He hesitated. “You want me to stay?”
What the hell? Was this guy for real? This was the part that was supposed to be easy. Burn off some of the tension with hot, frantic sex.
She held up her hands. “Fine. Go.” This was too complicated.
More of that suffocating silence elapsed between them.
“Well . . . good night.”
He really was leaving. Stupidly, her chest tightened ... ached. What the hell was wrong with her?
Pausing before he reached the door, he turned back to her. “I’ve never met anyone like you, Sarah.” Again he seemed to rummage for the words he wanted to say next. “I ...” A weary sigh hissed past his lips. “I don’t know how to reach you.” He searched her eyes, allowed her to see the uncertainty in his. “The crazy thing is, I want to more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”
This was way over the top. She walked straight up to him and looked him square in the eyes. “Stop. Just stop. Don’t pretend this is something it’s not, Conner.” That ache deepened, spread through her torso like a raging fever.
“That’s the point.” He reached out, caressed her cheek. Sarah flinched in spite of the heat his touch generated. “You think you’re protecting yourself by keeping your distance, but you’re wrong. You don’t need to be afraid of me.” Those warm fingers traced the line of her jaw. “I want to know you. To really know you.”
She couldn’t move. She could only stare into his eyes, her entire being yearning for more of his touch. For more of those sweet words.
His coat fell to the floor. He cupped her face in both hands. The pad of his thumb slid across her bottom lip.
The air abandoned her lungs. She licked her lips ... tried to catch her breath. “There’s nothing to know.”
He leaned down, kissed her cheek so softly, so tenderly, she wanted to push him away ... to stop this rush of intense feelings. She squeezed her eyes shut, told herself to make him go.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered as his lips brushed each closed lid. “I wanted to pound August when he said those things. I wanted to protect you.”
Her eyes fluttered open, she searched his. Before she could say anything, he kissed her. Slowly ... with infinite tenderness. She shivered. Those firm, warm lips left a trail of kisses along her temple, across her forehead.
He pressed his forehead to hers, slid his hand down the column of her throat and toyed with the necklace Matilda had given her. “I don’t want to leave you alone tonight.”
The ache that had started in her chest and expanded along her torso banded tighter around her heart. She closed her eyes and confessed the truth. “I need you to stay. That’s the only way I’ll be okay tonight.”
If she were lucky, he would never know just how honest that final statement was.
He scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed. Settling there, he held her like a child, rocking her gently. She rested her cheek against his broad shoulder, snuggled against his powerful chest. The sound of his heart beating made her feel ... safe. Made her want to surrender ... to trust him.
She lifted her hand to his face, caressed his jaw, trembled at the feel of soft skin and prickly stubble. How long had it been since she’d touched a man this way? Just a touch. She couldn’t remember when she’d been held like this ... as if she really mattered ... to him.
He kissed the top of her head, then her forehead. She looked up at him and he smiled. “I could hold you like this all night.”
Again, she asked herself if this guy was for real.
As if he understood her need for proof, he kissed her again. Even slower, if that was possible. Deeper.
He pulled her back onto the bed with him, rolled to his side, and started a fiery path of kisses along the line of her jaw and then down the column of her throat. With more of that painstaking slowness, he undressed her, caressed and kissed every inch of skin he revealed. She let him. All she wanted to do was to feel.
He kissed her hip and she gasped.
“What’s this?” He touched the scar on her right side.
The question jarred her from the sweet sensations he’d elicited. She shuddered when the cold, harsh memories invaded the moment.
“Battle scar,” she murmured and trembled again. She looked directly into his eyes, saw the same need she felt staring back at her. Need she understood, but there was more in his eyes. And that scared her to death.
“One of your cases?”
She watched his lips as he spoke. Didn’t want to talk about that but understood he needed to know. “I got too close.” Like now, she realized. She looked away from those mesmerizing eyes. “Too personally involved.”
