I glanced over to the table where the doctor was working on Javier. Tack took my hand and squeezed it.
“I was so worried when I heard what happened. We’ve been waiting for Sully to rescue you all night. Are you sure you’re fine?”
“Yes. I just need to take a shower and rest a bit.”
Now that I was safe, fatigue from too many sleepless nights was settling in. Sully came up behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist. He kissed my neck and tightened his hold on me.
“Go on up and take a shower. Are you hungry?”
I shook my head, my gaze drifting back to the table. Talon hadn’t moved from Javier’s side. He held on to the other man’s hand tightly, not caring that the doctor had to work around him.
“He made sure I had enough to eat,” I said.
Then why on earth had Javier taken me? He had to be the worst abductor on this planet. Apart from the brief waterboarding, which he’d stopped after one time, he’d treated me almost like a guest. Okay, a guest who couldn’t leave, but still. It could have been so much worse.
He’d made it clear that everyone who came to the house hated me and wanted to see me dead. If I stepped out of the bedroom without his permission, I deserved whatever trouble I ended up in.
“Go take your shower, then. I’ll ask if Doc needs anything, and I’ll follow you up.”
I kissed him, then hugged Tack and Song again. They planned to crash for the night, since it was already so late.
I climbed the stairs, running my fingertips along the banister. Cinnamon met me at the landing, meowing loudly. With a choked sob, I gathered her up in my arms and took her with me to the bedroom.
“I missed you too, girl. Where’s Pumpkin?”
The other cat was already in our bedroom, sleeping on the padded bench at the foot of the bed. I placed Cin beside him and walked into the bathroom. In such a short time, this place had become home to me. The fear of losing this security and sliver of paradise I’d found with Sully only made me appreciate it more.
I stood under the spray when Sully walked into the bathroom. Then it hit me. We hadn’t had time to properly express how the horrors of the past seventy-two hours had affected us. Tears flowed over my cheeks unchecked.
Without a word, he gathered me in his arms and held me tight against him. I clung to him and cried, the relief of being with him allowing me to release all the anxiety of the past three days.
“I-I’m sorry I got you into this mess, Kit,” he said softly. “I’ve done nothing but contemplate over the past few days, and I understand if you think it’s better for you to walk away from all this, from me. Losing you will be hard, but at least you won’t have to worry about shit like this happening to you again.”
“Sully.”
He caressed my back. “Yes?”
“Are you done now?” I sniffled.
“I don’t know. I feel there’s a lot more I need to say. It’s killing me inside, knowing that you being kidnapped is because of me.”
“Then we’ll work through what you’re feeling, but I’m not going anywhere.” I placed a kiss on his chest. “This is my life now, Sullivan. It might be scary, but my life has never been easy. I’ve lived on the edge of danger for a while, even before I met you. Working the streets like I used to put me in as much danger as being with you.”
Sully cupped my face and kissed my nose. “I’m trying to do the right thing.”
“Even if the right thing will make us both miserable? I won’t allow you to tear us apart the way you did with your family, Sully. I won’t go. You can’t make me. You told me this was my home too, and I believed you. Are you going to take that away from me, knowing how much I’ve always wanted a home? A love like ours?”
He sighed. “I won’t force you to go. I don’t even want you to go. It feels like it needed to be said, though. That I wouldn’t blame you if you walked out.”
I slipped my hands up Sully’s chest and locked them around his neck. “I love you, Sully. You belong to me, and I’m never letting you go. No matter what.”
He lowered his head and kissed me, slipping his tongue inside my mouth. How could he have suggested one minute that I walk away and the next hold me like this? His hands stamped ownership on my flesh. His lips on mine signed a treaty to my heart. He had full sovereignty and no foreign territory. No volatile act could nullify this agreement.
“I love you so fucking much, Kit.” My head fell back, giving Sully the access his lips sought. He licked and sucked on my skin, hard enough I writhed against him. “I was so afraid to lose you. Promise me I won’t ever lose you.”
That was the sort of promise one made, fully knowing it was impossible to keep, but it didn’t matter. It felt good to say it in the moment.
“I promise. I’m always gonna be yours.”