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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.
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.
“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.”
“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.”
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.”
“Next time you get scared? Next time you want to run? Promise me you’ll run to me.”
“You’re real, Salem. You aren’t vapor. You exist. You’re real and whole and mine. Exist with me.”
“I know you’re scared of it. Hell, I know this is terrifying for us both. Neither of us expected it. But I love you, Salem. I love you with all of me. With the good parts and the bad parts. With the ones that are whole and the ones that are broken. All of them—they belong to you.” Emotion filled every cell in my body. Spirit and soul. “Say it’s forever.” The plea left me on a whimper. “It’s forever, baby. Today, tomorrow, and always.”
