She gasps and I quickly reach into the pocket of the passenger seat and grab wet wipes because I learned my first day as sheriff that I need to always have access to them. It’s a habit which has now extended to my truck.
Helen gives me a grateful look and reaches for the package, but I shake my head. “I’ve got this.”
My movements are slow and gentle as I clean her up. I’m sure, if I could see her more clearly, she would be blushing, but she doesn’t object.
I right her clothes slowly, my fingertips gliding over her skin. The way she shivers as I redress her has me grinning in the dark.
Once we’re both dressed, my fingers thread through the hair at the base of her neck and I hold her. Steady. Controlled.
“Come home with me.”
I don’t even try to hide my demand. There’s no way I’ll be able to let her go tonight. Not after having a taste of her.
“You deserve to be worshipped properly,” I rumble. “In a bed.”
Her fingers slide through my hair, pushing the strands back from where they tumble over my forehead. “My place is closer,” there’s a tease in her voice with a challenge underneath it.
If she doesn’t think I’ll take her up on the offer, she’s fucking wrong. I don’t care about who knows I’m at her place. I’m going to make damn sure she falls asleep knowing she’s mine.
“Then we’ll go to your place,” I easily agree.
Her eyes widen slightly like she wasn’t expecting me to go along with her. Unable to help myself, I kiss her softly.
The way she melts into me feels like a special and pure gift. “Okay,” she breathes.
When I pepper kisses all over her face, she giggles. I love the sound and let it wash over me.
“Come on, Sweetheart, climb up front and we’ll hit the road.”
“I need to find my car and drive home,” she points out.
She’s not wrong, but damn it. I’m not ready to break the cozy little bubble of warmth we’re wrapped up in.
“Do you know where you’re parked?”
Even though I can’t see her, I know she’s trying not to smile. She’s adorable, no matter the lighting.
“I mean, I know where I parked, but I’m not sure where I’m parked in relation to where I am right now,” she admits.
A bark of laughter bursts from me and I reposition us until we’re sitting side by side. I grab the map from the front seat. “Can you show me on the map?”
“Uh, probably?”
Yeah, fucking adorable. I use my phone and light up the paper. While she studies it, I keep my eyes on her.
Seeing the flush on her face and the way it creeps down her neck is mesmerizing. I want to memorize every inch of her. With my hands. And my mouth.
“Just there,” she points to a spot on the map and I’m barely able to tear my eyes away from her. She adds on with a wince, “At least I think so. Pretty close?”
Her eyebrows are drawn together as she turns toward me and I feel it. The moment I fall. The moment I become hers.
Completely.
Irrevocably.
When we pull up to her car, right where she said it would be, she does a little happy dance in her seat. I can’t help but grin over at her; feeling like there’s too much to take in already and how am I ever going to have enough time with this woman?
It’s a wild thought, one which doesn’t make much sense considering we met not long ago. But it’s real and I’m not going to waste time fighting against what I know to be true.
