He smirked, swiping my fallen hair away from my face, and when he did, his lean, tattoo-covered forearm came into view. My God. The way it peeked out of his rolled-up sleeves. It could be in a commercial for sexiest details alive.
“Maybe next time, let the tall guy get something off the top shelf?” His tone was playful, but within moments, his smile faded, and his attention dropped to my lips.
I swallowed, my heartbeat accelerating as his hands shifted to my lower back, moving with such tenderness that it felt like he was trying to memorize the feel of me.
In that suspended moment, everything else ceased to exist. The murder charges. The vow we’d made to resist this. The uncertainty. The chaos of my life … all of it evaporated. There was only Ryker’s arms around me, the heat of his chest. The warmth of his skin as he took my chin between his thumb and finger.
The urge to kiss him was just as strong as my appreciation for the guy.
How many people would stand by someone accused of murder?He’d done it before with Knox, and now he was doing it with me. Some might argue it was brotherhood obligation, but the way he was looking at me wasn’t obligation at all. This was pure, undiluted desire.
Funny. Five minutes ago, I wanted my friends to never leave. Now I was wishing they weren’t here.
Ryker’s thumb moved to my cheek, and I could see the conflict warring in his eyes. Not only the “need” to stay platonic until the trial was over, but also, a second complication: my brother was right outside.
In a moment like this, neither hurdle proved tall enough to stop him. I watched his resolve fracture in real time as he tilted his head and moved his mouth to mine.
Lightning shot from my lips straight to my chest, then ricocheted to my lower belly. Especially when he teased my lips with his tongue, parting them so he could deepen our kiss. Our tongues met in perfect synchronization as I threaded my fingers through his hair, cupping the side of his head.
Dear God, this man could kiss. I wanted to feel his mouth on mine from now until eternity. And I wanted to feel that mouth everywhere on my body. Send it on a world tour of Faith, all expenses paid.
Ryker clearly wanted the same thing. The hard evidence pressed against my thigh, making my pulse race. With a low growl that vibrated through his chest, he grabbed my thighs and repositioned them until I was straddling him. Right here on my kitchen floor.
His lips moved to my jaw. My neck.
“Thank you,” I managed breathlessly.
I felt his lips curve into a smile against my throat.
“You’re thanking me for kissing you?”
“No. Well, yes, absolutely that, too, but—” Oh my God. Hishand slid along my thigh, scrambling my brain cells. “Yes, thank you for that, but also for being there for me.”
He stilled, and for a moment, I wondered if I’d said something wrong.
“You’re not used to people sticking around.” He said it like the concept personally offended him, like he wanted to fight everyone who’d ever left.
I swallowed hard, offering a gentle assurance. “Blake’s sticking around. I think his friends will too.”
He digested this for a moment, then cupped my cheek again. “Listen to me, Warrior. This battle isn’t going to be easy, but I’m here with you until the end. No matter what.”
My eyes welled with tears I blinked back, my lower lip quivering traitorously. I didn’t want to be the pathetic girl, the one unaccustomed to this level of unwavering kindness. I’d worked my ass off to bury that girl deep inside my soul, but suddenly, the words burst out before I could stop them. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
His jaw hardened, and he took a lonnnnnnnnng beat before he answered. “I hate that every time you’re shown kindness, you’re waiting for the floor to give out.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“But it’s the truth,” he said. “And to answer your question, Faith, I’ve been mesmerized by you since the moment you walked into my life. You’ve been stuck in my head since I first saw you. It’s never happened with another woman. I think about you when I fall asleep. You’re the first thing I think about when I wake up.”
I sensed he’d normally never confess something that deep this fast in a “relationship,” if you could call us that. But I also sensed that when my life, my freedom, was on the line, relationship norms went out the window, and all that was left wasnow. Now was the time to confess things before it was too late. To say things you wouldn’t normally say.
Truth was, I felt the same about him. I’d had a hard timeadmitting that to myself, and it still scared the crap out of me, but I couldn’t pretend my feelings for him weren’t there. He comforted me when the claustrophobia kicked in. He helped me when he had every reason not to. And by his own admission, he might miss me more than anyone else, if I went away.
“I feel protective of you in a way I’ve never experienced before,” he continued. “But I also know you’re strong as hell, that if push came to shove, you’d be the one protecting both of us.”
His words burrowed deep into my chest, planting seeds of something that felt dangerously close to hope. And something else I refused to explore.
I loved that in my most vulnerable moment, he still saw me as strong. That mattered more than he could know.
