Revive Me: Part Three (New Haven #2)

by J.L. Seegars

“Have a good night, son, and remember: the rain will always come, but it’s what you do in the midst of the storm that matters.”

“I love you, Mallory, and I’ve never had a choice in the matter. But, even if I did, I would never choose differently. Even if I lived a thousand lives, my soul would seek yours out. No matter what form I take, what name I'm called by, or what part of the universe I'm designated to, it'd still belong to you. I'd still belong to you. I’d find you in the depths of the ocean, in the darkest part of the night⁠—”

don’t get to say you’d find me in the darkest part of the night like we don’t both know that you’re the one who keeps leaving me there!”

“You buried me. With your secrets and your hope and your promises that you can never seem to keep and then you come back here after four years of silence and expect me to be thankful that you remembered how to find my grave?”

There aren’t many things I’m sure of in this world, but I am sure that I was made to love Mallory Kent, to guard her secrets and her truths, to kiss her scars, and ensure that nothing, not even me, causes her pain again.

“What did you get out of this? You came here tonight hoping to see me, knowing it wouldn’t be anything more than this." She gestures between us. "Why?” The answer is simple, and I’m eager to give it even though I know it’s the truth of a desperate man. “Because it got me time with you.”

“Every time you walked away from one of them, you took a step closer to me, Mallory. And when you’re done running, when you finally come home, when you believe me when I say I’m sorry, and you trust that I’m not going anywhere without you ever again, you’ll agree that every man who’s touched you has only served as a reminder that you were made for me.”

‘If you and your little boyfriend ain’t looking at each other like that, then you shouldn’t be wasting each other’s time.’”

“Can I have a kiss, princess?”

I love how he calls her princess.

time I turn back around, the woman is gone. Leaving nothing but the oddly familiar notes of her perfume in her wake.

Is she alive ?

“You keep wanting certainty, baby,” Mama continues. “But certainty is a desire of the brain, not the heart. The only certainty we get in this life is death and the grief that comes with it. Everything else is ours to make, to hold in our hands and shape with our palms. To nurture or let die.”

“I’ll beg, princess.” He murmurs, quivering lips pressed against black silk. “I’m not above it. My pride is one of the many things I’ll sacrifice to have you. And if I have to beg every day, I will. I'll spend my life on my knees with tears in my eyes and a million apologies on my tongue. Each one followed by a declaration of my unending love for you. The sun will rise and set a thousand times, and I'll still be kneeling before you,

“I love you,” I whisper, so quiet it’s almost like I’m saying it to myself, but Chris hears. His eyes fall shut, relishing in the truth, allowing it to wash over him. “I love you,” I repeat, voice stronger, more sure. “And I want this. I want us. I want our forever.”

“We’ll have to do this again when you’re sitting on my dick, and I can feel your walls pulsing around me. You’re so snug when I’m deep inside you, Mallory. You fit me like a fucking glove, do you know that? That greedy little pussy was made for me.”

In the two weeks since I finally admitted that I couldn’t live another day without Chris, I haven’t had to, and I’ve been happier than ever.

“Celeste Walker,” she says my mother’s name like it doesn’t belong in her mouth. Like the syllables are foreign and unwelcome. Like she hasn’t said them in years and has just decided, while she’s standing in front of me, to test out their flavor.

“I’m not in the mood for jokes.” My voice is cold, stiff. “Celeste Walker was my mother, and my mother is—” I struggle against the lump of emotion in my throat, choking the word out. “Dead. My mother is dead.”

launch into the sordid tale while Ter listens with an