Moth to a Flame (29 page)

The sight momentarily stunned me.
My sweet Lia.
That fucker had taped her ankles and knees, and her hands were bound behind her back. Rage blurred my vision when I witnessed her desperate attempt to roll away from his endless kicking. That asshole was kicking my woman. Snapping out of my shock, I tore off towards him. When I reached him, my body slammed against his as I tackled him to the ground.

He cursed a slew of words out at me as we scuffled, rolling over and over. We were each trying to get the advantage over the other. This motherfucker might have been as tall as me but I was a hell of a lot stronger than his scrawny ass. Lia was screaming in the background, only adding fuel to my fire of hate towards Sam. I felt powerful when I finally managed to pin the asshole underneath me. There was no way he was winning this fucking fight. Not against me. Not when I had all the fury in the world backing me to protect my girl. As I raised my fist to punch him, I realized Lia had been shouting something at me the entire time, but my mind had shut out all noise in my rage.

“He has a knife!” The words she screamed snapped my attention to the man beneath me but it was too late. I gasped in shock when I felt the sharp blow to my stomach.

Looking down, I blinked in surprise as blood quickly poured out around the knife that was stuck in my stomach.
He can’t win. This can’t happen.

Remembering the gun and that I still had the advantage of being on top of him, I yanked it from my waistband. The darkness was quickly eating away at my vision. So in one last moment of clarity, I focused and aimed the gun at his head, not even hesitating as I squeezed the trigger. My last thoughts were of Lia, my love. And then I was gone.

The angel was back to take me away. This time, she had brown hair. Her beauty was otherworldly as she spoke silent words to me, her green eyes filling with tears. She had the most beautiful wings that spread out behind her. Then, a different angel knelt beside me. This angel had black hair and was smiling.

She whispered, “You found what makes you happy, Cale. I love you.” The angel with black hair kissed my forehead and stood up. Then she walked away, leaving me with the green-eyed one.

What kind of angel wears black combat boots
, I thought as she disappeared in the distance?

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Is that my alarm clock?

What day is it?

Suddenly, I jerked awake, needing to find Lia.

“Cale!” she shouted, running up to me, crying.

Where the hell am I?

Next to her was my dad, who was also crying.

“Where am I?” I murmured. My voice was raspy and nearly unrecognizable.

She smiled through her tears and kissed my hand. “You’re in the hospital. You were stabbed in the abdomen when you came to rescue me from Sam,” she explained. Her smile fell and she started crying harder. “You almost died.”

I blinked as I came to terms that I almost left this world without my Lia. Like that would ever fucking happen.

“They had you in surgery for hours. But you made it. Thank you for saving me from him and risking your own life to do it,” she sobbed. “I love you, Cale.”

“I love you too, Lia.”

“Please don’t ever leave me again,” she begged.

“I could never leave you. Your light pulls me in. As long as your light burns bright, I’ll always follow it like a moth to a flame. Even the prospect of death couldn’t stop me,” I promised.

Almost two months later on Christmas Day…

EVERYONE WAS STANDING around Cale, looking at his newest tattoo on his other bicep. It was of his black-haired angel. I smiled when thinking of his story of seeing her when he had been nearly dying. He truly had a guardian angel looking after him, and I loved her for it.

This was a unique Christmas. We were having dinner in the house Cale had just finished building. After he recovered, we both moved into it together. We were able to have everyone I cared about over. Pops and Betty came—romance novels by the bagful—Mom and Rich—from Seattle this time—and finally Steve and Charlotte from Austin. Anj, Deion, and the kids popped over for a few minutes before heading over to her parents’ house.

Now, the eight of us were sitting by the fire after having just exchanged gifts. Since I didn’t get one from Cale yet, I assumed he had a surprise for me later. One of his gifts from me was underwear, to which I just got a cocked eyebrow.

Oh, the irony.

Cale stood up in front of everyone. “Thank you all for coming here. Lia and I care for every single one of you. That is why it would be an honor for you all to witness this,” he smiled, winking at Rich knowingly. When he knelt before me, my heart started to pound out of my chest and I heard my mom squeal. “Lia, I love you more than anything. Will you please marry me?” He slipped a very gorgeous ring onto my finger.

I cried as I shouted, “Yes!”

He gave me a long, sweet kiss. When everyone was done congratulating us, I pulled out my real present for him. He looked confused when I handed him the bag.

“Open it up,” I told him, grinning.

He pulled out the mug and stared at it quietly for a moment, processing. When his eyes looked up at me, glistening with tears, I told him to look inside the mug. After he retrieved a sonogram of our little baby from inside the cup, his face broke into a huge smile and squeezed me to him.

“How?” he asked in disbelief.

“Well, it turns out when you’re running around camping, having sleepovers with your boyfriend, and tearing off to New York, you forget to take your birth control pills,” I laughed.

“I love you,” he whispered as he kissed my lips.

“I love you too, ‘Number-One Dad,’” I grinned as I held up his new mug.

Finally. Safe.

Over three years earlier…

The headlights came careening across the median right into my path. There was no way of avoiding the collision. When the crunch of metal and screeching of tires had ended, I found myself sitting up in my seat, dazed. I must have hit my head on the steering wheel because it was pounding and I was becoming lightheaded and dizzy.

When I looked up, an angel stood out in front of my car watching me. It was my guardian angel, and she was beautiful. Her blond hair was blowing in the wind, whipping around her face. I saw her mouth the words, “Please, God.” Her beautiful, green eyes were filled with tears, so pained. Spread out behind her were the most stunning, delicate wings.

But then my angel had to leave, flying off into the night. And I fell into a black oblivion, missing her already.

The End.

My Books

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