The Fallen One (Falcon Falls Security, #6)

by Brittney Sahin

Because that’s who I am—who I officially am. I’m the devil. The fallen one.

Mom always said to be with a man who gave you security, not butterflies. To which I’d responded, “Why can’t he give me both? Why not be with someone who makes me feel like I can fly, but then know he’ll be there to catch me if the wind abandons my sails?”

“You saved me again,” she murmured. Opening my eyes, my heart in my throat, I rasped, “I’ll always save you.”

“I’m just a wolf in sheep’s clothing fooling you into believing I’m a good guy.” “What if it’s the wolf I want?”

“A kiss won’t corrupt me, but if your lips don’t touch mine . . . you just might kill me.”

“I need to know if what I’m feeling is real, or if I’m imagining it. Please. Help me understand,” I begged, my voice saturated with thirteen years of guilt and longing for this man. “Of course it’s real.” The tight strain of his jaw became more prominent. “It’s so real I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a very long time.” “What’s that?” I asked, breathless. He angled his head while tightening his hold of my hands, and the words came out slow, firm, and deliberate: “Lose my control.”

She was mine. Fuck was she ever. This kiss confirmed it, lighting up every one of my senses.

She was warm and soft and fucking A . . . she felt like home.

“I both want and need to be with you.”

That alone should’ve let her know I wasn’t the good man she thought I was. Because I’d let the world burn for just one more minute with her.

This man could easily be more than just my world. He could be my entire universe.

“Maybe that girl isn’t your weakness after all. I may have had that wrong.” Another curveball. Where was she going with this? “Rebecca, that woman was your weakness. But Diana, maybe she’ll turn out to be your strength.”

“I want to be a better man for you. Maybe for me, too.” Eyes slowly journeying to my face, he added, “I’d say what I’m feeling for you is too soon, but it also feels like a decade too late.”

“Not too late.” I slid my fingers away from his arm and over to my own wrist. I pushed up the sleeve of my sweatshirt to reveal the double helix intertwined with the tree of life tattooed there. “Time in the grand scheme of things is limitless. Eternal.”

“Everything hurts, all the time.” His brows pulled together. “Except when I’m with you.”

Our lips fused. Tongues met. Souls interlocked. Forget a prince waking a princess with a kiss, this man made me feel like an immortal with one.

“Why don’t you want to see the future?” “Because what if you’re not in mine,” he said bluntly. I closed the gap between us, lacing our fingers together and brought our hands over my heart. “That’s for us to decide, not someone else.”

“You’re your own person, Diana. You’re the only one I see. That’s all you need to know.”

“Here I am, trying to be a changed man, and it’s an angel attempting to provoke the devil to come out and play.”

This man was so much bigger than me and larger than life. Yet, he made me feel like I wasn’t just the center of his world but his entire galaxy.

“So, we’re both obsessed with each other.” My heart was still in overdrive knowing he’d been thinking about me all summer and fall. “That explains a lot.” I pointed back and forth between us. “It’s why we’ve spent less than forty-eight hours together, but we already feel the way we do.” “I don’t understand. You’re not mad?” He appeared genuinely confused. Had he really expected I’d be upset? I hooked his belt buckle with my finger. “Only upset we didn’t reach out to one another sooner. But everything happens for a reason, and the wait was worth it.” Cue the tears. What I felt for this man was just . . . “For you, Carter, it’s all worth it.”

She saw someone worth saving, and it gave me . . . well, fuck, it gave me hope.

I could love this woman. Maybe I already did. Maybe she was right, and people were destined to be together, not only in this life but in whatever came after.

Beautiful wasn’t a word I usually threw around, but when it came to Diana, she was the fucking definition of it. She was stunning no matter what, but tonight, she’d accentuated her blue eyes, high cheekbones, and full lips with makeup, making everything I already loved about her pop that much more.

Her eyes fell to the jacket from my Army days. “This feels . . . special?” It was nearly as old as I was. “It’s been with me a long time.” I swallowed. “Once I hold on to something, I don’t let go.”

“I would never ask you to choose me over the country. Don’t worry.” Chills beat down my back. “The thing is,” I began, slowly meeting her eyes, “I’d choose you.”

Diana was mine, and I’d go to the ends of the earth to fight for her to stay that way.

“You okay?” “You just keep taking my breath away. Not sure how else to put it,” he whispered. There goes my heart. He seemed to power it up like nothing else could. And comments like that proved he wasn’t a devil. Far from it.

“I will never wish any parts of my past away,” I began, sniffling, “so as long as they involve you.”

“I don’t want to wait until the mission is over to tell you I love you.”

“I want a future with you, and a life of making memories together to form our past.” More tears slipped down his cheeks, and from such a strong, tough guy, it was just . . . God, my heart ached for him. “I want our kids to wake us up, bouncing on the bed. I want to cook breakfast together, and do all those normal things I never could do. I want that. All of that. With you.” He lowered his forehead to mine. “I don’t want time to slip by.” Searching for my voice, strangled by emotions, I finally pushed out, “I don’t need more time to know what I want. I’ve been waiting thirteen years for you. I’ve been waiting for our time, and it’s now.” I set my hands on top of his as we remained locked in that position. “I love you,” I whispered on a breath. “Good,” he choked out, then he let go of me and dropped to his knees, like he was bowing to me. I quickly sank to the hard ground, collapsing along with him, reminding him, “Equals, remember?” A sexy smile cut across his lips as he reached for my hand. “Yes, but in this case, I was going to ask you to marry me.” He cupped my face between his big palms. “Patience when it comes to waiting to be with you is not something I have.” He swallowed, and so did I. “So, what do you say?” I nodded, the tears flying nonstop now, splattering over his hands. “Spend the rest of my life with you and have your children? Save the world somewhere in there, too?” I leaned in so our lips were close enough to create fusion. “That’s a yes.”

“You two are the definition of hope, you know that, right? About how even in the face of total darkness, the light can still find its way through.”

“Diana Dominick.” She wiggled her fingers, studying her wedding ring. “Feels like that name’s always been mine, like it was written in the stars.” I turned toward her, resting my hand on her hip. “Maybe that was the writing on the ceiling back then, we just couldn’t see it.” “Mmmm, my hopeless romantic. Who would’ve known?” “Don’t dare tell anyone,” I teased, smirking as I went in for another kiss.

“I’ll never let you fall, angel. Not ever.” Pressing my mouth to his, I murmured, “Just fall in love. More and more.”