There was a long pause before he said gruffly, “You didn’t stop him when he kissed you.”
“I didn’t have the strength to. I didn’t have the strength to move until I realized you were gone.” I searched his dark eyes, seeing the pain there, and asked, “Is that why you left?”
“I couldn’t watch my worst fear play out in front of me.”
“He knows where I stand now,” I said softly. “He knows I can’t be without you.”
An ache for the man I had loved flared in my chest, but it was nothing compared to the thought of losing the one holding me.
“Trent?” I asked hesitantly. “Trent Cruz.”
My devil regarded me silently for a few moments before dipping his head once in confirmation.
“That might take some time to get used to.”
“Briar,” he began warily, “have you ever thought what being with me means?” When I didn’t respond, he continued, “I told you I was going into witness protection before I was pulled into this life. I was just told that the last of the trials ended a few months ago, every last member of my crew is in prison—and they’re going to be there for a long time. That doesn’t mean they won’t have people who look for me. So even though this bust will be all over the news, I’ve been assured I won’t be.
He searched my eyes and dipped his head close as he whispered, “I won’t be leaving here as Trent Cruz, because I’d have to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. I can’t live like that, and I won’t do that to you. But the second I stepped out of that building, I was no longer Lucas Holt. The house, the cars, the money . . . it’s all gone except for what I made working at the company. The FBI have assured me of that, but I’ll still be starting over again.”
“When have I ever wanted the money you had?” I asked just as softly. “I don’t need Lucas Holt, and I don’t need a name from who you were a lifetime ago. As long as my devil is by my side, I have everything I’ll ever need.”
His lips brushed against mine softly, tenderly. The hand on my face dropped to my waist, and then the back of his knuckles trailed across my stomach in question.
My breath caught, and I looked up to find his knowing stare locked on me.
“Tell me,” he began, his tone pleading, and his hand flattened against my stomach protectively, lovingly. “Tell me why you’re lightheaded and weak.”
Fresh tears sprang to my eyes, and I choked out a soft cry. “You already know, Devil.”
His eyes slid shut like he was in pain seconds before he fell roughly to his knees. He gripped my hips in his hands and pressed his forehead to my stomach, and stayed like that for long moments as I dragged my hand through his hair and cried silently.
And as I stood there with my devil kneeling before me, relief swirled through me when I realized we were both finally free.
“Almost lost you both,” he murmured as he lifted his head to press his lips to my stomach. “I can’t lose you.”
“I know, but you won’t,” I said softly, soothingly. “We promised each other forever.”
“Forever,” he vowed.
Epilogue
Incredible
Briar
I followed the screams and giggles and turned the corner to see my husband running through the living room with our daughter on his shoulders. She had soft, golden curls that fell to her shoulders, a smile and laugh that made you melt over and over again, and the darkest green eyes you’d ever seen.
She was perfect, and she was such a light in our home.
A light among broken darkness.
My devil caught sight of me standing there and slowed down to walk calmly toward me while our daughter yelled for me and her baby brother in my arms.
“Incredible,” he mumbled then leaned down to pass his lips over mine.
“What is?”
“The way you steal my breath.”
Our daughter slapped his head. “I wanna kiss Mommy! I wanna kiss Mommy!”
My devil’s face brightened, and he bent so I could receive a loud kiss from her. When he stood, he reached out with one hand so he could cradle our son’s face. “And how is he?”
“Mad that he’s awake. I’m about to put him down for a nap.”
He huffed through his nose, his smile only growing as he watched his son with rapt attention. “Such a devil.”
An amused sound slid up my throat. “Wonder where he got that from?”
He grinned mischievously at me as he leaned forward to kiss my neck. “I’ll put the monster down then meet you in bed.”
My eyes widened at his suggestive tone, and I bit back my smile as I stepped back. “Whatever for?”
His dark eyes flashed, and his next words sent a welcome shiver down my spine. “I was thinking for a little more.”
“More chocolate?” our daughter asked excitedly and slapped his head. “Daddy, run around! And more chocolate!”
I laughed softly then turned to go put our six-month-old down for a nap.
In the three years since we’d left Houston, life had been as close to perfect as I thought it could get. There were hard times, as with any relationship, but my devil and our kids were my home—my everything.
At the beginning, we’d had to come up with a story for the media since Briar Rose Chapman had been splashed across the news so often, and we’d worried that people would recognize me once we started on our new life.
Kyle’s mother reported that I had been abducted and held captive for six months, and that I would receive help from the best therapists. A while later, it was announced my engagement to Kyle was off, with reassurances that he still loved me and wished me well in my recovery.
After a while, the stories died down, and it was now rare that someone stopped me on the street or in a store to ask if they knew me.
Kyle and I had very little contact even when we created our stories. The last I’d heard he was engaged again, and I was happy for him—it was what he deserved. Someone to love him the way my husband fiercely loved me.
And my husband was . . . my devil, I thought with a heated shudder when he stepped up behind me after I had undressed, minutes later.
“She in bed?”
A sound of confirmation hummed in his throat, and his nose skimmed up my neck. “Tell me what you want.”
“You already know, and you already teased me with it.” I reached behind me to drag my fingers through his hair, scratching lightly down his neck.
“More?” he asked darkly and slowly fisted his hand in my long blonde hair.
“Always,” I breathed as I waited eagerly for what would come. Because I wanted the pain with the pleasure until I couldn’t separate them anymore, and I knew he wanted to give me both.
He was still my devil and I was still his blackbird, and I didn’t want us to ever change. His dark was there, swirling around him, but it had changed the night we left Houston. It was as if something had broken inside him, and he’d never had to struggle to fight against it since.
He was free, as was I.
He was my darkness, and I was his light. And when we collided, it was still nothing short of incredible.