Page 121 of Forever My Saint
“I never stopped thinking about you, but I told myself you needed time to heal, as did I. What we went through, no one will understand.” His warm breath bathes the column of my neck, sending shivers all the way to my toes.
“But as the days turned into months, I came to realize that our story would be a tragedy only if we let it. And I was sick of tragedies.”
The waver to his tone hints at what or, rather, whom he speaks of.
Pulling away slowly, he bares himself to me with utter sincerity, and it’s nothing but beautiful. “Am I completely healed? No. And I don’t think I ever will be. But that’s okay because I can finally accept who I am. I thought I needed to become a better man for you, but in reality, if you loved the man who I was…then I couldn’t be so bad because you, you are so good.”
“I’m not always good. I cursed you out more times than I can count,” I counter with a small smile.
We have reached an understanding. It may have taken a year, but we’re here now, and finally, the future is bright because it’s a future together—well, I hope. I could be stubborn and harp on the past, but I’m done living in the shadows.
“So what happens now?”
Saint works in slow motion as he runs his finger down the middle of my parted lips. “What do you want?”
That’s a no-brainer.
My eyes flicker when he skims my bottom lip before gently pulling away. “I want you,” I reply without pause.
He exhales, and I wonder if he thought otherwise.
“That’s never changed. And whatever life you want to live, I’ll take it because it’s with you. You were right to allow us some time apart, but not because that allowed me to see what a mistake we were. No. It only showed me how strong we were to survive. And that’s what we did. We survived.”
Saint lowers his eyes because not all of us had that luxury. But if we can honor their memory by living for them that way, their spirit never dies. It will live on through us. Zoey, Sara, and Ingrid will never be forgotten.
“Now we just have to learn how to survive in this new world. Together.”
A sudden silence envelops us, and my palms begin to sweat. Is Saint having second thoughts?
He reaches for my hand hesitantly and slips it under his T-shirt, coaxing me to lift it. With an eyebrow raised, I do, and when the tanned skin on his side is revealed, a gasp escapes me.
“You never left my mind. My heart. Or my body.”
I don’t believe it, but it’s clear as…ink.
Blinking rapidly to brush away the tears, I smile.
“Now I’m not only a sinner.” The reason being is because tattooed on his flank, on the opposite side of his sinner tattoo, is a word which stitches our story together.
?????.
He now has a balance between two worlds.
He can’t promise me that his darkness will ever fade, but that’s what makes us human. And that’s what makes him mine.
I don’t know who reaches for who first, but the moment our lips collide, nothing else matters but this. At last, I’m truly living because my heart is finally whole. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that we will never give up.
When Saint lifts me, I happily comply, wrapping my legs around his waist. When his kisses grow sluggish, I moan in frustration.
Chuckling, he pulls away, rubbing his nose against mine. “What do you say we ditch this town and see where the roads or, rather, theseastake us?”
“You want to get back on a yacht?” My eyes widen.
“I want to go anywhere and everywhere with you…?????.”
How that name soothes my soul.
“We have so much to catch up on. And so many new things to uncover about one another. What better way to do that than sailing the seas with no direction? Time is no longer the enemy because we have a wholelifetimeahead of us.”