She blinked. There was a particular kind of vulnerability in closing her eyes when he could see. Of standing there in front of him and letting him look at her and her Shadows. But she wanted him to be happy.
“Please,” Zach murmured.
Emma closed her eyes.
Zach ran one of his hands down her arm and laced his fingers with hers, and then quietly seemed to settle himself. She could feel his stillness, hear his slow, controlled breathing. Her hand tingled where it touched his. His free hand settled onto her forehead between her eyes, and she could feel the circular connection between them, hand to hand and skin to skin. Her breathing tuned to his, settling into the same meditative rhythm.
The darkness behind her eyes swirled in soft clouds of gray and black, a shimmering afterimage of his silhouette. And then slowly, a more pronounced ocean-blue joined the gently undulating billows. The blue was joined by waves of dark red, softly lapping against each other. They were the same colors she’d seen on the beach.
Her eyes flew open. Zach was right in front of her, watching her intently, and surrounding him, like an aura, was a shifting cloud of marbled ocean-blue Shadows.
“I can see them!” Shecouldsee them, and for the first time, she didn’t doubt it.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m boosting your Shadows. Supporting them with mine.”
Zach dropped the hand that had been touching her forehead and turned it palm up as he pulled Shadows from the air in a fluid stream. He twisted his fingers and suddenly there were dolphins—slate-gray and deep-ocean-blue—jumping and dancing through the air around them.
They leaped and spun. Dolphins and Shadows and joy. A powerful connection to the part of herself she had never imagined reaching. And through it all, Zach. Touching her and watching her as if he was seeing the world for the first time.
Emma laughed, filled with the thrill of it all, and his focus intensified. Their bodies were pressed against each other. He still held one of her hands laced in his and she settled the other on his chest.
Dolphins played, circling them and surrounding them. She glanced up at Zach, wanting to see his enjoyment in what he’d created. But his gaze wasn’t on his Shadows, it was on her. Flitting from her eyes to her mouth.
He was close enough that she had to tilt her head back to look at him. Close enough that she could feel the heat of his body and the need pulsing between them.
Zach let the Shadows fade, floating away around them, and then slowly, so very slowly, ran his thumb along her bottom lip. “I’m going to kiss you again.” It wasn’t a question, not really. And damn, she wanted him to kiss her.
He wound his hands into her hair and tilted her head back, and then still moving slowly, deliberately, he slanted his mouth over hers.
Emma closed her eyes, losing herself in the firm pressure of his lips, the glide of his tongue over hers, the way his fingers tightened in her hair, stinging just enough to add to the potent intensity of their kiss.
Their first kiss had been about her finding her way. Learning that she could touch him. He’d let her take the lead. But not this time. This time he held her exactly where he wanted her as he took his time exploring her mouth, trailing kisses down her neck and back up to nip at her ear lobe.
Their Shadows still swirled around them, faster now, spinning in a dizzy haze of connection and sensation. Her aching nipples rubbed against his chest, his beard rasped against her face, and heat built into a furnace in her belly.
Emma whimpered into Zach’s mouth and he loosened one hand from her hair to slide it down her back and hold her body pressed tight against his. Kissing her until she couldn’t tell where she ended and he began.
ChapterTwelve
Zach stretchedhis legs out on the sand, enjoying the warmth of the summer sun. Enjoying being still for a moment.
When he was in London, he ran ten miles and then trained in the Circle House gym every day before work, but somehow exercise had become just another job that he had to tick off on his never-ending list. This was different. This was him choosing to do something entirely because he wanted to do it. This was him choosing to prioritize Emma, even though there was still work to be done and a deadline fast approaching.
Sundays were Emma’s day off—her only day off—and she wanted to have a picnic on the beach, paddleboard, and swim in the sea. Zach had already hired a paddleboard so he could join her. Mostly, he just wanted to be with her.
They’d spent the previous day working in her bakery and the evening trying the lasagna in the Italian restaurant he’d booked for them before. He didn’t have much time before he had to get back to his triad, but he was using what he had to repair the trust he’d broken.
He’d helped her with her work. He’d shared his thoughts and enjoyed hearing hers. And he’d kissed her until her lips were swollen and her eyes were sparkling.
He’d been powerfully attracted to her even when he thought he could never be with her. Even when he’d suspected her of working with Gordon. Now that he knew the truth, all he wanted was to be close to her. No, that wasn’t entirely true, what he wanted was to be wrapped around her and have her wrapped around him.
But he was trying to take it slow. He’d been back in her life for less than a week and he’d spent half that time lying to her. At the end of their dinner, he’d taken her home, kissed her one last time, and said goodbye. Not because that was what he wanted to do, but because he’d done too much damage to ask for anything more.
He’d seen how she hesitated to touch him and how vulnerable she’d looked when he asked her to close her eyes, and he hated that he’d put that expression on her face. If he’d been honest from the beginning, it would have been completely different.
He wanted to make up for the time he’d wasted, to rebuild the faith that he’d broken. And he wanted to take care of her. No one else ever did. She’d been alone for so long, building her happiness piece by piece, and he’d never even realized how much she’d had to bear. Worse, he’d been safe in his triad all that time and never truly understood how fucking lucky he was to have Kay and James constantly there to support him. He had David as a mentor, looking out for him, teaching him, and guiding him. He had Elizabeth to kick his arse when he needed it and give him safety and comfort the rest of the time. And he’d never doubted his father’s love, even in the hardest times.
