amostdistinguishedrapscallion:
âWait, what?â Killian stared at her with wide eyes, stunned; barely registering her kisses. Numbly, he circled one arm around her, too shocked to do anything but stand there and try to absorb the fact thatâŠ
A surge of euphoria burst through his chest, heart leaping and hammering like a frenzied butterfly. Words tumbled from his lips, he couldnât quite decipher them: something along the lines of, âSeriously?â, âYou mean it?â, and âAre you sure?â It hardly mattered, it was a wonder he could even breathe right now, let alone speak.Â
âOh, God, I love you,â he whispered; and kissed her with everything he had, holding her tightly against him, as though she could never be close enough. âI love you, I love youâŠâ
âI love youâ was a poor representation of how he felt about her, because it wasnât just loveâ it was so much more. His heart was broken and scarred and blackened with past sinsâŠbut it was hers, every shard. His soul was mottled and torn, worthless by anyoneâs standardsâŠbut hers, every last bloody piece. She was everything to him. Everything.
âYou know what this means, though, donât you?â he grinned, his voice still uneven and shaking. He pushed his hand clumsily through her hair, gazing into those green eyes he loved so well. âYouâre stuck with me. Thereâs no getting rid of me now, itâs you and me, forever.â
     The grin on her lips only widened, the brunette almost positive that the muscles of her face would be aching and sore for days to come as the expression of pure, unadulterated happiness would undoubtedly remain -- even linger -- for the foreseeable future.
     All her life, Ruby had so longed for someone to share herself with, wholly and without apology, but fate had inevitably toyed with a then newly broken heart and locked it away, perhaps by design ( for safe keeping, until the right one happened along and shattered any and all defenses that had been held in place for so many years ). Her hope had come to town with nefarious intentions, clad in leather and brandishing a hook for a missing appendage, though Ruby hadnât seen much of kindness and love that now blossomed in his heart. Theyâd both needed something -- someone to understand, to take the time to find the people theyâd been before tragedy had unfolded and altered their perceptions -- and neither the she-wolf nor the pirate would have believed, upon first blush, that it was in the other that theyâd find what their lives had been missing.
     â Forever, â she echoed, her own voice quivering under the syllables -- not because she feared solidifying their love with a promise of eternity, but rather had never anticipated that such a notion was feasible. Lips pursed as fingertips traced the line of his jaw, over its hinge before disappearing into dark locks and tangling amidst the strands.
     â Think I can keep you in line for that long? â she teased, hoping to add some levity to an otherwise emotional exchange. â Iâd put my odds at about 30/70, in favor of you wreaking havoc like you always seem to. â Killian may have been a kept man, but some things would never change -- nor did Ruby want them to.
stormborns
2087
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romaincrisis