She went still.
Gentle fingers touched her arm, gliding down to her wrist. Crew took the mug from her and set it in the sink.
Oh god. He knew how crazy she was. How crazy her ex had made her.
Head bowed, she fought back stinging tears.
Crew stood close but didn’t touch her. “After our grandma passed, my sister sold the house and moved in with her boyfriend.”
Fern’s heart hurled itself against her ribs.
He went on. “He wasn’t good to her, but she didn’t know that until she lived with him. He was pretty controlling, and it escalated until she got scared. Thankfully, I had a long leave at the time she needed me. I helped her pack her things and leave.”
Unable to speak around the knot in her throat, she only nodded.
“I’m glad I could be there for her at that time. Because a month later, my life fell apart.”
She jerked around to meet his stare. The depths of his eyes roiled with emotions that took her breath away.
Without thinking, she reached out and curled her fingers around his arm. The sinew hardened under her touch, but he didn’t pull away.
“I was a pilot. In a training exercise, there was a malfunction in the system. I ejected…my copilot didn’t.”
“Oh, Crew.” Her eyes swam. He might not appreciate her tears for what he went through. To hide them, she stepped forward and put her arms around him.
As soon as they touched, her body took over and molded to his.
Crew pulled her tight. Like they’d done this a thousand times, she rested her cheek against his chest, right over his pounding heart. Neither of them blinked for one beat…then two.
Suddenly, they both moved at the same time. He slid his knuckle under her chin, lifting her face to his at the same moment she surged onto her tiptoes. Their stares collided for only a second before a noise of want escaped her.
His mouth crashed over hers. The heated pressure slammed into her, tearing another sound from her throat. Clutching at his shoulders—she’d been wanting to do that since the minute she laid eyes on him—her mind whirled as she kissed him back.
His lips were surprisingly gentle for such a hard man. When he angled his head to deepen the kiss, sensation swept through her. His answering growl had her digging her fingers into his muscle to pull him closer.
Gliding his tongue over her bottom lip, he urged her to open for him. On a gasp, she parted her lips and his hot tongue swished over hers. Knees weak, almost buckling, she gripped him tighter, and he lashed her against him.
Every inch of that enticing bulge swelled against her lower stomach. It terrified her—not because of her past but because the need pounding through her veins was unlike any she’d felt before.
He whirled, locking her against the counter and the painted cabinets with the cute floral decals, and plundered her.
The kiss sent sparks through her limbs, making them heavy even as she felt like she was floating. Then shewasfloating—in his arms.
Without breaking the kiss, Crew lifted her onto the counter.
She spread her thighs to pull him between them, matching his tongue stroke for stroke. Crew pushed close and yanked her pussy up against his body. With a will of its own, her body rocked, seeking release from the pressure building inside her.
Groaning, he twisted his lips free and stood there, chest heaving, staring down at her. “I don’t want you to think I came here to take advantage of you, Fern.”
She shook her head, confusion muddying her senses but not dulling the passion still thrumming through her veins. “I know.”
He slowly loosened his hold on her. When he took a step back, her stomach dropped at the loss of his body heat.
“I should install that security system.” He jerked a thumb toward the front of the apartment.
She nodded, watching the man who’d stolen her mind for several dizzying minutes back away. She remained seated on the counter, next to the dirty mug that started it all.
Soon the apartment would be secure. Her heart wouldn’t be.
