingers fumbled for my collar, holding me against her. I barely processed the salt on my tongue. I didn’t know if it was her tears or mine I was tasting. Not that there was any difference. We were two halves of the same soul.

I didn’t pay attention as the others yelled instructions to one another. They could handle this and the inevitable fall-out. Clara was real and in my arms and nothing else mattered.

Pulling away slightly, I drank in her face—the freckles, that dusted her nose, her wide, gray eyes, lips I wanted to feel against mine. But before I could make that dream a reality, we lifted off and she gave a startled yelp that turned into a keening moan. Her hands slipped from my collar to clutch her stomach. My eyes swept over hers finally catching what I’d missed: the hospital gown, the sheen of sweat on her brow, and the slight trail of blood dried on her leg.

“Baby’s coming,” she grunted, her eyes full of panic.

I could only imagine the fear she’d experienced in the last few days. Now I could see her fraying at the edges. I had to be her strength. I had to help her through this.

I nodded, pressing my lips to her neck and murmuring words I wasn’t certain she could hear until she relaxed again in my arms.

Waving for a headset, I took it and spoke directly to Brex, “I assume we’re heading into St. Mary’s.”

“That’s the plan, Poor Boy. I’m about to radio in to have the landing pad cleared.”

“Make sure her doctor is there and get all the exits sealed off. I don’t want any unexpected visitors today,” I ordered. No one was coming near my wife without going through me first. Not after what she’d been through. I kept my hands on her, rubbing her back soothingly as I discussed the plan.

“Better call Edward and Belle,” Smith’s voice broke over the comms.

Yes, Clara would want them there. I pushed aside the flood of guilt I felt at hearing my brother’s name. I would talk to him later. I would explain then. He would want to be there now.

“The Bishops?” Brex asked.