“No idea.” His gaze drops to mine. “The dude is nuts, but if she doesn’t want our help, we can’t force it on her.”
The weight of that settles between us, and though the old version of me would keep throwing logic, I rest and lean into the chest of a man who feels like home.Except, how can he feel like home? I barely know him.
That thought clings to me with quiet panic. He’s a stranger in so many ways. A man with wounds carved deep, stories I’veonly seen the edges of, and yet, my body fits against his like it’s known him through lifetimes I can’t remember.
Maybe that’s what terrifies me the most. Not the danger in his past, but the comfort in his presence and how quickly I want to belong to it.
I breathe him in as silence wraps around us.
Will he stay?
Can a man like him ever settle?
Would he even want the kind of life I need?
I breathe him in and hold on to this moment, because maybe this was never meant for forever. Maybe everything ends right here.
Chapter Eight
Red
She melts into me like she’s been aching for it. Like maybe she’s been waiting for someone to hold her this way and actually mean it. Maybe I’ve been waiting too.
I wrap my arms around her curved frame and pull her close, breathing in the sweet scent on her skin, so soft and perfect. “If that asshole fucks with you again,” I press a kiss on top of her head, “I swear to fuckin’ God, I’ll kill him.”
She doesn’t flinch. She just breathes warm and heavy against my chest, undoing all the shit that’s ever been done to me.
Fuck, this is gonna hurt when she leaves.
She should leave. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I suck with emotions, I don’t even know where to begin, and I’ve messed up enough good things to know what it feels like to let something precious get this close.
Her gaze lifts and meets mine softly in the bright afternoon light of the understated room. “What are we doing here, Red?”
It’s now or never.
“I don’t have a map for this. I’m sure there’s a certain number of days I’m supposed to wait to feel it or whatever… but,” I pull her close, kissing her forehead, “I don’t wanna let you go, princess. I want to take you back to that cabin, and I wannahold you and chase you and make aprons for all the babies I want to give you. I wanna make you feel wanted and I wanna keep you safe. Not for a few days, but forever.”
A tear streaks down her cheek, and she tips up on her toes as she lands a soft kiss against my lips. “I want that too.”
Something inside me shifts deep and low, like a dam finally cracking. I’ve been held back for far too long, kept the beast polite and civilized.
She wants me and I want her. Not only for tonight, but forever.
My hand grips the back of her neck, and I lean in. She gasps when our lips meet again, but this time I’m not gentle. I kiss her like I’m trying to leave fingerprints on her soul. Like I’ve been starving and only just realized she’s the thing I’ve been starving for.
There isn’t language for this feeling. There’s only an instinct, a want, a claim.
I need to make her mine, and I need to do it now!
I groan low and toss her back onto the bed. “Ass up, princess. You were naughty today.”
She grins the sweetest, hungriest smile, and bends into position. “Oh yeah? How was I bad?”
“Oh,” I drag the word, slow and wicked, “you left the room and gave that asshole ex your time. I didn’t like that.” I rub my palms together with a gritty whisper and pull back, landing my hand against her ass with a smack that ripples up her back.
Fuck!
She jumps and moans as though she’s craving more.
