Chapter 114 EVER SINCE
WILLA'S POV
My heart weighed heavily in my chest as I listened with horror, pain and anger to a story that had completely changed the trajectory of Gallahan's life.
He ended the tale with the assurance that he was no longer as vengeful and as angry as he once was, but he also told us that to completely forgive humans for what they had done was not on the table at the moment.
I didn't say anything about it. No objection. No comment. Nothing.
After all, I had come to terms with the fact that Gallahan had dealt with his pain and trauma in his own way and that I couldn't force what path of healing he should take. It was his road to choose and his journey to make. My role was to offer him strength and light if he needed it.
The stubborn heaviness I felt stayed the same way even after we had managed to lull the twins back to sleep and tuck them back into bed. They still chose to sleep in my room, leaving me and Gallahan the option to sleep beside them or to retire to the spare room in the house.
The choice was made when Gallahan murmured, "We're not yet through talking."
I nodded in acquiescence and quietly slipped out of the room with him.
Then, when we were in the privacy of the other room, I wasted no breath and immediately wrapped Gallahan in a tight embrace.
He returned the hug just as tightly as if I was the lone strong pillar that kept him anchored and not blown away by a hurricane.
"You're okay," I whispered. "You're okay. The ghosts from your past won't hurt you now."
"I don't think so, Willa," he whispered back, squeezing me a little before loosening his hold until his hands rested gently on my hips.
Meanwhile, my hands were on his sturdy chest as I selfishly found comfort in his steady and strong heartbeat that I could feel beneath my palm.
"What do you mean?"
I looked at Gallahan's face searchingly, and my breath caught in my throat when his gaze, so soft and so loving, met mine.
The urge to kiss him swelled in my chest and flared in my gut. It was so sudden and so strong that I couldn't find the strength to restrain myself.
So I set my lips against his, tilting my head a little as a sign I wanted him to deepen the kiss.
He did when he responded so fervently that my legs lost strength and my knees nearly buckled.
"God, I love you," he said almost reverently against my lips.
Any response I wanted to make was devoured by another round of searing kissing.
"I love you," I said breathlessly, my nose brushing gently with Gallahan's. "And by gods, I want you. I need you. You're my man, my mate, my person. Bloody past or not, I... I will choose you, Gallahan."
"I have been your a long time ago Willa. I have always been yours from the moment I saw you in the middle of the battle in the Ferndell Forest. There was no other woman I would give myself to but you..."
"Then claim me," I said hotly in between the featherlight kisses I peppered on his cheek and jaw.
Gallahan chuckled, squeezing my hips for a fleeting moment. He then buried his nose in the juncture where my neck and shoulder met and took a deep inhale as if he wanted to breathe me in.
"I want to. I would love to, Willa." As if to prove his point, he groaned with a curse and bucked his hip forward, making me feel his hard arousal. "But we've got a long conversation to make. The one we were having before the kids came and interrupted us."
"Can't it wait?" I whined while I made my hand busy with his hair, burying my fingers through the luscious strands and scratching my nails against his scalp in the way I knew would melt him.
His eyes fluttered shut, and he let out a long shaky puff of breath. "No. No, it can't wait. Not when we are talking about the safety of our family."
Okay. He did have a point.
This was more important than my raging need to be railed, claimed and knotted by Gallahan.
So I relented with a sigh. "Can we cuddle at least?"
Gallahan gave me a stern look. "You're not going to distract and seduce me, are you?"
I scoffed in return. "Have some faith, will you? Now come on. Let's talk and get this over with."
Gallahan stripped out of his trousers, leaving him with his y-front that left nothing to the imagination.
"Now who's distracting and seducing who?" I grumbled under my breath as I also stripped down to just my shirt and underwear.
We then settled on the bed with Gallahan spooning me in a loose embrace. I could feel his hard erection behind me, and I couldn't help but press myself further against him.
"Willa," he moaned, gripping my hips in warning.
"Just getting comfortable," I responded cheekily.
He didn't say anything for almost a minute, too focused on getting his composure back and trying to will his arousal away by taking deep even breaths.
Meanwhile, I was fighting against the nearly insurmountable need to grind my behind against his half-hard dick.
Perhaps I shouldn't have suggested we cuddle.
"Those ghosts of my past you've mentioned..." Gallahan finally began just as I was about to lose my silent battle. It did well in distracting me enough. "They can and they will hurt us, Willa. What they did on the night of Ascension Rite was the catalyst to the war I waged against humans. And that war made me more enemies."
I hummed, letting him know I was paying attention.
"I wouldn't have cared how many enemies I made. But with you and the twins in the picture..."
A hint of a smile stretched on my lips. "It's a different story."
"Yes, it is," Gallahan agreed easily. "I mean... Consider this. I had agreed to stop the war for you, after all."
"You what?" I exclaimed, quickly freeing myself from his embrace and sitting up on the bed to have a proper good look at him.
And the expression I saw on his face? So full of warm affection I could almost melt on the spot.
"The ceasefire was done for you. I told you, Willa... I have been yours since the moment I first laid my eyes on you."