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Uncle Dave was dead. Brett killed him. He killed him for me, and in doing so had given me everything I’d ever wanted. A life free of that asshole. A future where I didn’t have to spend my time worrying about when he’d make his return and remind me that he had me first, before any other man, and that meant I would always belong to him.
Brett held me firmly, his warmth flooding me as the tears wetted his chest. I clung to him, wishing I had his strength, wishing everything was different. That I wasn’t broken. That I was normal and I didn’t feel so relieved to hear someone was dead.
Where could I start? How could I explain? “I…”
“Shh,” he murmured, smoothing down my hair. “You don’t have to say anything. Not now, not ever, if you don’t want to. I’ll always be here to listen if you want to tell me, but never, ever feel like you have to.” His mouth leaned down into my hair as he added, “I have you, Charlie. I’ll always have you.”
I’d be lying if I said relief didn’t flood me after he told me I’d never have to explain, not if I didn’t want to. The truth could go unsaid for the rest of our lives, and he’d never push, never prod to know more. The details about what happened between my uncle and me could stay with me and die with me.
“I’m sorry I told you to go,” I whispered against him, trying in vain to stop crying. It was over now. Uncle Dave was gone, and he’d never hurt me again. Brett had made sure of it.
“Don’t you ever apologize to me,” he said, his voice strong. “Don’t you ever tell me you’re sorry. You have nothing to be sorry about. Nothing. Do you understand me? I’m the one that should be apologizing. I saw how different you acted when your uncle came, and I knew something was off about him, but I didn’t—I shouldn’t known immediately and taken care of him that fucking night.”
His hand dropped to my face, and his fingers curled around my chin. He pulled my face away from his chest, tilting my head back so I could meet his eyes. He ran his thumb over my cheek, wiping the water wetting my skin away. Such a tender gesture coming from a man who’d just killed for me.
He’d killed him, made an alibi so my dad wouldn’t think it was weird he up and left out of nowhere. He’d done all this for me. My heart swelled with a warm, tingly feeling. Happiness. True, genuine happiness.
It was as I gazed into his beautiful blue eyes, as he held onto my cheek, that I told him the only thing I knew as an absolute truth, “I love you.”
Brett let out a haggard breath, and his voice came out husky when he said, “Goddamn it, Charlie, I love you too.” The hand cupping my cheek fell to my neck, and his other hand dropped to my ass, lifting me up so he could kiss me.
I wasn’t crying anymore. The only thing I could do was kiss him back.
Feeling his mouth on mine again was like coming home, familiar and full of warmth. My lips joined in the push and pull, every nerve in my body tingling with small jolts of electricity. He made me feel so alive, and I swore to myself and to him I’d never send him away again. Even if this turned out to be a sinking ship, I’d go down with it as long as I was hand in hand with Brett.
His tongue brushed against my bottom lip, and I moaned into the kiss, letting him pry my lips apart so that wandering tongue could find mine. We were locked together, our embrace a slow one, but still so very desperate.
I never wanted this moment to end. As I wrapped my arms around his head, I knew it with every fiber of my being: this was where I was meant to be.
Chapter Twenty – Brett
Her lips were soft. So fucking soft, it was all I could think about as I kissed her. The way they parted, how they felt grazing mine, I could kiss her all fucking day. My arms tightened around her body.
No one would ever hurt this girl again. I swore it on my life. I would never let anyone hurt her ever again. Charlie was mine to protect, mine to have, and mine to love. The world could throw whatever it wanted at me, but I’d be damned if I let it throw anything at Charlie. I’d take care of her.
And for once, I didn’t meantake care ofas in kill. Usually that was what I meant.
Charlie moaned into the kiss, and the sound perked my cock up instantly. Having her in my arms, on my damned lap, was enough to drive me crazy, but kissing her like this? Oh, let’s just say my thoughts were not as pure as they should’ve been.
She might not want me to take her upstairs. She might not want to let me undress her and lay her down. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what her uncle had done while here, what had caused Charlie to shut down and push me away. If she wasn’t ready to do any of that with me, I wouldn’t push her.
I’d have a severe case of blue balls, but I’d live.
So, even though the last thing I wanted to do was pull my mouth off hers, I did just that to say, “What’ll it be, Charlie? Are you going to go to class today, or do you want to be a bad girl and skip them to spend the day with me?” I could hardly recognize my own voice. Charlie made me sound so hungry.
Charlie had stopped crying, thankfully, though her eyes were still a little glassy. When she turned those big brown eyes to me, I knew what her answer would be before she said it. “I want to stay with you today.” She sounded airy and breathless, like I’d stolen all of the air out of her lungs.
I worked on getting up, and as I got to my feet, I hooked my arms under her and picked her up with me. She felt like nothing in my arms, weightless, like a fucking feather. She locked her arms around my neck, leaned her cheek against my shoulder, and stared at me like I was her whole world.
Maybe I was. Maybe no one else in her life had ever paid her enough attention.
Their loss.
I carried Charlie out of the kitchen, down the hall, and up the stairs. We went straight to her room, where I deposited her onto the bed. Her cheeks were flushed, a cute pink color, and she still breathed quite hard after the downstairs embrace.
If she thought that was a lot, just wait until we both got naked, because I was going to rock her world and erase any bad memories in her head. I’d fill her up, both literally and metaphorically, until I was the only thing she could see or feel or think. She’d never have to know sorrow again, not while I stood at her side.
And I would. I couldn’t leave her. I just couldn’t bear to leave Charlie’s side. She’d somehow wormed her way inside of me, so far deep into my head and my heart that she’d become all I could think about. All I dreamt about.
