Say It's Forever (Redemption Hills #2)

by A.L. Jackson

Damn. This girl could slay me with a look.

“Touch me, and I stab you.” Deep laughter rolled. “Have no doubt about that, darlin’. No doubt at all.”

The girl was devastation wrapped in a black, seductive bow. Ebony hair and eyes the color of a toiling sea. The darkest, deepest blue. An abyss where it’d be so easy to get lost. That soaked white tee stuck to the contours of her curvy, pin-up body. She wasn’t exactly tall, but with those heels, she looked like a force. A motherfuckin’ knockout.

“What’s your name, darlin’?” She hesitated a beat before she whispered, “Salem.” A disbelieving chuckle got loose without my permission. Yeah. Black-fuckin’-magic.

“You’re lucky I’m not asking you for the ones you’re wearing. Stand there a minute longer, and I just might.” My eyes narrowed as I angled back. “I’ll stab you.” That time, his laughter boomed. Like I was the ridiculous one.

“What is it, darlin’?” His voice had gone soft. Like he didn’t have the first clue he had me spun up. “You don’t think this is a little bit weird?” I waved an erratic hand over my head. He grinned. “I like weird, if I’m being honest.”

He reached out and gently brushed his fingertips over the scar on my jaw. It happened so fast that I didn’t realize what he was doing before his hand was already there. As if it were second nature. As if he did it all the time. As if he had the right. Fire streaked my flesh. Horror and fear and the fight. Worse was the flash of comfort that came along with it. Aghast, I ripped myself back. “What do you think you’re doing?” I wheezed, the words haggard and pained. Panic raced my veins and nearly sent me screaming out the door.

Tall with a shock of black hair, tattoos covering every inch of exposed flesh. He was pure intimidation. Menacing. Extremely so, in a way that set me on edge. Bad was written all over him in bold streaks and hard lines. But this sweet, sweet woman all but floated over to him and let him wrap his arms around her. So opposite it was like they slipped into the other to form a whole. They whispered below their breaths, their words only meant for the other.

😭😭😭😭😭

Thank you, Jud, for being my savior. My wicked, gorgeous savior. Jud My pleasure, darlin’.

Because protectiveness swelled. Brutal. Severe. Violent. Somehow, I managed to keep my hand steady when I reached out and set my palm on her cheek. My thumb went to stroking the scar on her jaw. Just fuckin’ knowing. Seeing the trauma written there.

“I have you, Salem.” She remained there for the longest time, her breaths shallow, barely contained panic vibrating through her body, though she leaned deeper into my touch. “I have you,” I reiterated, words coarse and raw.

“I’ll see you in a bit,” I told her. “Thank you, Jud.” Every part of me turned tender. “It’s my pleasure, darlin’.” My fuckin’ pleasure.

“Salem.” That rumbly voice broke into the frenzied paranoia. “Salem, look at me, darlin’. It’s just me.”

“Who are you running from?” I could have sworn his words were underlined with murder. My head shook, and my eyes found the intensity in his. “Please, don’t ask that of me.” I didn’t know him. Couldn’t trust him. Fury flashed through his features. He took my hands and threaded our fingers together. Vibrations zapped through the connection. Palpable and real. His growl was menace. “Want to destroy whoever hurt you. Just need a name.”

A gasp ripped up my throat when he suddenly lifted my arms above my head and pinned them against the cabinet. “Just a name.” It sounded of sex and coercion. My eyes squeezed closed. “I can’t.” His big hands slipped down my quivering limbs, as if he were gathering up every ounce of terror that I possessed. Taking it into his hold. Caressing away the panic. “I have you, Salem.”

In a flash, the last bit of oxygen remaining in my lungs was gone. Because his mouth crushed against mine. As if any barrier between us had been floored. I couldn’t do anything but give. No control but to open to the demanding ferocity of his kiss. Desperate to feel anything different than the constant fear that raged. To feel supported. Seen. Held. Real.

