Dragon

23 - There you are

Kyla

“Then there was the time you talked me into stealing whiskey from my dad’s cabinet.” Connor continues. “We sat under our special tree and drank some of it. It burned your throat, and you gasped out how I was trying to kill you. I laughed so much that I dropped the bottle, and it smashed everywhere. I got in so much trouble when my dad found out.”

We both got in trouble. But Hammer never did tell my father what I’d done. Hammer took me to one side and told me all the evils of drinking when so young and how Connor and I wouldn’t be able to stay friends if we ever did something so stupid again. Hammer told me that he liked me, and he didn’t want my father to ban me from seeing Connor.

Hammer winked at me with a smile on his face when he saw the tears in my eyes. He was always so lovely to me, even if he was a big, scary biker.

Mom didn’t much like me being friends with the son of a biker. She made sure to let me know what she’d do to me if she ever found me hanging out with Connor again. It was my dad who said it was okay and for Mom to back off. I always wondered what Hammer said to make my dad allow Connor and me to be friends.

I feel Connor’s hand slide into mine, and I close my eyes. His hand feels so big; it dwarfs mine, but then it always did. I don’t pull away like last time. I don’t want to. I have waited so long to feel Connor’s hand in mine, and it feels good.

“I know how frightened you must be right now. All of your dreams of us meeting again and how the reunion would go have gone up in smoke. But, baby, we’re together now. I’m right here in front of you, and I’m not going anywhere, no matter what.”

A tear slips from my eye at his words. I love him. I love him more now than I ever have, and I haven’t even looked at him yet. I haven’t seen the man the boy grew into. My love for Connor has grown stronger every day since the day I met him. It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been apart; our love has grown a hundredfold.

Is it even possible to love someone as much as I love Connor?

“Please, Kyla. Please look at me; I’ve missed your beautiful eyes. They used to see right through me.”

“They still can,” I say as I turn to look at him, and it’s like the wind is knocked out of both of us. He’s even more handsome now that he’s a man. My baby was right; Connor is incredibly attractive and so big.

God, what does he eat?

His hair is so long that it touches his shoulders. Connor always said that one day, he’d have long hair. His hair was never short when I met him, but he still wanted it longer. It really suits him, and it makes him look like a sexy rockstar – or biker, in this case.

I clutch at Connor’s hand and smile at him.

“There you are.” He whispers.

“There you are,” I whisper back.

There are tears in Connor’s eyes, tears in mine. I squeeze his fingers, and he brings my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles. There is so much we have to talk about, so much we’ve missed out on, but now isn’t the time. Right now, I just want to look at him.

Every day since we parted, I have wondered about the man Connor would grow up to be. Strangely, he turned out just the way I imagined he would – handsome beyond words. Of course, I’m biased, but I challenge any woman to look at Connor Marshall and tell me I’m wrong.

“I’ve missed you.” I couldn’t stop the words slipping from my mouth, but they’re truthful.

With the inside of his finger, Connor strokes my jaw. “I’ve missed you, baby. Not a day has gone by when I haven’t thought about you, wished you were here with me, longed for the day we’d meet under our tree.”

“Me too. I’m so sorry you had to find out about Greer the way you did. . .”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I know everything, Kyla; Greer filled me in.” Connor rolls his eyes playfully, and it makes me laugh. “You’ve raised such a beautifully kind little girl, and God knows she loves you so much. You’ve done amazingly, Kyla, and I am so proud of you.”

“Thank you.” That touched my heart. He’s not angry with me, and he’s grateful for the way I’ve raised our little girl.

What more could I ask for?

“I’m so sorry for what Storm said to you about me taking Greer. He had no right!” Connor sighs. “I’m not making excuses for him. But I believe he said that out of anger, and maybe he thought it would prompt you to come to me and tell me about Greer. But what he said led to this!”

I breathe deeply through my nose. There is so much I could say about Storm, but it wouldn’t get me anywhere. Besides, it is what it is.

“Connor,” He looks at me. “What Storm said scared me when it shouldn’t have. I was foolish and didn’t think before chasing after everyone. I knew in my heart that you would never take Greer from me.” I sigh. “I was already freaked out that Hammer, Storm, and Rabid turned up at my door, scaring Greer.”

