It also reiterated everything he already knew. That she knew him better than anyone else. And her touch healed him.
He set his palm on top of hers and immediately she turned her hand over, interlacing their fingers.
When they reached the house, he went straight to her side to help her out of the car before setting a hand on the small of her back and leading her inside.
She slipped off her shoes as he locked the bolt, and again, he could feel her gaze on him.
When he finally turned to her, he said the two words he should have said long ago. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Anything my father said to you.”
“He barely said anything. Just that we’d barely had a chance to get to know each other, when I tried to leave.”
A vein in Colt’s temple throbbed. He hated the thought of the asshole saying a single word to her.
Indie took that final step toward him and pressed her palm to his chest. “Are you okay?”
“No.” He couldn’t lie to her. He’dneverbeen able to lie to her. “Let me stay the night. I’ll sleep on the couch—hell, I’ll sleep on the floor. But don’t ask me to leave…please.”
Her brows flickered. The silence that passed almost had him believing she was going to say no. That she was going to ask him to walk out of this house, leave her unguarded, and then he’d barely get a second of sleep.
“I’ll make up the couch,” she said quietly.
The knot in his stomach unraveled.Thank fuck.
Instead of walking away, she dropped her head on his chest. His arms immediately wrapped around her, fitting her flush against his body. He breathed her in, needing everything she had to give. Her calm. Her soft.Her.
Seeing his father looming over her tonight had scared him. It brought back every nightmare from his childhood of his father standing over his mother during a drug-induced rage. Only then, he’d been helpless to do anything.
Not anymore.
Indie lifted her head, her beautiful green eyes boring into him. “You don’t have to be scared for me.”
“I willalwaysbe scared at the prospect of not being able to protect you. Because the idea of losing you kills me.”
Her eyes softened. “You’re not going to lose me. And I don’t need protection. I’m very good at the swift kick in the balls.”
He bit back a laugh. “Whatdoyou need, then?”
“Right now?” Her gaze dipped to his lips, and something primal erupted deep inside him.
Slowly, she lifted to her toes. He didn’t dare move, scared that a single twitch would break the moment.
She cupped his cheek, her skin warm and so infinitely feminine.
Then, finally, she kissed him. The touch of her lips against his was soft and certain and real. It was gentle, coaxing his lips apart before she slid inside his mouth, then he was tasting her. And she tasted exactly how he remembered. Sweet like strawberries and a hint of honey.
The world didn’t slow or speed up—it stopped. She stopped his world.
He curved an arm around her waist and turned them, pressing her to the wall. Feeling all of her against him. The cushion of her breasts. The heat of her thigh as her leg wrapped around his waist.
She was like water he’d been deprived of for months. The air he needed to breathe.
He lifted her, and her legs immediately wrapped around him, holding him in place.
There were so many nights over the last year that he’d missed her. Craved her. And finally, he was here—theywere here—and she was choosing him.