She yelped when I suddenly turned and took her by the waist. I pulled her around onto my lap so her legs were wrapped around me. You know, all friendly like.

“You make me feel something I’m not sure I’ve ever felt before, Jud, and honestly, that terrifies me. That you make me feel something I can’t have.”

A boil in my blood. I wanted to hunt down whoever had put this look on her face and show them what it was like to really be afraid. Draw it out. Make it hurt. Do what I’d promised myself I’d never do again. Maybe that was the most dangerous part of all. “Seems you make me feel something I haven’t in a long time, either, darlin’, and that scares me, too.”

“We’re a mess, aren’t we?” My fingers threaded through the hair at the side of her head, thumb tracing the angle of her jaw. “Yeah, gorgeous. A beautiful fuckin’ mess.”

“Sometimes the scariest journeys are the ones where the lost finally find the right path to lead them home.” My brow curled, and my head shook. He squeezed my hand tighter. “It’s okay to be afraid. The courageous always are. They just understand taking the chance is worth the fear and the risk.”

clacking along behind me as I led her to the stairs. Shifting, I ushered her ahead of me. “Up you go, darlin’.” Warily, she took the first step, and I couldn’t do anything but lean in and breathe near her ear as she passed. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll catch you if you fall.”

“It’s all I see when I look at you. Beauty. You’re the definition of it. You don’t have to be shy. Don’t have to be afraid. You’re safe with me, darlin’.”

“This, Jud, this is how I feel when you’re looking at me. Like I matter. Like I don’t have to hide. Like for the first time in years, I am seen. Like I exist.”

“I want to erase that for you, Salem. Gather up every scar you have and paint it something new.” “Some of the scars cannot be healed, Jud.” It was an admission from my soul. Where the sorrow railed and reigned. He blinked, caught in his own storm. “And I want to hold that, too. Don’t deserve it, but I want it.”

He came forward on those bare feet until he was reaching out and tipping my chin up with the crook of his index finger. “Darlin’, I’m no good. Don’t you see?” Shadows played over his hard, rugged face. “I do see, Jud. I see a man who is kind and good and gentle and fierce. I see a man who’s haunted. Haunted like me.”

“Is that what we are, darlin’, friends? And here I thought you were going to stab me if I touched you.” “I think I would have stabbed you if you didn’t.” “And I think I would’ve died if I had to keep tiptoeing around you the way we’ve been doing the last few days. Hated it. The distance.” “I hated it, too.”

“I guess I’m sticking around to make a bigger mess of things,” she admitted. “Nah, baby…” I angled my head at the dwindling stacks on the desk. “A mess is the last thing you’re making. Thinking you’re the only one who can get this disaster in order. Besides, I’m pretty sure if you decided to hide, I would just have to come find you.” Tried to keep my tone playful, but it shifted to a growl. Possession riding high. She choked out a disbelieving sound, though she sent me one of those seductive smiles that hit me in the gut. “You’d come find me, huh?” “Yup.” Like a fool, I kept angling forward. Drawn.

My mouth moved to her ear. “You don’t want me to hunt you down, Salem? Get it. But I’m afraid my heart might have already claimed you as my own.”

“Hey there, darlin’.” Super casual like seeing her was no big thing, while this girl had me so twisted up, I was pretty sure all it would take was a brush of her hand, and she’d make me forget my name. Forced myself to keep my ass sitting because if I stood, I’d cross the line she’d told me we couldn’t cross again.

“And who am I really?” Challenge left me on a low punt. “A beast?” A grin split his face. “Yup. The teddy bear kind.”

Milo leaned down, and he gently scooped a sobbing Tessa into his massive, gigantic arms. Dude was basically a mute fortress. Quiet and soft and forbidding as fuck. “You’re safe, little dove. Don’t cry, you’re safe.”

