Preservation by Rachael Wade

Author:Rachael Wade [Wade, Rachael]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Wade, Rachael, Preservation, Fiction
Publisher: Rabbit Hole Press
Published: 2012-04-08T04:00:00+00:00

13. FIRE DRILL

“Merry Christmas, sleepy head,” Ryan’s voice hummed in my ear, stirring me from the deepest sleep I’d had in a long time. Our legs entangled, we held each other under the sailboat-pattern quilt, thoroughly relaxed and snug. The windows were frosted up, but thankfully there was no snow on the ground.

“Mmmm, do we have to get up?” I stretched and sprawled across him, squeezing his torso tight, running my fingers down, down, lower...

He growled. “Yes, we do,” he snatched my hand underneath the blanket. “As much as I’d love to bury myself in you and break the shit out of this headboard, I have one more Christmas present for you,” he wiggled out of my grasp and kissed my forehead, reaching to the bedside table drawer. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and eyed the bathroom, desperately wanting to brush my teeth if there was going to be headboard-shattering sex taking place. But the sight of Ryan’s muscular back contracting as he reached for the drawer quickly averted my focus away from the bathroom. “Here we go,” he returned with a black, velvet jewelry box and sat up. The box lingered in his hand a moment. He cleared his throat. “Well, are you going to open it?”

“Of course,” I reached for it, sitting up.

“Breathe, Kate. I’m not getting down on one knee yet.”

Yet? I smiled at him and popped open the box, looking down to find a silver locket in the shape of a globe, the lines of the continents clearly engraved in fine detail. “Ryan, it’s gorgeous...”

“You like it?” his voice perked up and he leaned forward to rest his arms on his knees. Our eyes met and I froze. His boyish eagerness and bright eyes reeled me in and I found myself struck by his sudden vulnerability, in awe at his bravery to put himself out on a limb for me, even though he’d been hurt himself before. Here was the first man I’d ever genuinely loved, and I’d returned most of his gestures with nothing but armor and football field-length force fields, ready to deflect any gesture that attacked my comfort zone. I wasn’t playing fair; I needed to give a little. Maybe I could start looking at my apartment as our place, like he saw it. Baby steps.

“Like it?” I held it up, watching it spin in front of me, the morning light bouncing off the shiny silver globe. “I love it, Ry.”

His shoulders visibly relaxed and sleepy smile widened. “Well I know how you feel about the atlas...how your mom’s dreams to travel meant so much to you, and how you share the same wanderlust. So...”

“It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect.” Peering down at the vintage rabbit pendant I already wore, I reached for the clasp and slipped the new globe locket onto the chain.

“The silver doesn’t exactly match the color of your other pendant...”

“I don’t care. I want to wear them together,” I grasped the globe tight between my fingers, raising my head to meet his gaze.

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