28
NORA
THE RESTof the day passes in an alternating haze of betrayal and humiliation, both of which evoke anger and shame. Matt never cared for me, he used me from day one. Sporadically, heartache pops up on my carousel of emotions, not because I harbor any affection for Matt, but because the affection I wasted on him makes me question myself.
My Grams would have said that everything works out like it’s supposed to, and the only silver lining I can see from this is that Matt led me to Tuck. I want to put my trust in him, I really do, but I keep questioning everything, and that’s not fair to Tuck.
At dinner, I had no appetite and excused myself to go to my room. I could feel Tuck’s eyes on me when I left the table, and I felt bad for not eating the dinner Sloane worked hard on, but the weight of the day is so heavy that I just need some room to breathe.
A steaming hot soak in the spacious tub across the hall helped the twisted muscles in my body a little, but now the crocheted throw from the spacious chair in my room is perfect to hide under as I stare out the window at the stars over the trees. There are so many stars here; the moon is just a sliver, but the sky over the trees swaying in the breeze is full of thousands of twinkling stars.
A soft knock on my door pulls me out of my gloomy thoughts, it’s soft like Marley’s knock this morning. Pushing the amazingly warm blanket off me, I pad on bare feet to the door. I put on my sleep shorts and t-shirt after my bath, and I look down at my chest that doesn’t have a bra on and pause. It’s only Marley, she doesn’t care about that, so I open the door.
The wall of muscle, large and imposing, hovering in the doorway on the other side is not what I expect. Tuck is leaning on the door frame, with a hand on each side. His hair is still wet from a shower, and he’s in sweatpants and a T-shirt. With his hands propped up high, the hem of his shirt is pulled up an inch over the waistband of the sweats hanging low on his hips, exposing his rock-hard abs with a spattering of reddish-brown hair below his belly button.
My nipples harden under my shirt, and when my eyes move up to his, it’s apparent he was taking me in just like I was him. His eyes linger on my pointed nipples, which I’m sure are visible through my thin shirt, before meeting mine.
Raw desire burns in his eyes before he blinks it away and tilts his head, his eyes locked on mine. “It’s been some day. You okay?”
With my hand still on the doorknob, I suck in a deep breath and sigh with an apathetic shrug. “Aside from the fact that no matter how many times I tell myself I couldn’t have known what he was doing, I still feel humiliation, or that I feel like a gullible little girl who let myself be used, I’m fine.”
His hazel gaze moves over my face. “He’s the bad guy in this, sugar, not you. You can’t blame yourself; you didn’t know.”
“But why me? Do I have a neon sign on my forehead that says, ‘Take advantage of me, I’m easy’?” I point at my head and let my hand fall back to my side, slapping my leg. “Oh, and don’t forget, I might be a felon before this is over. Will you wait forme if I go to jail?” It’s a joke, albeit a bad one, but I need a little levity.
Dropping his hands from the doorframe, he steps through the door and grasps my hand that I just dropped with one of his. His cologne wraps around me like a warm, safe blanket.
“No, sugar, he’s a predator who saw the good in you. You’re soft-spoken and, I suspect, see good in others. Your natural warmth and gentleness were exactly what he was looking for.” Cupping my jaw with his other hand, his skin is rough against mine and his eyes bore into mine. “But if you ask me, the worst thing that could come of this would be if those qualities were snuffed out, because I fucking adore every one of them. I adore you.”
A lump forms in my throat. The declaration is unexpected, but so genuine and intimate that the weight of all my worries is a little lighter as my heart swells in my chest. The warmth from his close proximity is kissing my front, and he’s looking at me like I’m the only person in the world.
Holding my hand against his chest, his pec hard against my palm, his hazel eyes are more green than gold as his gaze moves over my face. “And as for you going to jail? That’s not gonna happen. I’ve never used my military training or connections to do anything outside the law, but for you I’ll use every goddamn one of them to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
I’m not sure how many times since I met him that I’ve thought to myself he must be the sweetest man I’ve ever met, but he’s doing it again. Even with his gruff exterior and squinty, frowny face, he’s almost perfect.
However, I hate that he’s taking on my baggage.
“But that’s the thing, I don’t want ‘us’,” I let go of the doorknob and wave my finger between us, “to start like that. It may sound stupid or naive to you, but I want us to form a relationship like the ones I read about in the books I edit.I would be happy with dinner and a movie, and then flowers and candy, and then something romantic with candles and some wine that would make the room spin when you kiss me passionately. I would walk on air with my every thought about you.” I huff a frustrated breath. “Not this.”
Lifting my hand he’s holding to his chest, his eyes locked on mine, he slides his thumb up my palm to open my fingers and presses his lips in the center. Prickly whiskers scrape against the skin of my inner wrist, sending goosebumps up my arm, and liquid heat swirls low in my stomach as a line of sparks travels up my arm from his lips to ignite inside me.
“Sugar, when we get through this, and we will, I’ll take you anywhere you want to go and buy you all the flowers and candy you want. And never doubt that I’ll kiss you passionately every fucking day.”
My heart does a little flip as it pitter-patters in my chest, and I need to get closer to him. Letting go of the doorknob, I take a step to close the small distance between us – being close to him just feels right.
When my hard nipples move against his sculpted front, it sends little shocks directly to my core, and all I know is that I want him - more than anything. His eyes are heavy with lust as I tip my head back and whisper, “Can we start today?”
Letting go of my hand, he wraps his arm around my waist, pressing his arousal against my stomach. He doesn’t answer me. Instead, he threads his fingers in the hair at my nape and slants his lips over mine. The kiss starts slow, our tongues sliding together, but it doesn’t take long before we reach the passion I asked for.
Without breaking the kiss, he walks me backward a few steps and lets go of my waist long enough to push the door closed with a soft click. A charge of energy rushes through my body in a heated flush, sizzling desire racing from my head to my toes.
Gripping my hips, he walks us closer to the bed as his palms slide up my sides, his thumbs grazing the underside of my breasts as he pushes my arms up, taking my shirt with them Cool air moves across my skin, making my nipples pinch even harder, and he breaks the kiss to pull my shirt over my head and look down at my chest.
“You’re so beautiful.” His eyes meet mine again.
My face flushes, but I smile when I say, “My turn.”
He lifts his arms as I push his t-shirt up his chest and drops a hand behind his head to grab the material between his shoulder blades. In one tug, he’s bare-chested, and I take my time looking over his beautiful, sculpted front, a smorgasbord of masculinity on display. Sliding my thumbs up the dips and mounds of muscle from his stomach to his chest, he lets me explore, but he flinches a little when I move over his abs. I look up at him and I smile. “Ticklish?”
