Collateral

And I want to devour her in some sick way, to press her into myself so the two of us aren’t individual people anymore, but one living, breathing entity, where the threat of separation can never trouble us again.

My heart. I wrap my heart around him as I cling on for dear life. He kisses me, his lips finding mine, and I don’t need to breathe anymore. His mouth on mine is all I need. His hands holding me tight is all I need. Just him. He is everything.

Oh my god, no wonder she went so pale. She’s going to string you up for this, baby.” Sloane laughs. Baby. I’ve wanted to hit loved-up assholes for using that endearment before. But when Sloane says it… I don’t really know what to think. I catch Michael’s amused smile, itching at the corners of his mouth, and I don’t feel like busting his balls. I just raise my eyebrows at him, a look of shock and amusement of my own. The fucker grins, then, like it’s Christmas day and Mom and Dad aren’t fighting.

He kisses me, his lips finding mine, and I don’t need to breathe anymore. His mouth on mine is all I need. His hands holding me tight is all I need. Just him. He is everything.

Do you trust me now?” “Yes. I trust you.” My lips tingle as he kisses me, then. A soft, light, barely there kiss that causes heat to pool in the bottom of my stomach. “Thank you, Sloane,” he whispers. “I’m going to hurt you now, but I promise you’re going to like it.

Do you think she’s forever?” Michael stares straight ahead, waiting for the doors to the elevator to open. “Oh, I knew you were her forever as soon as I saw the way she looked at you, Zee.” He slides his hands into his pockets, clears his throat. And then he turns and looks me straight in the eye and says, “I’m just really glad you’ve figured out she’s yours, man. Because you deserve that. And so does she.

My body is sore in a way that makes me smile secretly to myself. Zeth-sore. I’m a fan of being Zeth-sore.

You will never need to spend the night in a cell on my account, Sloane. Never. I’ll die before I let that happen.

There’s only one woman on the face of this planet who I’d let fucking cuff me. And you are not her.

I want to make you happy, Sloane. I want to keep you safe.

But there’s a soft side to Zeth he’s finally showing to me, and every time I catch a glimpse of it, I feel myself falling harder.

He looks straight at me, like he’s looking into me, and then does something that makes my heart sing. He lifts our hands to his mouth and lays a gentle kiss on my wrist. “It doesn’t matter what you look like, Sloane. You’re the strongest person I know.

Calm the fuck down? Okay, I’ll calm the fuck down when you tell me exactly where my girlfriend is.” The word girlfriend trips off my tongue before I even have a chance to second-guess it. No second-guessing is required, though. Sloane is my girlfriend. She’s even more than that.

Once Sloane’s back where she’s supposed to be…I’m gonna need to borrow a suit.

Oh, the irony’s so bittersweet, I feel like I’m choking on it.

I’m glad I’ve impressed you,” she says. I can’t believe this woman. What the fuck did I ever do to deserve someone like her? To deserve the look she’s giving me right now? It’s a mystery I’ll never be able to work out. “Sloane, always consider me impressed.

Tell me why. Tell me why you want to do this now.” “Because I don’t want to hurt her. Because I want to make her happy.” These are two of the truest statements that have ever passed my lips. I’ve never meant anything more.

Because the woman I can’t live without is inherently good, and deserves someone better than me. Because Sloane deserves everything, and I want to give it to her.

This time I’m actually holding her, and I’m meant to be here. I fall asleep for the very first time with a woman in my arms. It feels like heaven.

If you’re pulled under a wave, don’t fight it. You’ll never win. The ocean’s a hell of a lot stronger than you. It’s wild. All you have to do is hold your breath. Relax. Go with the wave, and eventually you’ll rise to the surface.

And I love you, angry girl. I really do.

We don’t say anything. We don’t need to. I tell him everything he needs to know with my eyes, and he does the same. And then we fall asleep.

He picks me up, and he carries me inside the house that will now be our home, and he fucks me until his name is echoing off our bedroom walls.

I’m going to hurt you now, but I promise you’re going to like it.

I want to make you happy, Sloane. I want to keep you safe. This life isn’t what you deserve.

I nod, and Zeth closes the final few inches between us. And he kisses me. Kisses. Me. For as long as I live, for as long as we’re together, I will never be complacent about receiving a kiss from this man. Ever. I waited so long for the first one that now this and every other time he reaches for me and places his lips against mine will be an action to be treasured.

Thank you, Sloane,” he whispers. “I’m going to hurt you now, but I promise you’re going to like it.

He’ll be okay. I promise. He’ll be okay, because he has you.

Now I am polite, but I am also taken. I will never be smiling at another woman the way she just smiled at me.