This is a sequel to the book- To Capture A Heart.
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Veronica had it all and then, in just a matter of a few days, she lost it all.
The tension is at an all-time high and shocking secrets are revealed. Old bonds are broken and replaced with new...
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The words flew out of my mouth in a second. I'll always find you. Because it was true. She could hide from everyone but not me. I'd never let her.
As soon as the words were out of my mouth she opened her eyes. Tears welled up; when they fell, her face crumpled and she went down hard, landing on her knees and slumped sideways. I quickly dropped to her side and pulled her into my arms. She held me tight and sobbed against my chest.
My helplessness choked me. I didn't want her to go through all of this but no force on earth could erase this part from her life. There was nothing I could do except be there for her.
She had been cut apart once and with time she had stiched that wound back, but the scar had always remained. This panic attack was a result of that.
My tiger, who was usually unshakable was fractured and falling, and I had to watch helplessly as the damage that asshole had inflicted on her continued to victimize the most important person to me.
"Breathe, Tiger." I tightened my arms around her trembling body. "Breathe through this."
"I c-can't, " she gasped. "Can't breathe."
"Look at me, it's okay." I held her face in my hands. "Take a deep breath, in from your nose and out from your mouth."
She closed her eyes and did as I asked her to. One long shuddering breath at a time and I felt her grip on me starting to loosen. "That's it, baby. I've got you. I've got you."
After what felt like a long time, she opened her eyes, those eyes that could undo me and they were full of tears. "I'm sorry, " she whispered. The shame in her expression crushed my heart.
"You've got nothing to be sorry about, baby." I peppered kisses all over her face. I couldn't help it. But I was surprised that she let me.
She let me touch her, hold her, kiss her when I didn't deserve it, but I sure as hell wasn't going to complain.
I paused for a fraction of a second, my lips a hairsbreadth away from hers. My eyes met hers, waiting for a signal. After everything that had happened, after everything that I had put her through, I needed to know she needed this as much as I did. She pressed her forehead against mine, her skin was damp and heated.
"Please." It was a sigh. It was permission. It was everything.
I swallowed a groan of relief as her lips met mine, her soft body molding against the hardness of mine. She pressed her palm against my chest, pausing over my heart. Her touch sent a jolt of awareness through me as if she had set its rhythm, freeing it from all the burden I'd been carrying around for a few days.
Her mouth on mine, the slow sweep of her tongue along my bottom lip, and her hands in my hair made me forget myself for an instant. She could overwhelm me when I least expected it, in the best possible way.