GIVE ME THEM NOW 👹😭

A fuckin’ fool as I went for her. Because that girl looked up when she felt me cautiously approach. Ground rumbled beneath. The warning of a coming earthquake. Of devastation. Destruction. I leaned down and slipped my arms around her back and under her knees. Salem yelped. A shout from her soul. Mine clutched. I gathered her closer. “I have you, Salem. I have you, baby.” A sob wrenched from her throat, and she buried her face in my neck, into my beard, against my chest, like she could hide away in the safety of my arms. “I have you.” And I didn’t want to let her go.

😭😭😭😭😭

“Take me away from here.” It was the only thing I could manage, but Jud understood. I wasn’t exactly dressed for a motorcycle ride, but right then, it didn’t matter. Nothing did except for escaping. Running. The way I always did. Only this time, I wanted to run with him. For once, I didn’t want to stand on my own.

He curled my arms tighter around his waist. “I have you.” My legs were cinched up close to his hips, my chest smashed to his back. Our hearts raced at warp speed. In sync. Out of order. In a perfect, chaotic rhythm. Anarchy. This man who had crossed into vengeance for me.

A big palm spread out over my bare thigh. “Hold onto me, Salem, and don’t fuckin’ let go.”

“We’re a mess.” Jud chuckled a rough sound. “A beautiful fuckin’ mess.”

“You exist, Salem. I see you. I feel you. You’re alive in my heart and in my eyes. And I won’t let him take you from me.” “Jud…” “Stay with me, Salem. Let me take care of you. Protect you.”

“I have to take care of myself.” Because I would leave. I would leave because this fear promised I could never stay. Tonight was a horrible reminder of that. I’d made myself vulnerable. Exposed. And still, I was right here, wanting to let him hold that broken part of myself. Jud brushed away the tears on my face. “It seems to me we’re taking care of each other.” My head shook, unable to form a response. “Magic, sweet enchantress. What you’re doing to me. The way you’re wrecking me, heart and mind.” His arm curled around my waist. “I have you.”

He held me gently as he sank to his knees on the damp ground. He laid me out on the grass. The man wavered there, his hands on my shaking knees. “Look at you. Most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“You stole my breath when I saw you, Jud. I was terrified, but I’m not sure it had a thing to do with you being a stranger finding me in the dark. It was this.” I gathered his hand and pressed it to the wild drum of my heart. “And this.” I barely brushed my fingertips over his eyes. “The way you saw me. The way you made me feel seen. The way I felt changed in a beat.”

“Since the moment I found you, you’ve been the only thing I could see.”

🥲🔫

He brought us nose to nose. “Tell me you want this, Salem.” “If you don’t touch me, I’ll stab you.” I managed the choked, desperate tease. Jud chuckled a low growl. “There’s my girl.” My girl. My girl.

MY GIRL 😭😭😭😭😭

“I will burn the world down for you.”

“And you stagger me, Jud. You make me forget who I am.”

“I’m livid for you, baby. Want to destroy that bastard. Wipe his existence from the earth.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered to the charred, marred skin. My head dropped into my hands. “It’s not, Salem. It’s not.” She curled her arms around my waist, held me while I struggled to breathe.

“What?” I asked as I edged deeper into the room. “It fits.” I touched the skirt. “It does.” “I like it.” “I like it, too.” It felt as if there was a secret woven in the simple words. I like you, too, so much, and it scares me more than you can understand.

“Hey there, darlin’. Just thought I’d pop by to make sure you made it home safe last night.” He winked at me. My belly flipped. “Uh—” “Well, look at that.” Mimi’s voice hit from behind. Jud smiled. Pure charm. “Ma’am.” I was pretty sure my mimi could see right through him, too, because the man wasn’t exactly polite last night.

THE BEST KIND OF MAN 😩

Juni screeched. “It’s the motorcycle man!” Jud chuckled, and I felt myself moving that way. Drawn. He knelt down on a single knee and handed her one of the bouquets, this sweet little one with glittery hearts on sticks surrounded by tiny pink roses. “Is those for me?” I was pretty sure Juni swooned. “They sure are, Juni Bee.”

JUNI JUST LIKE ME