In the end

Chapter 40 - Just love

~ Jared POV ~

I followed Jay to Clif's room with my stomach rolling and clenching and everything in between. This could be it, the chance I need to take to maybe see her again. I was scared shitless. There were just so many what-ifs in my head, so many ways this could end up crushing me.

Clif was probably the best person possible to have in my corner, he'd spent so many years in private protection he'd built a veritable network of contacts in security and law enforcement. He sent the picture of her at 12 years old to someone that age enhanced it and got me to make changes until it was accurate. By the time we finished we ended up with closest thing we could get to a real photo of her. Clif figured that based on her disappearances and aliases that she most likely didn't live in the area but came into town for supplies. He left after that to start asking around the local market if anyone recognized her. I had nothing to do but wait.

I decided instead of pacing around Clif's room I might as well go back to my own so I could at least be a mess in private. As soon as I stepped inside I got this feeling like something was off. When I walked passed the kitchen I noticed the curtains to patio door moving slightly, the door was open. My first reaction ingrained in me from years of Clif telling us was to remove myself from the situation as fast as possible. I turned to leave just as the wind blew the curtain aside giving me a direct view of the patio behind it. At first I thought I was just seeing things, that my mind had finally broken away from reality. I took a few steps closer unable to really believe she was real. It wasn't until she turned her head and looked up at me, her eyes finding mine. The memories I'd fought so hard to hold onto didn't even compare.

Her eyes were filled with sorrow but she was still the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. A strangled sound escaped my throat and I suddenly found myself on my knees. And then she was there, her arms wrapped around me, her face pressed against mine. I brought my hands to up to cradle her face and saw that she was crying. She opened her mouth to speak but I didn't care, I pressed my lips to her tentatively at first.

She sobbed into my mouth and kissed me back with so much passion and hunger I could have died happy in this moment. There was nothing else in this world, just the feel of her skin on my fingertips, the smell of her hair. I put one hand over her heart and pushed her back gently, I needed to look at her, feel her heart beat under my hand, try to convince myself that she was real. It wasn't until she brought her hands to my face that I realized I was crying too. She wiped away my tears and kissed the trails they'd left behind. I opened my eyes and turned her face to look at me. I didn't hesitate at all because it was real, I had known it all along. "I love you." She sagged against me and started sobbing. I held her to me like she would disappear any moment, until she pulled back enough to raise her face to mine. Her voice was thick and rough but it didn't matter, she said the only thing that I cared about. What I spent so long thinking I'd never hear. "I love you."

She clutched at me like she thought I would push away. I gathered her into my arms and stood up, cradling her to my chest. She reached up to stroke my cheek and pulled my hard down until she could kiss me. I walked over to the bed and managed to lay us both down without letting go of her. I refused to separate from her for a second. Our kisses were slow and filled with passion, but it wasn't a burning kind of intensity, more of a steady simmering determined to last. I felt her fingers undoing the buttons of my shirt as I slipped the straps of her dress down. She was staring into my eyes so deeply I felt like she could see everything, like my entire being was exposed to her. We undressed each other with patience and tenderness savouring how different it felt now. Every kiss meant more than the last, every touch was a song on my skin. We both hesitated for a moment before becoming one being. One word was left unspoken. She gazed into my eyes from beneath me and I knew we felt the same. We made love with our bodies and hearts, like it was the very first time.