She looked back at him, the agony on her face breaking him.
“Come here,” he breathed. Opening his arms.
She shook, sobbing silently as she fell apart in his arms. John hated that he couldn’t take away her pain; there was no enemy to kill or person to snarl at. This was a problem he couldn’t fix, no matter how much he longed to do so.
“She was so stupid to think three months was enough to mourn her. It was nothing. It was long enough for Zac to go off the deep end and my father to start work again, but the sadness, John, it never left.”
“I don’t think it will, Evaline. It just becomes easier to live with.” He kissed the top of her head, squeezed her tighter. “You haven’t had time to breathe, Eva. You’ve been too busy taking care of everyone.” Pulling back just enough so he could see her face, John continued, “But you’re not alone anymore, baby. You can breathe. I’ve got you. The pack has got you.”
“And when I go back to college, what then?”
His own eyes stung with pain. “You’re one of us now, no matter how far away you are.” Even if she turned his back on him, Eva would always be connected to Dark Shadow, would always be connected to him.
“What about you?” she asked, almost fearfully.
He kissed her once, gently, the slightest of brushes. “You’re it for me, Evaline. You’re mine, whether you are here or the other side of the country. If you call, I will come. Always.”
Laying his heart bare, John could only hope she wouldn’t break what he gave her to hold. He could deny his feelings no longer. Eva was his. His mate. His love. His forever.
“Take me home, John,” she asked gently, her eyes shining gems.
When he’d lifted her into his arms, John kissed her, his need for her growing second by second. Walking her through the trees, he made his way to the cabin they shared, carrying her over the threshold and into his room.
There was no fear in her. No sorrow. The face watching him held wonder and hope, and as he laid her on his bed and slowly stripped her of her clothes, he showed her just how much she meant to him with each gentle touch. And at last, Eva took her first breath.
The future was uncertain. War, change… it all hung on the horizon, but whatever the outcome, one thing was certain. John would love Eva until his last breath, and wherever she went, she would always be his.
Chapter 24
Eva
She’d lived without air for so long she’d forgotten what it was like to breathe. The relief rushed in and out of her lungs as life shot through her veins; it was heady and magical. Since she’d first caught John looking at her, he’d stirred some sleeping, forgotten part of her soul. He’d made her start to look forward to a possible future, even as the idea terrified her. Not only that, he’d given her arms in which to fall as the loss of her mother tore her apart.
For someone so powerful and primal, he held and kissed her with a gentleness that filled her broken heart. The way he watched her, the way he spoke to her, it told a story of unbreakable love. She’d be lying if she said the intensity of the connection growing between them didn’t scare her. It was nothing human, nothing she’d ever felt before, yet she reached for it anyway. John’s world was frightening and raw, but it was also pure and beautiful. It was a family, bound by love and loyalty, and in the short time she’d been in his world, she’d become bound to it as well.
Dark Shadow was her brother’s pack, and as John rose above her, giving her an intimacy she’d never known, it became her pack too. Whichever direction the future took, Eva knew she’d always have the strength of John and all of Dark Shadow at her back, and that somehow made the unknown less frightening and her grief more bearable.
“Evaline,” John moaned as they fell over the edge, his eyes flashing unearthly yellow. “Mine.”
Reaching up, Eva brushed his long hair from his face, her breath desperate and ragged, and smiled. “Yes, yours.”
It was crazy and too soon, but as she said the words, Eva felt the truth of them right down to her soul.
***
When Eva opened her eyes, it took her a moment to understand where she was. First, she registered her lack of clothes, then the heat surrounding her coming from the very naked, very sexy man in the bed. It was dark out. No light seeped through the closed curtains so it couldn’t be morning. Her stomach growled into the silence, and John shifted beside her.
Sucking in a breath, Eva studied his face and tried to comprehend what had happened. She’d been aware and very present through the entire act, but the very true, very real meaning behind it was only just starting to sink in. Their time together had been so much more than a physical act; they’d connected on a level she hadn’t even begun to understand, and it frightened her. Not because she didn’t want it, but because she feared she wasn’t strong enough to shoulder what came with such a relationship.
Her stomach rumbled again, reminding Eva why she’d most likely woken in the first place.
“Do I need to feed you?” John mumbled sleepily, a small smile lifting his lips.
Eva rolled her head to hide in the pillow as her cheeks flamed—not that he’d opened his eyes. But being in bed with John naked was intimate and daunting. Will he regret what he’s done? John was a large, powerful man, whom Eva saw as
