Chapter 9
NINE
Hudson
Women are so freaking confusing.
Hazel’s hands fist in the front of my shirt, holding on to me like she’s afraid I’ll disappear. That thought alone damn near destroys me.
I slide my hand around the back of her neck, angling her closer as I kiss her harder. She tastes like tears and peppermint and something that is completely, irrevocably Hazel.
Mine.
A needy sound slips from her throat when I deepen the kiss, and I swear my entire body lights on fire. Every ounce of panic and fear and fury from the last few hours twists into something desperate and overwhelming. Relief.
She’s okay. She’s here.
I grip her tighter, my other hand settling on her waist as I tug her flush against me. Hazel gasps softly when her hips hit the metal, and I take advantage of the opening to sweep my tongue against hers.
“Hudson,” she breathes against my mouth.
My name sounds wrecked coming from her lips. I kiss her again because I can’t seem to stop. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop touching her now that I know she’s mine too.
Her fingers slide into my hair, tugging slightly, and I groan low in my throat.
“Jesus Christ, Hazel,” I mutter against her lips. “You scared the hell out of me.”
Her expression softens instantly, and guilt flashes across her face. Before she can apologize, I kiss her again. Slower this time. Thoroughly. Like I’m trying to memorize her.
She melts against me, her body fitting perfectly against mine, and I swear there has never been a woman made more perfectly for me than this one.
Hazel stumbles back a step, and I reach out, steadying her with a hand on her elbow. We’re both breathing hard as I stare down at her.
“Explain,” I grunt. “What the hell is going on, Hazel?”
She sways on her feet slightly, and my heart lodges in my throat. I look over at the hospital and wonder if I can distract her long enough to get her back inside the emergency room.
I step toward her, wrapping my arms around her like I’m trying to steady her, but really, I’m nudging her back toward the entrance.
I’ll get her seen by the doctor. They’ll help her feel better, and then I can take her home.
With my plan in place, I shuffle her back another few steps.
“I just… I didn’t know what this was,” she says, pointing between us.
I frown at her, moving her back another step. That’s not what I thought she was going to say. Not even close.
“Was?” I growl.
“Is,” she corrects.
“You’re mine,” I say simply.
“Okay, well, I didn’t know that,” she says, sounding annoyed.
“Did I not make that clear when I was making love to you all weekend?”
“I thought you were sleeping with me to scratch an itch and that it didn’t mean anything to you.”
“Scratch an itch? Are you insane?” I demand, gripping her shoulders as I stare her into her pretty eyes.
“You were cold!”
“What?”
“At the office. I was, I don’t know, I was hoping it would be different, but you went right back to being your grumpy self. So, I left early and went home.”
I stare at her, wondering how she could think I don’t want her with every fiber of my being.
Hazel gets frustrated with my silence and throws her arms up. “I’m not sick, Hudson! I’m sad.”
I want to shake her. I want to scream at her for scaring me and freaking me out today.
Instead, I take a deep breath and lean my forehead against hers. Feeling her skin against mine calms me, and I look down into her blue eyes.
“Scratch an itch?” I huff a humorless laugh. “Sure, that’s one way to put it, but this? It’s not an itch. It’s a lifelong affliction.”
“So, I’m a disease?”
I laugh outright then. “Sure, one that I never want a cure for.”
She shoves at my chest.
“Easy, Hazel. Let me finish.”
“Hurry up then!”
“I need you, baby. So fucking badly. I can’t function without you. I think you took ten years off my life today when I thought you were sick. Fuck, when you didn’t answer my calls and texts? I thought the worst.”
“I’m aware,” she says drily, glancing pointedly at the hospital.
I can see the hint of hope in her eyes again when they return to mine.
I smile down at her, pressing our foreheads together again. “I love you, Hazel. I have since the moment I met you. I’m sorry I didn’t say the words this weekend. Fuck, I’m sorry I didn’t say them ten months ago.”
“You love—but this morning?”
I sigh against her lips. “I was worried that you wouldn’t want people to know. I realized once I left that I should have asked you how you wanted to play it. At the office, you seemed normal, so I fell back into that routine too.”
Her eyes widen. “I was waiting for you to do something to see how you felt.”
“We’re idiots.”
She laughs softly. “Yep, we are.”
I cradle her face and hold her gaze. “I love you, Hazel.”
She smiles happily, tears shimmering in her eyes. “I love you too, Hudson.”
The missing piece of my heart slips into place.
I kiss her again before I can stop myself. Not frantic. Not desperate. This kiss is deep and slow and devastatingly tender.
Hazel sighs into my mouth, her hands sliding up my chest and around my neck as I hold her face carefully between my palms. I kiss her like I’ve got forever to do it. Like I’m learning every soft breath and quiet sound she makes.
I scoop my girl into my arms and carry her toward my car.
“Where are we going?”
I shiver as her warm breath teases my ear. “I’m taking you home.”
“My place or yours?”
“Ours. You’re moving in with me.”
“I am?”
“Uh-huh. I can’t spend another minute without you. I want you with me always.”
“Always,” she agrees.
I set her on her feet and open the passenger door.
She leans up and presses a kiss to my lips that’s over far too soon. “Take me home, Hudson.”
Hazel slips into the car, and I grin as I close the door and jog around the car to do just that.