I tossed the towel to the floor and got in behind her, pulling the sheets over our naked bodies. “You don’t get it, do you? How I feel about you?”
I laced my arm around her waist, pulling her close, her naked body fitting perfectly against mine. “I love you, Neon. Nothing can change that. Even if this is something you can never do again, I’d still love you.”
She snorted. “Really?”
“Sure. But please tell me we’ll do it again.”
This time, she laughed, and the sound was like a goddamn melody to my ears.
Nestling her head into the pillow, she weaved her fingers through mine, pulling my arm tighter around her. We were spooning. Neon and I were actually fucking spooning. I’d never spooned before, but by God, did it feel fucking awesome.
Placing a kiss on her neck, I leaned my head down on the pillow, settling in behind her.
“Ink.”
“Yeah?”
“I think I’m, you know…I think I might be in—”
My heart stopped just for a second, waiting for her to say those three words—three fucking words that would change my life forever.
She stilled, frozen against me. “I think I might be in…a place where I like having you around.”
My heart deflated inside my chest. It wasn’t the words I wanted to hear. But for now, I’d be thankful for any way she’d welcome me in her life.
Inhaling the strawberry scent of her hair, I smiled. “I think I kinda like hearing you say that.”
I couldn’t see her face, but I knew she was smiling. I could feel it. The connection we had was off the fucking charts—especially after what we just shared.
We just lay there basking in each other’s presence, not saying a word. It felt right, her being in my arms, her body tightly pressed against mine. This was the only place I ever wanted to be, at her side and holding her for dear life.
Her breathing slowed, a steady rhythm as she fell asleep so fucking peacefully. It had been days since she got a good night’s sleep, and a part of me wondered if it was because I hadn’t been here, leaving her alone at night so I could fuck up the man who deserved to die a thousand deaths, and I wanted to be the one who executed him over and over and fucking over again. But after witnessing just a sliver of the fear Neon was living with because of him, not even able to make love to a man without being reminded of what he did to her, it made me think Manic might be right. Maybe Neon needed to be thrown in the deep end, forced to deal with her demons. The only way to get rid of them was to conquer them, and I had the devil right where he needed to be for Neon to take back the control he had stolen from her.
Neon was a strong woman, and she had managed to pick herself up after everything, moving on with her life. But a part of her was still in that room, dying slowly. Maybe seeing justice done was exactly what she needed to finally rise from the ashes and be even stronger than she was before. And the thing she needed most in order to win this war was right in the palm of my hand…I just had to give it to her.
Givehimto her.
17
Ink
I saton the side of the bed, rubbing my palms together. I was nervous as fuck. What I was about to do had the potential to be best thing I could ever do or be the biggest fucking mistake of my life. But I had to tell her and give her the chance to make it right. She deserved to know, and she deserved to be the one to decide his fate.
The bathroom door opened, and I stood and turned her way. As always, she looked hot as fuck dressed in her usual style of black denim jeans and a shirt that read ‘Two words. One finger.’
I shot her a lopsided grin. “Love the shirt.”
“Thanks. I’m wearing it in case people who don’t know me decide to approach me.”
“I’m pretty sure that shirt sums you up perfectly. Your back okay?”
“It’s a little tender, but nothing I can’t handle.”
After taking off the protective wrapping earlier, I had to gawk at Red’s handiwork. That woman had an insane amount of talent, and judging by what she did so far, this tattoo would be fucking epic once it was completed.
“Listen,” I placed my palm at the back of my neck, “last night, you said you trusted me, and now I need to know exactly how much you trust me.”
She frowned while putting on a pair of silver hoop earrings. “What do you mean?”