Needing 13 - Johnny Kavanagh

HOME IS WHEREVER I'M WITH YOU

JOHNNY

"Are you gonna kiss me?"

Bloody fucking hell.

This woman was going to be the death of me, and I'd go willingly.

My heart pounded like it wanted to break out of my chest, hammering hard enough that I swear she could feel it.

"If I kiss you, are you gonna push me away?"

I searched her face, every inch of me aching as I watched the storm in her eyes—like she was battling every demon in her head, fighting to let her heart win. The struggle, it was plain as day, and the look in her eyes tore a groan right out of me.

"Just know, Tara, once I do it—once I kiss ya—I'm not letting ya go." I breathed the words out against her lips, fierce and raw. "I'm keeping you. Forever. I'm done playing games."

I wasn't just speaking to Tara, no.

I was talking to every ghost and shadow she carried inside her.

I was telling each and every fucking demon that haunted her that they had no power over me—that no matter how they tried to drag her down, I'd pull her back up every damn time. There wasn't a shadow dark enough, a fear deep enough, to keep her hidden from me.

And Teddy Lynch—that bastard with a vice grip on her mind—I was telling him too. He could loosen his bloody finger from the trigger, let go of the hold he thought he had, because no amount of his poison was going to stop me from making her happy. He could try, but he'd lose. Every single time.

The monster of Marie Lynch loomed there too, a black hole of bitterness, and I wanted it to know I'd love her—every messed-up, scarred, wild piece of her—even on the days she couldn't bear to look at herself. I'd make up for all the lost years, every second I should've spent loving her, and I didn't give a damn what she thought.

And that scared, lost five-year-old girl trapped in a gilded cage, the one she kept buried under so much pain—she was hearing me too. I was telling her it was safe, that she didn't have to be afraid anymore. Not with me.

"You're mine," I growled, pouring everything I was into those two words. I was laying down all my cards, begging her silently to choose me. To choose us. And I prayed that whatever she felt for me was loud enough, fierce enough, to drown out the voices that had kept her trapped.

The silence hung heavy, stretching out like an eternity, while I clung to every flicker of emotion that crossed her face. Breath hitched. Lips parted. Her pupils dilated, and before I could fully process it—

"I'm done playing games too, Johnny."

And just like that, my fate was sealed.

Her words barely had time to sink in before her lips crashed against mine, hard and unrestrained, pouring all that chaos and fire back into me.

Fuck me.

She grabbed the elastic of my shorts, pulling me even closer, and my hands found her hips, gripping hard enough to leave marks. I couldn't stop the rough, hungry kiss that followed, each one deeper than the last. Somewhere in the distance, I heard Sookie barking at us, but right now, not a damn thing could pull me away from her. My girl had all my undivided attention.

"Christ, I missed you," I panted, capturing her lips again with a raw need that felt like it was tearing me apart. She kissed me harder, her hand slipping from my waistband to my back, dragging her nails down it in a way that had me practically shuddering.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, her breath warm against my lips, and then she pressed a soft kiss there, a whisper of an apology. "I love you," she murmured, kissing me harder, fierce and certain.