“I know you are completely terrified inside your mind right now, Tessa,” he said to me very quietly, his deep voice dropping into a low rumble that was meant entirely for my ears alone. His thick thumb began to gently stroke the skin over my knuckles in a slow, reassuring rhythm. “I saw the raw terror in your eyes last night when I returned from the highway. I heard the hesitation in your voice this morning, and I know you are having deep, painful doubts about whether you can actually survive living inside this outlaw world.”
I looked down at our joined hands on the table, watching the contrast between his massive, scarred skin and my small fingers. I swallowed hard as the familiar lump of emotion began to form in my throat.
“I love you with every single piece of my soul, Stone,” I whisp
