“No!” she screamed.
The sword sliced through him.
“No! Please, no! Help!”
“Alice?”
Robbie’s voice came from far away.
“Alice.” The voice was sharper now. Robbie’s warm palms were on her shoulders, then slid to her lower back, lifting her up and against his broad chest. His clean mint, bergamot, and ginger scent wafted over her.
“Alice. Wake up.”
Her eyelids fluttered open.
Robbie was right there. He was whole and healthy and holding her.
“You’re alive?” she whispered. “You’re all right? It was a dream?”
“Yes. Just a bad dream.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “I’m here, Alice. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
It was instinct, sheer muscle memory, to slide her arms around his neck, arch up, and press her lips to his.
Robbie cradled her close, and their mouths fused together like they were made to mesh as one. All the fear and anxiety disappeared like a puff of smoke. Positivity and light replaced the bad, and Alice was whole and unafraid in the strength of Robbie’s embrace and the happiness of his kiss.
Warmth and thrills shot through her. Her stomach gave a happy lurch as her body was infused with a joy that only Robbie could bring into her life. She’d missed this, missed him, every part of him.
Finally, they were together. Finally, they were one.
The kiss became more intense and fulfilling. Their mouths moved together, and Robbie’s strong body surrounded her. He was here for her. Of course she could trust him. Only Robbie would be strongenough to stay safe from Big Buddha and bring the monster to justice. Robbie was all she’d ever want, all she’d ever need.
The most epic reconnection kiss of the century could’ve continued all night except there was a soft rap on the door.
They pulled apart, both out of breath, grinning at each other like lovesick fools. Alice touched her lips. She was a fool … for him.
“Nightmare?” River asked from the open doorway.
“Yes,” Robbie said, his gaze not leaving her face.
“Forgive me. I had to check.”
“We understand. Appreciate it.”
River pulled the door almost closed.
Robbie’s gaze was hungry on her. He eased down close to her lips again. “Alice.” His whisper was rough, husky. “I’ve longed for you with every heartbeat. I told you when I shaved that I don’t want a beard or my career or …” He didn’t say her mother, but she knew he was thinking it. “… anything to come between us. The near misses tonight made it crystal clear to me. All I want is you in my life.”
Alice’s heart took flight at his words. She loved him and wanted to trust him with her heart, her life, and his own safety. Longed to shout it to the world and stand up to her mother and beg Robbie to never leave her again.
He longed for her. He wanted her in his life. Yet … the attack tonight. The ‘near misses’. They’d been too close, and Big Buddha would not give up. Now he was hiring professional hit men to help him. Juneteenth was in four days. Then July Fourth. She’d be terrified of every holiday until Robbie was killed. All her joy and naivety during the kiss smacked her like an iron beam. Even Robbie and the mighty Aiden Porter couldn’t prevail against Big Buddha. The mental image of Robbie in a casket haunted her. The true love of her life would be killed, and it would be all her fault.
Against every instinct telling her to forget tomorrow’s terrors and kiss him again, she pulled back.
“Robbie, I can’t.” Her own voice was full of all the misery she felt. Everyone had died because of her. Not Robbie. She couldn’t lose him.
“Because of the hits on my life?”
“Yes,” she admitted. “I can’t watch you die.”
