Boarlander Silverback (Boarlander Bears #3)(49)

She traced the bite mark she’d made on his shoulder. Lifting off the ground, she kissed the scar gently, then lay back and touched the dark scruff that shaded his jaw. As he pressed his lips against her palm, she whispered, “Always.”





Chapter Nineteen


Always. Kirk put his car into park and let his hand slip from the steering wheel. The way she’d said “always” when they’d been together in the woods had split his heart open so wide it was almost painful.

Ally inhaled deeply, but didn’t wake up in the dim street light that illuminated the yard of her cabin. The soft glow lit up her cheek and, carefully, Kirk brushed her short blond hair from her face. It felt like silk and had soft waves to it. Her roots were darker to match her lashes that rested against her cheeks. A natural brunette, but he liked her like this. She’d been affected by her years undercover and looked accordingly tough, but he was the one she shared her real self with. Beautiful mate.

He relaxed against the headrest, just staring at her because he could. Usually, she grew self-conscious under his prolonged attention, likely a product of her phantom past. Invisibility had meant survival, but she was safe here with him. He would make sure of it. He would make sure she knew she was protected, and he would be the lucky one who got to watch her open up.

God, she had him. Ally didn’t even realize how much he cared about her. How devoted he was. How much she owned him, body and soul.

His decision to choose the Boarlanders wasn’t just about him. Sure, he’d grown an undeniable loyalty to Harrison and his crew, but choosing them also meant another layer of safety for his mate. She had an undercover past, and he didn’t know how many enemies she’d found in that life, but he knew the crews of Damon’s mountains would go to war for their own. Winning his freedom from Kong tonight meant Ally was now a part of this place.

Kirk searched the dusty gravel parking lot in front of her cabin. The road blocks were up, but he would drive around them like he always did. He’d been so damned tempted to bring Ally back to Boarland Mobile Park, to 1010, just so he could sleep beside her all night. He’d never done that with a woman before. In fact, Ally was taking more of his firsts than she knew. Being with her felt different from every other relationship in his life. She was more.

She was richness and fulfillment. She was polish on a dirty penny, and now he felt like his entire life had led him here, to this life with her. Fuck where he came from. Fuck his messed up people and the treachery Fiona had pulled. Fuck every single thing except for the life he was building with Ally.

She deserved everything. To be provided for, to feel safe. She deserved his fealty and the protection of his body. She deserved to be happy, and he was going to work his ass off every day for the rest of his life to give that to her if she would let him.

He had to be up in a few hours for one of the last long days of logging season so he couldn’t afford to stall anymore. Being exhausted on the jobsite put his crew at risk. His crew.

Kirk huffed a soft chuckle. Damn, it felt good to belong to something bigger than himself. To something that didn’t stifle him or leave him hungry for a life he could only imagine.

Ally had done that—made him choose a future.

Kirk got out of his Mustang, shut the door easy, then strode around the front. Ally sighed the cutest little sleep sound he’d ever heard as he unbuckled her and lifted her from the car. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled her cheek against the base of his throat and now his gorilla was practically clapping inside of him like a giddy teenager. She never looked at him like he was a monster, and she didn’t mind his rough edges like he’d been afraid of. Instead, the more he exposed of himself, the better they seemed to fit together.

It felt so damned good to have found his person. His partner. His mate. His Ally.

He maneuvered her front door open. As the swinging screen door creaked closed behind him, he strode through the office area to her bedroom. Settling her gently on the mattress, he lowered to his knees beside the bed and gave into his urge to touch her. Kirk drew her to the edge and hugged her securely against him. Inhaling deeply, he committed her scent to memory. Shampoo, soap, earth, Ally…him. He liked best the way she smelled right after they’d had sex, and screw whatever monstrous things that said about him.

“Ally,” he murmured.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she stretched against him like a sleepy feline.

“Earlier you said something to me, and it took me by surprise. I didn’t respond like I should’ve. You were brave enough to tell me you loved me, and I didn’t tell you how I felt about you.”

“Then tell me now, you big sappy monkey,” she whispered.

The words caught in his throat. Not because he didn’t feel them with every fiber of his being, but because he’d never said them before to anyone. He buried his face against her neck. “I love you.”

Her cheek swelled with a smile against his. “Now say it while you’re looking at me.”

He sighed and eased back, searched her eyes in the dim streetlamp lighting that filtered through her bedroom window. “Ally Cat Ghost Holman—”

“Stop it and be serious.”

“I love you.”

The smile dipped from her face, then returned slowly, like she couldn’t believe he was saying these sentiments to her.

“You had to have known how I felt, Ally.”