He felt as though he'd just carved his heart out of his chest and laid the still beating organ in front of her as proof of just how utterly, completely, insanely in love with her he was. He'd just stripped himself of every defense, every shield that had become permanent fixtures over time. He'd never allowed anyone to see beyond those barriers and now he was completely vulnerable before her, his heart, his expression, his tense body begging her not to deny him and to trust him enough to give herself to him forever, even through the rough times.
Her eyes grew soft, her face suddenly glowing, and her smile chased away every doubt, fear and worry. She caressed his jaw, cradling it in her small palm, the very palm she held his heart in, and looked at him with such love that it caused a physical ache in his chest.
"Isaac, have you not been listening to anything I've been saying to you?" she teased, running her fingers over his lips and then back to his jaw. "I've been sick with worry over the thought, the very real possibility of losing you, of you dying because of me."
Her gaze went misty and she swallowed several times as if trying to collect herself.
"You don't ever have to ask for my promise not to give up on you or us or worry that at the first sign of adversity, I'll decide you aren't what I want or need and just walk away. You're my entire world, the very best part of my world," she whispered softly. "I believe with all my heart and soul that God sent you to me. To save me. To protect me. To love me. To be the man to give me all the things I've dreamed of having but never thought possible. I never thought I would be free, much less find freedom and a man who is everything I've ever imagined, when all I had were my hopes and fantasies of a life outside the walls of my prison. It's me who should be on my knees begging you not to ever give up on me or decide I'm not worth the trouble and anguish I've caused you and every single person you work with. You aren't getting the best deal," she said wryly.
"I'm ignorant of so many things that others take for granted. The world, what I've seen of it, still mystifies me and at times I feel utterly lost and like I'll never fit in. I don't know what's correct and what isn't. The city overwhelms me and makes me feel like I'll get swallowed up by it and never find my way out. People intimidate me and I'm painfully shy. I don't even understand why you would want someone like me, but I'm not questioning fate or the fact you love me and that I love you. I'll never give up on you, but please, don't ever give up on me either. I need your patience and understanding and for you to help me find my way in a vast, unfamiliar world that's suddenly been thrust upon me."
Isaac silenced her with his mouth, crushing his lips to hers. He couldn't bear to hear her disparage and doubt herself. He kissed her long and deep, fiercely at first, infusing all the passion, love and longing he felt for the woman who owned every single part of him.
Then he softened his movements and they became more gentle and tender, absorbing and savoring the sweetness of her taste, her smell, the way she felt in his arms. Finally, a long while later, Isaac drew back, sucking in great mouthfuls of air into his oxygen-starved lungs. Her face was flushed and glowing, her eyes were shining with wonder and her lips were swollen and a darker pink. She had the look of a woman who'd been thoroughly kissed. He loved that look on her, knowing that he'd been the one to mark her, the one to make her light up and to put the slightly dazed look of love and happiness in her eyes.
"Are we really okay here, Isaac?" she asked, placing her hand on his chest, right over his heart.
He slid his hand over hers to trap it there so she could feel the beat, that it beat only for her.
"We're safe, baby. We just have to be patient and wait for Jaysus to get impatient and start making mistakes. And he will. Men as obsessed and fixated as he is always fuck up and take stupid risks. And that's when we nail his ass to the wall."
TWENTY-TWO
JENNA sat in the corner of the L-shaped sectional amid a mound of pillows, pointing the remote control at the television as she slowly browsed the different channels. She'd driven the guys to the point of insanity within half an hour of surrendering the remote to her after she'd shyly asked if she could try it out.
Though why they were exasperated to the point of leaving the room, grumbling under their breaths, she had no idea. They all knew she'd never even seen a television until the day she'd reacted in horror when one had been turned on in the first safe house where she'd met Eliza and Wade.
She felt foolish about her reaction, and when she realized that she was still avoiding the TV-her only other encounter with it being when she'd seen the news footage of the horrible massacre of every single member of the cult-she'd been determined to stop spending so much time in the bedroom or the kitchen and actually see what television was all about.