Chapter Twenty-Seven
SAIGE
Idon’t know how much time passes as Camden holds me, wrapped tightly in his arms as I come down from an out-of-body experience.
I’m so insanely in love with this man, and as much as it pains me, I have to let go of the circumstances that brought us together.
If fate is real, she’s a cruel, evil, mocking cunt.
But she also provides. And as fucked up as it is, Camden and I were brought together through extreme tragedy.
But that doesn’t have to be the end to our story.
We can make it beautiful again. We can be whole again.
We can find beauty in the broken people we are.
Camden picks me up in his strong arms and carries me to the bathroom, where he starts the shower. We take turns washing each other’s bodies, our hands touching everywhere. It’s slow, methodical, and so fucking loving that each of us has tears in our eyes.
We’ve accepted our fate. It’s here, right now.
Together. We can no longer move forward with the ghosts of our pasts holding us hostage, with our lives fueled by vendettas and hate.
I know in my heart that Kinsey was right.
My parents would want me to choose happiness and love above all else.
Maybe the way Camden and I found each other is unconventional, and is fucked up in the most obtuse, illogical, heartbreaking way, but together, we can heal from it all.
Together, we’re stronger, better, whole.
After our shower, Camden dries us off, refusing to let me do it myself, even though he knows I’m more than capable.
I relax into his touch, the slow drag of the soft towel over each of my limbs, the care, the attentiveness he gives me.
It’s not difficult, letting down my walls and letting him in, letting another person care for me in a way I haven’t been cared for in so long.
But it is painful, a reminder of how lonely I’ve been and how Camden will make sure I never feel that way again.
“I’ve seen your strength as you face off with men twice your size holding a gun to your head, but I’ve never seen you stronger than you are right here, right now with me.
I’ll never take advantage of the access you’ve granted me here,” he whispers as he taps my chest right above my heart.
“I’ll always protect it.” Camden’s big hands engulf my face as his thumb swipes away the tears slowly streaming down my cheeks.
Warm lips press against my forehead as he takes a deep inhale of my scent, just as he always does.
I stand there naked, waiting as Camden steps away, pulling on a pair of his signature black boxer briefs, tucking in that big dick I’ve come to be obsessed with, and returns to me, tugging one of his black T-shirts over my head.
The soft fabric glides over my skin and falls to mid-thigh, his scent surrounding me in a warm hug.
After pulling my damp hair free from the shirt, Camden drags me back to the bed, where we put on a set of clean sheets, working in comfortable silence.
“Sit,” he demands as he pulls out a hairbrush.
I find my home between his legs as he brushes the knots from my hair, starting at the bottom and working his way up.
He doesn’t stop until my long black hair is smooth and untangled.
Tears drip down my face as he lovingly strokes through my long locks, something no one has done since my mother.
When I can no longer stifle my sniffle, Camden shifts me into his lap without saying a word, holding me and rocking me back and forth with so much goddamn love I could burst. I soak his bare chest with my tears, his strong arms locked around me, his hands rubbing soothing circles across my skin.
I hated this man with every fiber of my being.
But now? Now I love him more than I ever thought a person could love another human.
Everything I thought I knew and understood was flipped on its head the moment I met Camden.
Every painful memory that I blamed his cold, dead heart for, every broken law, every transgression, every sleepless night, every haunting nightmare, all the hate and retribution that festered inside me .
. . Camden was just on the other side, feeling those same things.
Our love was forged in fire, in death, and loss, and heartbreak, and nothing could possibly break it now that we’ve found and accepted it.
“Look at me.” His voice is deeper than usual, hoarse and constricted from emotion lodged in his throat.
“I promise to take care of you in every way you need. I promise to never stop loving you,” Camden whispers, his breath warm and soothing against my lips.
I blink away tears beading at my eyelashes.
“I believe you. I trust you. I love you, Camden Young.” His smile could light my path through the darkest of days.
“I love you, vixen.”
I fall asleep wrapped in Camden’s arms, ready to start living, making new memories, making a new life together.
A queen and her Heathen.