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I tipped my chin up to look at him. “I thought you didn’t get scared in your line of work.”

Holding me firmly against him with one arm, Paxton drove his other hand into my hair and reasoned, “The woman I love was never in danger.”

I smiled back at him before dropping my cheek to his chest once more. We stayed like that a long time, neither one of us saying a word. Despite the silence, I didn’t doubt we were both battling racing minds.

A long time had passed before Paxton asked, “Are you okay?”

“What?”

“After everything that happened,” he clarified. “I know you’re okay in the physical sense, but I’m worried about what you went through. Are you okay?”

I didn’t quite know how to answer that. There were parts of me that felt better than I could have ever hoped for in my life while there were other parts that were beaten down and broken.

“There are parts of my heart that I don’t think will ever heal, Paxton,” I revealed. “What happened in that house tonight is just… horrifying. I don’t know how easily I’ll be able to move past some of it. But this other part of my heart feels so full, I’m surprised it hasn’t burst. At this point, I think I need time when it comes to healing my heart.”

“That’s fair. What about here?” he asked, tapping his finger lightly on my head. “How is this doing?”

“I know those men were taken into custody, but I feelunsettled. What if there are more of them? What if they come back here?”

“I suspected you were going to have some concerns. I hope you know I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you stay safe. I’m going to have some cameras and a security system put in here for you, too. And every night, I will stay with you. Whether that’s at my place or yours, I won’t leave you alone at night. I’ll meet you at the pub or take you there myself, so you never have to worry about coming home alone. Whatever else I can do for you, Aria, I will.”

I turned my head, so my forehead was pressing firmly against his chest, and I released a deep sigh. “You should know that it’s not just your animals that are lucky, Paxton. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have met you. I don’t know where I’d be right now if you hadn’t come into my life. I don’t even know what to do with the love and concern you show for me.”

Squeezing his arms around me, Paxton pressed another kiss to the top of my head. “We’re going to have to figure out how to help you get used to it, because I’m not going anywhere.”

With just that single statement, he made me feel better. So, I knew it was only a matter of time before Paxton accomplished what he set out to do and got me to a point where I’d be used to feeling so loved.

Following a beat of silence, I said, “It’s late.”

“Yeah. Do you want to stay at my place or yours tonight?”

I didn’t have any concerns about my safety at home when Paxton was with me, but I still didn’t want to spendthe night here tonight. Looking up at him again, I asked, “Can we stay at yours?”

He smiled at me. “We can stay wherever you’d like. Let’s grab Sasha, get what you need, and get out of here.”

“Okay.”

I loosened my hold on him and attempted to get up. But my movements were stopped when Paxton’s hand clamped around my wrist.

I shot him a questioning look.

“It’s been hours since I’ve kissed you properly. Do you think I could get one now before you scramble out of my lap?”

There was nothing I wanted more than to kiss him. So, I smiled, leaned in, and touched my lips to his. Paxton allowed me to kiss him for all of a few seconds before he took over and deepened the kiss.

By the time he stopped kissing me, my lips were swollen and begging for more. Paxton noticed and happily helped me gather up what I needed to spend the night at his place. And once we were settled there with all the pets, he led us to a place where we could express our love for one another in a way that didn’t require the use of any words.

EPILOGUE

Aria

“I know you have to get ready soon, but can we talk?”

I glanced up and saw Paxton striding toward me, concern etched deeply into every one of his features. “Sure,” I answered. “What’s going on?”

He sat down on the couch and held his arms out to me. I didn’t hesitate to move toward him. Curled up in his arms, I felt the safest, so even though he’d been wearing a solemn look on his face, I was still comforted by his embrace.

Paxton stroked his fingertips along my arm and said, “It’s been about two weeks since everything happened, and I’ve been hoping you’d bring this up, so I wouldn’t have to.”