Chapter 203: "I love you"

"Before you take that leap," Neil said with a tenderness that made her hesitate, "know that my arms ache to hold you, my heart yearns to love you, and my soul longs to be with you. Please, reconsider. Remember you have a child in you who hasn’t seen the light of the world yet, if not for me, do it for our child."

Mia stopped, and as if possessed, she began to back away from the cliff, sobbing and pressing a hand to her little bump as if she’d just remembered she was pregnant. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably with sobs of regret and disbelief. She allowed herself to cry to the point she could barely breathe, she turned around to the man standing behind her, afraid to approach her because he feared she’d jump. She saw the sicking worry in his expression, and the tenderness in his eyes. She cried even more at the realization that she’d almost killed herself, her body jerking with every heart wrenching sobs that tore out of her throat.

"Why," she whispered through her sobs, "did you leave me to suffer alone? Why did you run after me when you believed the damned rumors?" She asked the only question that had driven her to take such an uncharacteristic step of ending her own life on a cliff. A few moments ago, she had been so certain she wanted to die.

"I never believed the rumors. Not even once. I came here," Neil said slowly as he watched her cry, "because I can’t live without you, Mia. You are my beginning and my end, you are the reason I want to see the sun rise and set every day. If you leave me now... I’d have no reason to survive. Please, come back with me, let’s go home, let’s build our home together."

Mia broke down even more at his touching words, and because she could no longer bear it, she began to rush forward through the whistling wind, walking fast, then running... running into the open arms that were waiting for her.

They closed around her with a stunning force, his hand cradling her tear-streaked face against his chest, shielding her from the strong early spring wind that tried to steal their comfort, his arms a warm barrier against the cold breeze as he bent his head and whispered hoarsely, "I love you. I love you so much." Her shoulders shaking with sobs, she slid her hands around his neck, her face buried against his chest, holding him fiercely to her like she wanted to be one with him.

He hugged her back as tightly as he could, his hug was from relief and love for the only woman who’d ever made him experience all sorts of emotions in one night that left him shaken with relief. He loved her so much he wanted to burn down the whole world for what they’d put her through. He slightly pushed away from the hug, kissing off her tears and covering her face with light feathery kisses.

"Don’t cry, please don’t..." He whispered hoarsely as he covered her mouth with his, he felt her lips trembled against his and he kissed her slowly and gently. When she returned his kiss with a desperate one that was driven from her longing for him, he deepened it, his arms tightening around her waist and he kissed her like he was a man dying of thirst and she was his water, his salvation. Desire surged through him, heating his blood, sending it singing through his veins, forcing his hands to slip behind her head to tilt her head to fit perfectly with his hungry mouth.

While his mouth moved on hers with inflaming expertise, she dizzily slid her hands up his chest, trying to cling for support. She moaned softly into his mouth, she’d missed him so much she didn’t want to end the kiss despite the dizziness that suddenly washed over her. Her head was throbbing, but when he was about to pull away from the kiss, she desperately clutched to his neck and moaned in protest.

The sound of her moan triggered an instant reaction from Neil. His arms tightened around her and he deepened the kiss ten times more, his lips moving on hers with hungry ardor, insistently shaping and fitting her lips to his own. Lost in a haze of yearnings, Mia leaned up on her toes, responding to the forceful pressure of his arms. He groaned as she molded her body against his, and his parted lips crushed hers, sliding insistently back and forth, urging hers to part; the moment they did, his tongue slid between them, plunging into the soft recesses of her welcoming mouth.

After a few moments, Neil reluctantly tore his mouth from hers as he felt himself losing control, and also felt the wetness of her dress and how she slightly shivered when the wind blew towards them. He leaned his forehead against hers as they both tried to catch their breaths. Without a word he moved back and draped his coat, which she’d left behind in the hall on her body and then said, "Let’s go,"

Mia was past all rational thought for the moment, before she blinked and hoarsely asked, "Where?"

"Home." Neil said.

"Where is home?" She asked softly as her throat burned with emotions.

He looked down at her face and felt speechless and helpless and desperate to be alone with her in a room. Her eyes told him she felt the same. He then whispered, "My house, we will make it into a home."

He’d also never had a home for the past twenty years after the death of his parents, he’d had to move from one city to the other for his mission and had to change his house like he was changing clothes, but not anymore. He’d make a home with this incredible beautiful woman in his arms and allow himself to bask in the sea of her warmth and love. When he saw a tear slide down her cheeks, he felt an unbearable knot in his heart, the image of her sitting on the floor of the hall flashed through his mind and made him close his eyes to control his rage, and when he opened his eyes, he vowed to her,

"I will make sure I make all those who have wronged you pay double the price of their actions. They will regret every single moment they’d hurt you,"

Mia felt her heart swell with warmth, she smiled faintly as she’d never felt this protected in the presence of anyone in the past years but Neil. Even though she had a lot of questions to ask him, she felt her legs threaten to give away beneath her, but he caught her before she could fall and pulled her into his arms.

"Damnit! You’re burning up!" He exclaimed in alarm when he felt her burning skin against his. He quickly bent down and gathered her into his arms, but she looked up at him with a weak smile that told him she wasn’t feeling alright.

"I’m okay, just feeling a bit drowsy and exhausted," she murmured softly, her voice weak like her reassuring smile. Neil muttered a curse under his breath as he quickly retraced his steps back the way he had come. He had not arrived at the banquet hall in a car but by plane; however, with Zephyr present at the banquet hall, he was confident that the bodyguards had their cars. Hastily, he made his way back through the chilly early spring wind that still held the remnants of winter.

He didn’t have to go far before he spotted flashing headlights in the distance. Squinting his eyes, he realized it was the car Zephyr had used to monitor Mia’s movements. Looking down at Mia, he saw her flushed face and labored breathing, her eyes shut tightly as she held onto him, her skin radiating heat even through his thick coat. Anger boiled within him; the more Mia suffered, the more he vowed to make those responsible for it pay, especially Owen Sullivan and that girl Elena Fanning.

"Open the door, Zephyr!" Neil commanded as the car pulled up in front of them. Without hesitation, Zephyr complied, silently hoping that his boss wouldn’t dismiss him and his team for failing to protect Mia during the incident at the hall. However, Neil’s sole focus was on Mia at that moment, disregarding the incompetence of his bodyguards.

"Mia, stay with me. Don’t drift off," he whispered anxiously as her arms began to go limp around his neck. Placing her on his lap, he ordered Zephyr, "Head to the City hospital! Break the speed limit if you have to, I want you to drive as if your life depends on it. If anything happens to Mia before we get there, you can kiss your job goodbye!"

Zephyr stiffened for a moment before he stepped on it, he drove like the hounds of hell were chasing him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read