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He engulfed me, his body so much bigger and harder. I felt safe in his embrace, cherished and protected. Nothing could touch or hurt me when he was holding me. I wanted him to feel that same sense of security with me. I needed him to know he could drop his guard, take a breath, and I could protect us both.
When I married your daughter, I accepted full responsibility for both her and her happiness. If there are consequences to be faced, I have no problem facing them.”
Would the day ever come when I would see her and not feel the earth shift beneath my feet?
That was why we were going to get past this and every other hurdle we faced: We would always meet each other halfway.
The ugliest things about each other brought us closer. It was crazy and it was wonderful.
I could tell her anything and she would believe me. Such a simple gift, but so rare and precious. Only my silence could push her away, never the truth.
“Who do you think monsters marry, you stupid bitch?” I walked back to her. “Pretty little breakable girls? Or other monsters?” I pushed up into her face. “You got the fairy tale right. But Gideon’s the beauty. I’m the beast.”
ALWAYS MINE. FOREVER YOURS. —GIDEON
Crossfire was my safeword, what I said to him when I was overwhelmed and needed him to stop whatever he was doing. When he said the word to me, he was overwhelmed, too, but he didn’t want me to stop. For Gideon, Crossfire conveyed a connection deeper than love.
Marriage suddenly didn’t seem like enough to safeguard what she meant to me. Why wasn’t there something more binding than a mere piece of paper that gave me the right to call her my wife? Vows were a promise, but what I needed was a guarantee that every day of my life would have her in it. I wanted my heart to beat in rhythm with hers and stop when hers did. Inextricably entwined, so I would never live even a moment without her.
And I let go of my grief in the shelter of his arms, knowing that whether in joy or pain, Gideon was one with me.
