Warrior (Relentless #4)(203)

I lifted my head and used my thumbs to brush away her tears, humbled by the love shining in her eyes.

“Ya lyublyu tebya,” I whispered gruffly.

It took me a second to realize I’d professed my love to her in Russian and she had no idea what I was saying. Smiling at my blunder, I took her face in my hands.

“I love you.”

Her smile stole my breath. “I love you, too,” she said huskily.

My lips captured hers again in a slow, lingering kiss. Then I wrapped her tightly in my arms and buried my face in her hair. I didn’t think I could ever let her go from my arms again.

“I wasn’t sure if you…” she whispered.

“And I didn’t think you were ready to hear it. I was waiting for you to say something, to let me know you felt the same way.”

God, I was such a fool. I should have told her how I felt months ago. I could have saved us both so much lost time.

“How…long?” she asked hesitantly.

I pulled back, and she looked up at me. Unable to stop touching her, my hand came up to caress her cheek.

“I was lost the first moment I saw you at that club in Portland. I just didn’t know it yet. Before I even knew who or what you were, I was drawn to you. At first, I told myself it was my responsibility to protect you. But the more time I spent with you, even when we were arguing, the more I knew what I felt for you was anything but duty. I don’t think I knew how deep my feelings were until that day you traded yourself for Nate.”

I took a ragged breath. “That ride from Portland was the longest of my life.”

Pain flashed in her eyes, and she leaned into my hand. “I’m sorry I put you through that.”

I brushed the lose tendrils of hair from her face. “I know. Your courage is one of the first things I came to love about you, and I should have known you’d do anything to protect Nate and your friends.”

“And you,” she declared fiercely.

I hugged her tightly again, half afraid none of this was real.

Sara made a small sound of embarrassment and buried her face against my chest. It took me a moment to realize why.

“They left.” I’d noticed we were alone after our first kiss, and I figured it was Chris’s doing. Jordan would have wanted ringside seats.

“What?” Sara murmured.

I smiled, wanting to kiss her until she couldn’t think of anything else.

“Chris and the others. They went outside.”

“Oh.”

I took her hand and led her to a nearby bench. She sat on one end, but that was too much distance for my liking. Scooping her into my arms, I settled her on my lap.

She sighed happily and nestled against me, her fingers toying with the fabric of my shirt.

“I was so busy trying to push you away that I refused to admit I felt anything for you at first,” she said softly. “I didn’t know for sure that I loved you until Thanksgiving, but I think I started to fall for you at my apartment the night of the storm.”

“Was it my mad cooking skills?” I teased, even though my mind reeled from the discovery she’d loved me all this time.

She laughed softly. “It was the first time I saw a different side of you, and you weren’t bossing me around for once.”

I stroked her hair. “We’ve come a long way since that night.”

“Yes, but you’re still trying to boss me around,” she retorted playfully.

“And you still make me want to tie your ass to a chair to keep you out of trouble.”

She snorted delicately. “Ha, you can try.”

I looked at a dead drex demon ten feet away and grimaced. “Sara, I hate the idea of you out there fighting, and I doubt I’ll ever be okay with it. I don’t think any male would be okay with the woman he loves putting herself in danger.”

She grew quiet. “Do you know what it’s like for me when you go away on a job, especially with the way things are now? I don’t sleep, and I spend every minute praying we don’t get word that you’re in trouble – or worse. It’s torture. That night we heard you were under attack in Vancouver, I almost lost it. I almost lost you. Seeing you in danger kills me.”

I knew she stayed at the command center whenever I had to leave on a job, and she refused to go home until I returned. After Raoul had told me that, I’d started calling her to let her know I was okay. But I hadn’t realized what she was going through until now.

“I never thought about how hard that was for you. I’ve spent my whole life being a warrior and not much else. Before you, I didn’t have someone waiting for me when the job was done or worrying about my safety.”

She let out a deep breath. “This is new for both of us, and we’re going to have to learn to deal with it.”

“Something tells me you’re going to cope with this a lot better than I will.”

She touched my jaw to get me to look at her. “We’ll figure it out together. Knowing us, it won’t be easy, but I’ll try if you will.”

Easier said than done. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise to have any civil words for the faerie.”

She made a face. “I’ve had a few choice words for him myself. At first I didn’t like his idea of training because he pushed me out of my comfort zone. He always had more faith in my abilities than I had, and he kept pushing until I believed in myself too. He’s been a good mentor and a friend to me, and he always has my back.”