“I can tell. Your little pussy is tight as fuck. Nothing has been in there but me. What I just did was inappropriate. I should’ve known better.” Standing from the bed, I make my way into the bathroom, wet a towel with warm water, and return, cleaning her off.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never felt more cared for in my life.” Her voice is soft, her gaze on me as I finish toweling my filthy come off her innocent skin.
Jesus Christ, I need help.Hell, I might need more than help. I might need an intervention because I don’t know how the hell I’m ever going to stop touching her now.
When she’s properly cleaned, I pull back the covers and tuck her inside, fighting the urge to slide in beside her. “Tonight is a night I’ll remember.” I kiss her forehead gently, forcing my body to do the things I’m telling my brain it needs to do.
You can’t sleep with her. You can’t hold her. You need to walk out of this room and let tonight be a one-time thing. It’s for the best. She has a whole fucking life to live. Who am I to interrupt and confuse her?
“Silas,” she says, her voice soft and angelic, “don’t go. Please.”
Holy hell. This is falling apart quickly.
I consider myself a disciplined man. I spent years in the military where routine, order, and control were second nature.I raised Adam on my own, while working two distilleries in the Springs. Control is something I live with every day. Yet here, with Ellie, I’m impulsive, reckless, and chaotic.
My chest tightens as I sink into the bed and pull her close. My cock is already hard again, tenting the sheet as I breathe in the warm vanilla scent of her hair.
Fuck. This might be the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. She’s everything I’ve thought about for a year. More than a year. Everything I need, yet know I can’t have. Not in the way I want it.
If we were to be together, I’d have to keep taking her in secret, never fully having her in the way my body craves. Even now, with her thigh twisted up on mine and her head on my chest, I know this isn’t permanent.
I can’t have her.
She’s too young, too forbidden, too off-limits.
I have a job to do.
I’m here to keep her safe, and I will, even if that means keeping her safe from me.
Chapter Five
Ellie
The sun hasn’t come up when my alarm rings annoyingly loud, but having Silas next to me makes everything irritating seem brighter. He groans low in his throat, the sound rumbling through his chest as he reaches for me on instinct, pulling me back into him like I’m the only thing he wants to hold on to. His arm tightens around my waist, heavy and warm, and his bearded face nuzzles into the back of my shoulder.
I love that he chooses me even when he’s not fully coherent yet. I love that his first reaction of the day is to hold me close.
My hand stretches outward toward the nightstand, searching for my phone, desperate to quiet the awful high-pitched sound. It’s amazing what a girl can do when she’s determined, because even in the pale dawn light, I find that thing and manage to silence it.
What was I thinking?A degree in accounting is the last thing I ever wanted. And though I’m really excited to have access to all you can eat bear claws, I’m not looking forward to spending the day stuffed into the back corner of a bakery with no office while I try to make sense of what sells best from a cost efficiency standpoint.
What I’d really like is to lie right here in the comfort of Silas’ arms until the sun burns out, or until we’ve made a houseful of babies that demand we take care of them.
Something tells me that despite the fun night we had, babies aren’t in the books.
“You get enough sleep, angel?” His voice is still thick, like he isn’t fully awake yet.
“Not really, you?”
“Never.” He kisses my shoulder as he rolls to his side and stares at me. “Do you have time for coffee? Strong, dark, borderline illegal coffee?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want you to leave the bed yet.”
A slow, steady smile spreads across his face. “You’re so fucking precious.”
My pulse jumps and warmth washes over me as I sink into his massive frame. “Now it’s official. We’re definitely not getting out of this bed.”
He hums low. “Okay. The house is paid off, I have the utilities on autopay, so I guess food will be the only real challenge.”
