Chapter 29
CHAPTER 29
I SCRAMBLED OUT of bed and stood there, frozen, as Black stalked towards me.
“What on earth is what? I can’t see in this light.”
In the faint glimmer from the half moon, all I could make out was the angry man striding across the room towards me. What had got him so worked up? He was fine fifteen minutes ago.
He snapped on the light above my nightstand, and I blinked in the glare. Focus, Emmy . What was his problem?
Oh, fudge.
Cookie crumb caramel fudge with a side order of what-have-I-done?
The letter. The freaking letter, the one I’d written months ago pouring out my feelings for him onto paper, something I never for one second dreamed he’d read. My heart was scrawled across that page in ink, and now he held it in his hand.
I glanced over at the balcony. What were the chances of me getting past him to jump off it?
Not good, I concluded. “Er, did you read that?”
“Of course I read it. It was addressed to me.”
Oh. Yeah. I stayed silent. I had absolutely no clue what to say.
“Did you mean it?”
“I meant it at the time,” I squeaked, shrinking back against the wall.
Mack had tried to explain quantum tunnelling to me the other day, and theoretically, it was possible for me to pass right through the wall and come out on the other side, but guess what? It didn’t happen.
“The time, Emmy, as you so helpfully included by putting the date at the top, was five months ago. Do you still mean it?” Black enunciated slowly and clearly as if speaking to a small child.
“Yes,” I replied quietly, so quietly I wasn’t sure at first if he’d even heard.
But he must have because before I could repeat it, he hauled me up and slammed his mouth onto mine.
Holy hotness. I’d barely had time to process the fact that he was kissing me when he licked along the seam of my lips, softly at first then harder until I yielded. He tangled his hands in my hair, holding me against him as the kiss turned serious.
I’d been dreaming about that mouth for years, and it didn’t disappoint.
“Told you I needed you, Diamond. I wasn’t kidding.”
And I needed him.
Make my dreams come true, Mr. Black.
Hours later, Black lay in bed beside me, peppering gentle kisses across my cheeks.
“Diamond, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that.”
“Enlighten me.”
His lips flickered, and he hesitated. Why did he suddenly look nervous?
“Remember the day when a crowd of Jimmy’s finest wanted to lynch me? And you stepped between us?”
I closed my eyes and groaned. “How could I forget?”
“Well, since then.”
My eyes sprang open again. “That was the day after we met!”
“Yeah, I know. I didn’t like you so much on day one.” He rubbed his nose, reminding me once more how I’d broken it.
Oops.
Black rolled to the side, propping himself up on one elbow, and ran one finger from my collarbone to my belly button. Once my shudder had subsided, I properly took in what he’d just said.
“Hang on, you mean…that long… What?”
“There were two reasons I wanted you to come back to Virginia with me. One because you were perfect for Blackwood. The other was because I just…wanted you.”
All that time? I was speechless, and that took some doing.
He dipped his head and kissed me, and a glow spread through my insides, warming me from my fingertips to my toes.
“But why didn’t you say something?”
“Jimmy was right. At first, you were too young, even when I thought you were eighteen. Then, as we got older, and I got to understand you better, I knew you weren’t ready.”
“But when you kissed me, when we danced in that bar, the next morning you said it was a mistake.”
“I lied.”
“But why? I came back to tell you I wanted to make a go of things. Why did you tell me you were drunk and you hadn’t meant it?”
“You still weren’t ready.”
“But...”
Black silenced me with another kiss, sweeter this time, and I melted into him. Time went all screwy, and my lips tingled when he pulled back.
“Why’d you stop?”
“Back then, your first reaction when my lips touched yours was to run. Trust me, you weren’t ready.” He ran his fingers through my hair and bent his forehead down to mine. “I wanted you to want me as much as I wanted you.”
“I’m ready now,” I whispered.
“I’d noticed, Diamond.”
Before he made me lose my darn mind completely, I had one thing I needed to get off my chest.
“Black, I love you.”
My heart thumped as I said the words, and I could feel his answer before he spoke.
“I love you too, Diamond. Always have, always will.” His hand snaked around my back and pulled me tighter against him. “If we weren’t already married, right now, I’d be asking you to be my wife.”
“Just for the record, my answer would be yes.”
He traced my new tattoo with a finger, four words in curling black script on my left side.
“Always by my side,” he murmured.
“You were, you are, and I hope you always will be.”
“Always.”
There had been so many wasted years, and we’d never get that time back. But tonight, Black wrapped his arms around me as I lay next to him, my head resting on his chest. I may have been dead, but at least I’d gone to heaven.
“Diamond, we need to get some sleep. It’s been a long few days.”
His words made me yawn. “I know. I’m tired too.”
I tried to wriggle away so he could go back to his room, but his arms tightened.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“You need to go to your bed.”
“No, I do not. I’ve waited long enough to get you in my arms, and this is exactly where you’re staying.”
“But what if I hurt you?”
“I’ll be holding onto you so tightly you won’t be able to swing a punch. From now on, if we’re in the same house, we’re in the same bed. Understand?”
“Yes, I understand.”
His heart beat under my palm as my eyes closed. This was strange, so strange. But a good strange.
The best kind of strange.