Chapter 45

Charlie watched Aiden with a heart filled with joy as he walked between groups of Red Dawn members, meeting and greeting them with a huge smile on his face. She knew it was probably a front but nobody but her and Sarah would be able to tell.

"He's come a long way these last few weeks, hasn't he?"

Charlie looked at Sarah, her eyes entering with tears of joy. "He has. I knew he was special when I first met him but the things he's told me and what he's grown into in such a short time has blown my mind. He was so hard-hearted and now all I see is a wounded man who would love unconditionally if he found the right person."

"He will, one day. Just be patient with him, honey."

"Have you decided what you will do?"

Charlie saw a gleam in Sarah's eyes as she turned her face towards where Ben was sitting, talking to Simon. "Nothing. Nothing has changed."

There was hopeless pain in her voice that made Charlie wonder what had happened between the two. They seemed so good together. They were strong and full of life when they were with each other and the energy between them was almost visible in the air.

"What happened with you two?" She said, "What was so disastrous that it tore you both apart and means you can't get back to what you were? It's obvious you're both madly in love with each other, Sarah."

"It's a long story and not one for today. Another time. I promise."

Charlie nodded then watched her walk away, back to Ben. She couldn't imagine being so close to the love of her life and never being with him romantically. It would feel like the worst form of torture.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Charlie smiled at Aiden as he walked to her and hung his arm over her shoulder. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she hugged him tightly and nuzzled into his chest.

"So, I wanted to talk to you. I know we got off on the wrong foot and then we kind of sorted it out but then I totally fucked things up and."

"Hush," she said, placing her finger on his lips. "Today is a new day and a fresh start. What happened before doesn't matter."

"Well, it kind of does because there's something I want to say to you. I should have said it in the beginning but I was a shitbag, I guess."

"Let me guess, you're not just a hitman, or the tooth fairy or a wolf. You're really an alien from planet fuck knows where and you want to spread your evil seed?"

"Piss off. I'm trying to be serious here, Charlie. This is hard, you know. I don't do this soft, feely shit."

Charlie laughed then stifled it with a bandaged hand, wincing as she put it over her mouth.

"I'm sorry. Go on. It's been a long day and I get giddy when I'm nervous," she said.

"I. I. Fuck sake," Aiden said. "I love you, Charlie. I want you to be with me forever. I've always known it. I just didn't have the guts to say it to you until now.”

A trillion faeries with shimmering wings may as well have lifted her from the ground and spun her through the air like the seeds of a blown dandelion, for the number of somersaults that her stomach did. She felt her face flush a blazing shade of crimson as Aiden looked at her. He was waiting for her to say something but her mouth didn't want to pick itself up from the floor. She knew how she felt about him but hearing her hard-faced, stone-hearted, gorgeous assassin tell her how he felt, had taken her by surprise.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything,” Aiden said.

“No, no. I’m just shocked, I guess. You’re so… You and yet you’re different, somehow. It just took me by surprise, that’s all. If I’m honest, I wasn’t expecting you to ever love me but I’m glad that you do because I love you too.”

“So you will stay?”

Charlie looked into his eyes and for the first time since meeting him, she saw the demons that had darkened his heart and soul had begun to disappear. His eyes were no longer dark, instead, they shone with love and hope for the future. They begged for better days that were filled with joy and happiness and as she saw him glance at Ben and Sarah, she saw a gleam of fondness and she knew that his heart had melted.

“Always,” she told him, raising her lips to his. “I wouldn’t dream of going anywhere without you.”

“In that case,” he said, not taking his lips away from hers. “How would you feel about me taking you as my mate?”

“Hm, that sounds interesting. What do I have to do?”

She whispered her words around his lip that she had pulled into her teeth and felt her skin erupt into a wave of goosebumps as he groaned against her mouth.

“You just have to lay there while I eat every inch of you and then fuck you until you can’t walk. That’s all.”

“Well, in that case, you best get started because there’s a lot of me for those lips of yours to cover.”