Fractured Sky (Tattered & Torn, #5)

by Catherine Cowles

my heart ached for the woman whose chains were so heavy she couldn’t see that no lock kept them in place.

My eyes stayed fixed on the road, straining for the first sight of her. It was a bad sign—this want buried so deep.

I forced my feet to remain planted. I was done running. I’d used it to cope for too long. I was free, but I had to fight to defend that freedom.

There was a difference between alone and lonely, and right now, I felt a hell of a lot of both.

“Sometimes, we need to break the rules to get to where we’re supposed to be.”

“You’re touching me.” There was wonder in her tone that had my brows pulling together. “Would you rather I didn’t?” Shiloh’s gaze flew to mine. “Don’t let go.” “I promise. I won’t let go.”

“It doesn’t hurt,” she whispered. “What doesn’t?” “You touching me.” I fought the urge to rear back—only decades with horses kept me from doing so. The training that kept me from reacting strongly when I got knocked sideways. “You thought it would?” “It always does. Whenever someone touches me.

“I like having you here. I think I needed it just as much as you did.” The truth of those words hit somewhere deep in my chest, burning. But it was a beautiful kind of pain. One I welcomed. One that belonged only to Shiloh.

“Like your insides got rearranged in a way that would never have you on the right side of normal ever again.”

But it gave me a deep sense of pride to know that I’d helped in some way.

“You’re amazing, you know that? Pure fire.” I looked up into those onyx eyes. “Only for the people who matter.” And I burned the brightest for one person. Him.

Just because we love someone doesn’t mean we never hurt them. It’s pretty much a guarantee. Life happens. What matters is how you deal with it.

“I don’t think there’s a word for it in the English language. But it burns through me. And I don’t want to ever let it go.”

Shiloh felt so damn small in my hold. Fragile. But I knew that was only an illusion. She was fire and steel, and I had to remind myself of that.

“That’s the best we can hope for. Making each other better, giving each other a safe place to land.”

I could see everything reflected in those pale blue eyes. And in the moment, I was no longer alone.

“You and I have both built this sense of control over things in our lives. But the truth is it’s just an illusion. A façade. No one can truly control the world around them.”

“I could never regret you. Even when it hurts, I want to feel that pain because you make me remember that I’m alive.”

I’d never wanted to belong to someone until this moment. The belonging didn’t take away any freedom; it only gave me more.

Ramsey stared down at me. I could feel everything in that stare, and my nerve-endings came alive under it. My skin heated. My soul sang.