“No.”
The word cracked through the kitchen like a whip.
She stared at him. “No?”
“You can’t leave.” His voice had dropped into something raw and ragged, a growl barely leashed. His hands were gripping the edgeof the counter, claws scoring shallow grooves in the laminate. “You can’t… I won’t…”
He cut himself off, visibly struggling for control. His ears were pinned back, his breathing harsh, and she watched him fight his way back from whatever edge he’d stumbled towards.
“Sorry.” The word came out strained. “I don’t… That came out wrong.”
“Ben.” She moved towards him carefully, like approaching a spooked animal. “What just happened?”
“Nothing.”
“That wasn’t nothing. You looked like you were about to?—”
“I know what I looked like.” He still wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Just give me a minute.”
She waited, watching him breathe. The tension in his shoulders slowly eased, his claws retracting, his death grip on the counter loosening.
When he finally looked at her, the raw vulnerability in his expression stole her breath.
“The thought of you leaving,” he said quietly. “It feels like someone’s ripping something vital out of my chest.”
“Ben—”
“I know I don’t have the right to feel that way. We’re not… This isn’t…” He gestured helplessly between them. “But the idea of you packing up and moving to some new town, starting over without me…” His voice fractured. “I can’t, Sara. I can’t even think about it.”
The confession hung in the air, heavy with everything he wasn’t saying. Her heart cracked open, all her frustration with his caution evaporating in the face of his pain. He wasn’t holding back because he didn’t want her. He was holding back because he wanted her too much, because he wanted her so intensely that the mere suggestion of her leaving had shattered his control.
“I don’t want to leave,” she said quietly.
“You said you never felt settled anywhere.”
“I know what I said.” She stepped closer, into his space, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. “But I also said ask me again later. Because this place feels different.Youfeel different.”
His eyes searched her face, desperate and hopeful and terrified all at once. “Sara?—”
“I moved so many times because I was looking for something I couldn’t find. A place that felt like home. People who felt like family.” She reached up, cupping his face in her hands the way he so often did to her. “I think I stopped looking because I finally found it.”
The sound he made was wounded. Broken. Beautiful.
And then his mouth was on hers.
CHAPTER 15
This kiss was nothing like the others. There was nothing careful or controlled about it. Ben kissed her like he was drowning and she was air, like he’d been holding back for so long that the dam had finally burst. His hands found her waist and hauled her against him, lifting her onto the counter as if she weighed nothing
Sara gasped against his mouth, her legs wrapping around his hips instinctively and bringing her aching core against the massive bulge between his legs. He groaned at the contact, one hand fisting in her hair while the other gripped her ass hard enough to leave bruises.
“Ben—”
“I need—” His voice was shredded. “Sara, I need?—”
“I know.” She pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. They were midnight blue, all pupil, wild with want. “I know. Take what you need.”
Permission granted, he surged forward again. His mouth traced fire down her throat, teeth scraping against her pulse pointin a way that made her entire body clench. His hands were everywhere—her back, her thighs, tangling in her hair to tilt her head exactly where he wanted it.
