Gale moved over and gave her brother a peck on the cheek. “Thanks. Maybe we’ll get lucky and this will be over soon.”
“One can hope,” Clay said. He pulled his phone out. “Reenie just pulled in. I don’t want to keep her waiting.”
The minute they were alone, Gale turned to Rory, who was on his laptop. “Checking the feeds yourself?”
“Yeah. It’s good. Wish we had it set up before.”
“Me too, but who the hell thought any of this would happen?”
“I should have,” Rory said. He shut his laptop and pushed it to the side, then patted the seat next to him on the couch. “The first note I got telling me to stop, I should have considered it might escalate to more.”
“No one could have thoughtthis,” she said. “Not even you or Clay. Don’t add more guilt where there doesn’t need to be. You’re not the first person in fifteen years looking into this case and nothing else resulted in this. This is a reason now.”
He dropped his arm over her shoulder. “I won’t.”
She wasn’t so sure she believed him and put her head against his chest. “Are you scared?”
He hesitated a moment, then ran his fingers up and down her arms. “A little. Fear is a good thing. It keeps you sharp. Are you?”
She blew out a huge breath. “Yeah. I don’t like the feeling. I just want to forget for a bit and it’s not easy.”
He moved away from her and stood, put his hand out and urged her to stand. “Let’s go lie down. We’re both tired and emotionally worn out. Maybe a nap would be good.”
“Would you think poorly of me if I said I’d like more than a nap? I just want to feel something more than what I am. Something good. Does that make me selfish?”
She hated her walls were cracking, that the tough exterior she always wore seemed to shrink a little more each time he looked at her.
But if she couldn’t be honest with Rory, then what was the point of guarding her heart at all? He’d have to see all of her. The sharp edges, the scars, and the softness she kept buried. And if he couldn’t accept that, then she’d already lost.
She didn’t want to lose.
“No. It’s not selfish to want to feel something more, Gale. Never let yourself believe that. I know from experience. And it’s not healthy.”
They walked to her room, and she shut the door even though they were alone in the condo. The cameras couldn’t even see them past the foyer, but she felt better knowing they were locked in there.
She pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it on the chair, then removed her bra, dropped her jeans and underwear and climbed under the covers while Rory undressed and followed her.
“I should have asked how you feel. Maybe it’s not good for you to do much.”
“I feel fine,” he said. “I’ve slept enough the past three days.” He pulled her close to his side, both turning so their naked bodies mashed together, the heat radiating from him warming her more than she realized she needed.
Just this closeness alone was easing the tension in her shoulders, soothing the ache in her chest and increasing the sensations between her legs.
His hand slid between them finding her breast, cupping it and his thumb grazing her hardened peak. The goosebumps that erupted didn’t chill her, did little more than fuel her need for more closeness.
Her hand slipped beneath the covers, wrapped around his cock and stroked him as gently as he was teasing her nipple.
Their lips met, their kiss unhurried and mirroring the patience of their touch.
This wasn’t about chasing a release. It wasn’t about quenching a thirst.
It was about tenderness and... the love that she was feeling.
About believing she could let her guard down to this man because deep down she already knew he had her.
“I’m on the pill,” she whispered against him. She’d never shared that with another man, but everything about Rory told her he wasn’t the same as she’d felt before with others.
He wasn’t one that she needed to shield the last part of her soul from.
