“Baby, I’m so fucking sorry.”
Baby? Oh hell no. Pet names wouldn’t fix this. My lips thinned and I stood, taking two steps so I could punch him square in the jaw. He must have seen it coming from a mile away, but he didn’t even try to avoid the hit.
#Ouch #Fuck #ThatLookedWayEasierInTheMovies
As I shook my aching hand, he laughed, and I scowled at him.
“Not bad, my little Hellhound,” he said, rubbing at his jaw. “There’s no one as fiery as them when riled up.”
Flexing my fingers, I wondered if I could punch him again without breaking bones. Fucker had a hard face. “You don’t get to call me baby!” I snarled, backing up to sit on the bed again.
He looked completely unfazed by my outburst. His eyes, his words, his face, they were just reaching out to me with so much emotion, trying to lure me in, but nothing slowed the anger rolling through my veins. This had been a long time coming.
Cronus stood, taking a step toward me. “Stop!” I held my hands up, closing my eyes so I could block him out. I needed to find my inner strength. “Don’t call me baby. Don’t apologize. Words mean nothing without actions. Nothing. I need you to understand how fucking devastated I was when you left me. Seriously. It wasn’t just that I loved you.” My hands shook with rage as I poured my heart out to him. “It wasn’t just that I was worried about you dealing with the sins and I had no idea if you were okay. It wasn’t even that you sent your ex-wife to fucking babysit me like you wanted to sprinkle some salt in my wounds.” I sucked in a deep breath. “It was that you knew my greatest fear is to be alone … to be left and abandoned like everyone else in my life has done ... like you then did. I’ve been trying to build myself into someone cold and uncaring, someone who just worries about how many Insta likes I have because it’s too hard to go deeper and lose it all…”
I’d said all of this with my eyes closed, but I opened them now, almost jumping off the bed when I realized he’d moved closer. So close. Our faces were merely inches apart, his wreathed in the sort of sorrow I’d never seen from him.
“You made me go deeper,” I whispered, choking on my words. “You made me fucking care. I haven’t loved anything other than animals in years, and then there you were, with your stupid-ass caveman attitude and lame jokes. I loved you.”
The tears fell, because I was too weak to hold them in, and this was what I had been running from my entire life—feeling this sort of pain again.
Losing a mom at the age I did, it was like my entire life ended. I’d been broken ever since.
“Maisey, love,” he said, before he swallowed hard, his jaw working as he fought for words. I’d never seen him like this, filled with so much … so much, basically.
“I know I can’t say anything to make this better, but I promise you, I never fucking left you. I couldn’t, even if I wanted to. I was there every single day, checking up on you, keeping you safe and rescuing those damn animals you love so much.”
This response shocked me into silence as I stared at him, not even blinking. Was he serious?
My mind was in overdrive. “There were nights when I thought I saw you, out of the corner of my eye,” I whispered. “But I figured I was just going crazy from missing you so much.”
Cronus moved a little closer. “I got an InstaBook account for you, Maisey Parker. I never let you out of my sight, and when I had to, I sent others to watch over you.”
#InstaBook #LoveHowStupidHeIs
Reaching out, he hesitated near my face, before he gently tucked some of my hair behind my ears. “You’re not crazy.”
My lips twitched. I knew he thought I was slightly bonkers.
The smallest smile graced his lips. “Okay, how about I enjoy your particular brand of quirkiness. You’re made for me. We fit.”
Fuck. I knew I loved this dumbass for a reason … he had all the lines.
“I’m not sure where we go from here,” I admitted. “I need you to tell me what you want and what your plan is, because I can’t take you leaving me again. If that’s your endgame, you need to leave me alone right now.”
Cronus’ arms came around me so fast that I never even saw him move. He pulled me close into his delicious scent and overwhelming power. “I swear to you, Maisey, on my family and on Hound, that I will never leave you again willingly.”
Buried in his arms, my head spinning, those words settled into my soul like a promise.
“Please don’t make any promises you can’t keep,” I choked out against his chest. “It’s more of a commitment than you realize … than most people realize.” I was babbling now. “Like when people adopt a new pet, they never stop and think that they’ll be their family for their entire lives and that can be twenty years for some of them. It’s a lot. A lot of commitment, and more people should take it seriously—”
His laughter cut me off, chest shaking against my face. “I’ve been with Hound for over a thousand years. Don’t worry about my commitment. Once you’re in my heart, you will never leave … and you’re in my heart.”
Gods. Was I crying again? This had to be some sort of record for eye leakage.
#GetMyTherapist #MyEmotionalCracksAreShowing
“I’m sorry I hit you,” I murmured. “Sometimes I think I should have red hair to match my temper.”
He chuckled again. “I deserved it, love. Don’t even worry about it.”
He had a point, he
