Page 46 of Stolen Salvation

“Now I need to find my sister and put myself back together.”

“Where does that leave us?”

She moved forward and her expression held hope and fear and regret, and he just wanted to promise her he’d fix it.

“I want the same as you, but we can’t fix each other. We have to fix ourselves first and I have to make amends for what I did to you, and that starts with your friends.”

“Fuck my friends.”

“Uh, no. Not into group sex, Noah.”

His lips twitched as he hauled her against his chest. “Smart ass.”

“I think you mean sexy ass.”

He gave her ass a squeeze and felt his dick harden between their bodies. “Well yeah, but you can’t be all sassy and clever. You know it turns me on and I’m fighting for my life here.”

“We, Noah. We’re fighting because I’ve come to see that if we want this to work we need to be a team. Not just at work or in bed but be honest about everything we’re feeling.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Terrified of losing you, of you coming to the realisation that I’m not worth it.”

His lips grazed her cheek. “You’re worth it, Charlie.”

“Now you?”

“Now me what?”

“Tell me how you feel.”

Her head was cocked to the side, and he couldn’t think of a single thing to say. “Uh.”

“Come on, Noah, you can do better than ‘uh’.”

He slapped her ass. “Don’t be sassy.”

“Then tell me.”

“I’m wondering what changed your mind about running and if this is a ruse for me to lower my guard so you can run.”

Charlie rubbed her hand up and down his spine. “I guess I had something of an epiphany in the shower. I ran from my feelings before, and it got me nowhere. So this time, as scary as it is, I want to stay and face things. Even if that involves facing Reaper and his scary, overprotective streak.”

“Thank you for not running and for being honest.”

Charlie smiled and tugged him toward the stairs by his hand. “Let’s go face the music.”

He let her tow him along into the room that was now full of Titan, Duchess, Hurricane, and lastly Reaper.

His friend locked eyes with him and he didn’t know whether to knock his teeth down his throat for being a dick to Charlie or thank him for having his back.

Bishop locked his knees when Reaper stepped forward and offered his hand. “I’m sorry. I was out of line.”

Bishop hesitated a second until Charlie nudged him with her shoulder, then he took the hand and shook. “I know you were looking out for me.”

“Yeah, well, I was still a dick about it.”

“We can agree on that.”