Chapter 62
Chapter Sixty-Two
TALLY
T ynan is the first to get up. He goes into the bathroom, then leaves my room. Ronin follows, dragging out a pouty Rafferty. I grab the pillow he was using and draw it into my arms.
Keegan looks at me for a long time before he speaks. “You remember what I told you, Tal? About being anything you need.”
I nod my head immediately. Because I’m pretty sure I remember everything he ever said to me.
“Good.” He repositions himself, and before he moves, I know what he’s going to do.
I can’t say it worries me in the least. He sits behind me and pulls me onto his lap.
“I got your message.”
I look over to the view out the window. The walls aren’t caving in, but there’s still a lot of calming qualities in what’s happening outside that keep me from freaking out.
“I thought I was dying,” I whisper, turning so I can focus on the view while I rest my head on his chest and curl into a ball.
Keegan’s arms squeeze around me. “Were you scared?”
I nod. No sense lying about something like that. “Terrified. But okay too.”
“You know we’re not angry at you, right?”
“You should be. I lied to your faces.”
“I don’t see it that way.”
I shake my head, disagreeing with him.
“Does it matter, Tal? Cause from where I am, the only thing that matters is what happens next.”
“How can you trust me?”
“Ah, that’s easy. Everything you did was done in such a way you did your job, but you also tried to protect us. You get we’re allowed to do that, too, huh? Go to some serious extremes to protect you.”
Keegan kisses the top of my head, then drops his chin on top of my head keeping us touching. When he talks his breath gently stirs my hair.
“In case ya need reminding, I’d do anything for you.
I would have slaughtered those right pricks for you, Tal.
Taken them out with a single shot, or tortured them for hours if you’d asked.
Logically, I know you couldn’t have dealt with them that way, but I still want you to know I would have killed them.
Since we’re talking about them and the whole situation, you gotta be knowing I’m pretty fucking proud of you being such an honorable, and brave copper.
You put your life on the line and faced their filthy fucking corruption head on.
What you did will no doubt save lives, and saved lives including Eloise and her pack.
I reckon you’ll be inspiring others in your field for a long time, and I won’t let you forget that. ”
I take a shaky inhale watching the snow falling. The flurries are bigger now, floating and blowing everywhere, much like Keegan’s words are reaching inside every part of me.
I grab his hand, squeezing it with all my strength as I stay watching out the window, it looks peaceful out there, almost as peaceful as the calm taking hold in me.
“I want to talk about that text. Cause the thing is, you’re not dying anymore, so I need to know if you’d still say those things to me again if you had the chance.”
I lean my head against his arm. “Well, I think the list of names I sent was obvious enough, right?”
He leans down and nips on the fleshy part between my neck and shoulder. Even through my jumper, I can feel it. It feels as good as his arms around me do.
“Not that part.” He growls, his lips on my neck.
His touch is overwhelming, I feel like I’m about to drown. But I don’t push away because I also can feel how much I’ve longed for his Alpha touch. “A bit’s changed since then, though.”
Keegan forces me to lean into him more but makes it so I can’t hide my face. Pushy Alpha. In front of me, he slowly brings his hands where I can see. His fingers move, his hands, too, and even though I don’t understand a word he’s saying, I know enough.
I grab his hands, stopping him from signing, and squeeze my eyes shut as the tears soak my face. I fucking hate how over the top and sudden my emotions are.
And then, because it’s Keegan, and he’s as subtle as a sledgehammer, he dips down to my good side. “Is you being mine just a dying wish, Tal? Or is it a living one?”
I bite my jaw to stop from screaming, not that it helps.
“I can’t fucking walk properly, Keegan, and never will be able to.
I can’t hear out of one fucking ear. I’m stuck in a fucking nightmare and spend most of my day crying or sleeping, trying to escape fucking life.
You need to accept things have changed! I’m not who I was! ”
He scoffs, and I feel the motion rattle through my bones.
I twist around, and he catches my face in one of his hands, not letting me move an inch.
“I don’t give a fuck, Tal. Just answer my goddamn question!
Or do you think because you’re a little broken and bruised, I won’t treat you mean?
Because you bet your fucking arse, I will treat you mean.
I’ll push you. Argue with you. Tell you no and probably make you cry.
I’ll flip you over and fill your juicy cunt whenever I want to.