Connor’s eyes widen, and his breathing becomes harsh.

“Shh,” I bring his hand to my mouth and kiss his fingers. “It’s okay, Connor. They didn’t mean to frighten her.” He breathes deeply but says nothing. “I know you’re angry about what happened, and Storm shouldn’t have said what he said. But he was angry for you, Connor. He believed I should have been the one who sought you out and told you about Greer. He was right; I should have. I reacted badly to what he said when I should have used my head. Storm didn’t hit me with that car, Connor.”

Connor shakes his head. “That’s not the point. He had no right to seek you out and speak for me!”

I nod. “I know. But I doubt Storm meant for this to happen.”

I could hate Storm for what happened to me. But the fact remains that he didn’t do this to me. I reacted badly to what he said, and my running out into the road without looking is what caused this.

Connor shakes his head. “He didn’t, but I don’t know how to let go of the anger I feel, Kyla. I get that he didn’t mean for this to happen, but the fact remains that it did because of his words.”

I stroke my thumb over the back of his knuckles. “He just wanted me to wake up and bring Greer to you.”

“I know you would have brought her to meet me sooner if you could, Kyla. For all Storm knew, you could have been getting ready to find me the very next day. Anyway, enough about Storm.”

I smile because I can’t help it. That smile will be my undoing.

“Did you honestly think I wouldn’t keep my promises?”

That’s a tough one.

“It’s not that I didn’t believe you would. It’s just that I didn’t know if you’d given up hope of me ever returning. I wouldn’t have blamed you, Connor.”

He smiles at me, and I see just how much Greer really does look like him. The young boy I remember is still in there, still so beautiful.

“There has never been anyone else for me, Kyla. Never.”

“Me either. All I cared about was Greer and the day you and I would finally be together. The three of us as a family.”

“Do you still want that, sweetheart? The three of us together? A real family?”

I search his eyes. I don’t know what I’m trying to find. I don’t even have to ask if that’s what he wants. I know in my heart that he does. I’ve always known. All I have to do is look at this man to understand what he’s thinking. We’re two halves of the same coin, still after all this time. Always have been, always will be.

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted, Connor,” I swallow hard; this isn’t easy for me. “But it can’t happen. We can’t be together.”

“Why? Why would you say something like that?”

“Because I’m not going to be myself for a while, Connor. My leg is busted, not to mention my wrist. I’m not going to be able to do much without help for a while.”

“And I’ll be right by your side. I won’t leave you, Kyla. Not for anything.”

I close my eyes, forcing back the tears. I open them again and look at Connor. “You don’t deserve to be stuck with this, Connor. Yes, I’ll need your help with Greer, but I won’t have you taking care of me. I won’t have you doing that out of pity.”

“Pity?” Connor pulls his hand out of mine. He leans back in his seat—shock and horror written all over his face. “You think I pity you? I love you, you silly girl. Fuc.k! I have loved you most of my life. Walking or not, sick or not, I will not leave you. I’m going to be right by your side every day for the rest of my life because I. Love. You.”

This time, the tears do fall.

What am I supposed to do with that?

Connor isn’t doing this out of pity. He means what he says, and even though I want to push him away to save him from all of this, I can’t – I can’t because he’s right. We’ve loved each other for so long, and even though we’ve been apart longer than we’ve been together, the love between us has never died; it has only gotten stronger.

If I push Connor away now, how will I ever know how good we could be together?

How will I know just how strong our love could be?

There’s a lot to sort out if we’re going to do this, but I’m willing to give it a try. I’m a strong woman, and I know when not to cut my nose off to spite my face. No, we won’t jump headfirst into a relationship; we’re friends more than lovers right now. But I know we can build ourselves from the ground up.

Dating isn’t something I’ve ever done, but it’s easy, right?

“I love you, too, Dragon.”

He laughs loudly, making me laugh with him. “Baby, you don’t need to call me by my road name. My girl never has to call me anything other than my given name.”

I smile because I knew that. I remember how Willow would sometimes call Hammer Sam.

“I have always loved you, Connor. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Then he’s beside me, arms around me, holding me close to him, and it feels incredible to be held by this man. The man I have been dreaming about since we were still just kids.

“It’s okay, baby, we’re together now. Now and for always. I promise.”

I promise. . .