Because you are the same incredible woman today that you were when you stole my heart after that first kiss in Genoa.
You are still my fucking girl, and I will make sure you don’t ever fucking forget how strong you are. ”
“You’re fucked in the head,” I hiss at him, lifting a hand to shove him away.
“You’re only figuring that out now? Feckin’ Jesus, Tal, now I am worried!” He laughs, but he also flips us so he’s under me, and I’m straddling his chest.
Our fingers are interlaced, our arms stretched back so his nose is touching mine. The green of eyes is like tumbled sea glass. And they’re only full of sweet emotion and lots of devotion.
Keegan’s love, his mood, his flipping and flopping, is the chaos I need. I know it, I just don’t know if I deserve it.
“What about when I tell you I might have developed a martyr complex?” I whisper, not bothering to stop the tears from dropping onto his face.
“Baby, you always had that.” He leans up to peck my lips, his voice soft and gentle. “Nothing matters. Out of all we’ve been through, you have to see the only thing that matters is us.”
“Everything else can be killed?”
He grins, not disagreeing. He reaches up again and pecks another kiss on my lips, but this time, I follow him back down, talking against his mouth. “I need time, Keegan. And space.”
He rolls his eyes while continually tracing his tongue over my lip until he’s answering me with a cheeky grin.
“You’ve always needed that. Nothing changes.
You can have your own place, and I only want to see you, say”—he pretends he’s thinking—“twenty-two hours of every day. Answer my question. I mean, you are the one who sent the text saying the only thing you want me to be is yours.”
The door swings open, and Tynan strolls through, barely giving us a glance. “Keegan, let her go. Her bath is ready and she needs her meds.”
Keegan doesn’t let me go. He rolls us again until he’s caged me under him, and then he kisses me like I haven’t been to hell and back. His eyes are open the whole time, mine are too, way too much emotion being shared. But life is short.
Instead of walking off, Keegan carries me into the bathroom. He lets my feet find the floor, and for a second, I think he’s going to help me undress, but he leans down and looks me dead in the eye, his eyebrow curled up impatiently.
I glower at him before shrugging, trying for nonchalant. “Fine, then. I meant what I said.”
He laughs, winking at me. “I knew that. Just wanted you to say it out loud. Get your arse in there and soak your leg because we’re going home tomorrow. Tonight, we’re getting drunk.”
“No way.”
He walks off, whistling, like he won the lotto.
“You know he won’t, don’t you?”
I squeal and jump sky high. I’d been so overwhelmed by Keegan and his antics, I’d forgotten I wasn’t alone.
Spinning toward Tynan, I find him leaning against the vanity only a few feet from me.
And then I remember why I forgot, because it’s not really that.
It’s just so natural and effortless being with Tynan.
I shake off the jitters before waiting for Ty to explain. “He wouldn’t risk anything. Keegan’s planned everything nearly down to the last minute. He won’t let his guard down.”
“Because I tricked him before?”
“Don’t start that. We promised each other we wouldn’t lie to each other. That still stands in my book.”
Tynan is coming in strong. His gaze purposely goes to the full and steaming bath. “I’ll help you in, then you call out when you’re done.”
“I don’t need you to do that.”
He shrugs. “I get that. I’d still like us to do it my way. If you slip in the bath, which is one of the most common places for a slip, you’d set back your hard work.”
“I haven’t yet had issue.”
“I know. And I’m really amazed by how far you’ve come. You’ve been working hard, and I can see that. Honestly, firecracker, no one but you would have recovered that quick. But as your PT, and rehab adviser, you’re Mo shíorghra , too, we’re doing things my way now.”
“When did you get so bossy?”
He smiles, and it’s like watching the sun rise. It’s so big and warming, and it honestly makes me smile too.
“You got no idea how bossy I’m about to get. I’ve got your training schedule sorted. When you hop out of your bath, I’ll run through our nutrition and meal plan.”
“Tynan, you can’t expect miracles. The medical reports…”
“And”—he pulls a face and holds his hand up, stopping my argument from forming—“I’m going to cut you off there.
I can expect miracles because I’m standing in front of one.
Eighty- eight days ago now, I never thought I would get this chance.
You are my miracle. Hop into the bath. We’re going home tomorrow, and I want you ready to travel. ”
He turns around, his message obvious—undress and get in the bath.