SHILOH
Inside,Reva is a caged predator, prodded with sharp objects to make her tame. She paces a tight circle and swings her arms like she’s trying to shake off a memory.
I keep my distance, leaning against the closed door with my arms loose instead of crossed. I don’t touch her.
I let her come to me.
If anything’s gonna happen between us, it has to be her decision. Instinctively, I know she needs to reclaim her agency, whether that’s through conversation, sex, or just a cuddle.
I can stop at a cuddle and some conversation. And if she wants none of it, I’ll walk right back out the door and call it a night—for both of us.
Her circles tighten. Smaller. Sharper. Then she stops with her face angled to the floor. When she lifts it again, the slant of light from the bathroom catches her features.Even the drawn curtains aren’t enough to cast the room in darkness. There’s always a sharp line of light peeking through.
She takes a hesitant step toward me and stops with mere inches between us, close enough for me to make out the lighter flecks of gold in her brown eyes. Her stare latches on my mouth again and heat curls in my abdomen.
“Reva—”
“Kiss me.”
It’s no simple request. It’s a demand. A decision. A test of my will or desire or who the fuck knows what.
And I’m happy to oblige.
I tilt my head slowly, eyes open and locked on her, and let the back of my fingers skate along the soft skin of her upper arms. She glances down at the touch, then back up to my face, her brow wrinkled.
Has no one ever been soft with this girl? Slow? Bothered to seduce her?
The first brush of my mouth against hers is just that—a whisper of connection, a small taste. Her eyes flutter closed and her chest hitches in the heartbeats before contact, her hands rising to curl into my chest. I keep the kiss slow at first, give her control—because she’s closeto bolting.
Her muscles are tense with one proverbial foot out the door if anything feels wrong.
And when she gives in—when I catch that slight softening right before her lips open—I go deeper. My lips work hers gently, our chests inches away from touching.
Reva tastes like sin and salvation, the same potent combination she hinted at when I pulled over to help her. There’s something different about a woman who brings ruin—something you can’t quite place until you’re already in too deep.
A low moan in her throat rattles through me.
My tongue slides against her lips, a tease to get her to open fully. When she does, when she angles her head and sways into me, I’m sunk.
She clutches my shirt, anchoring herself. Her taste is smoky and rich, our tongues tangling.
“I can’t—” she breaks off, breath hitting my mouth as she shakes her head. “I don’t want to think.”
Her words shoot straight to my cock. It hardens in my pants and pushes against the layers separating us.
“Then don’t.”
My murmur throws her over the edge. Her grip changes—loosens—until the first bite of her nails against my skin has me one second away from losing control.
My hands slide from her arms to her hips to her ass and squeeze before hauling her up against me. I grind myerection against her softness, memorizing every giving place. She groans and arches against me, invitation and desperation hanging on the movement in equal measure.
I walk us to the bed until my knees hit the edge of the mattress, then lay her down. She stretches her arms over her head, lifting her chest in offering. From there it’s a slow travel over her body, my mouth finding the places where her moans turn to gasps.
Reva’s chasing sensation to drown out the dark. It’s clear in the hesitation before she reaches for me.
I palm her breast and circle the hard bud of her nipple with my fingers—careful, slow—trying to be pleasure without threat.
Reva deserves tenderness. She tosses bravado around like glitter, a magic show designed to fool the crowd. I see her, though. She’s a heartbeat away from running. Whatever sent her down here from Chicago is still chasing her, nipping at her heels. I’m just a stop-gap on the way to her ultimate destination, unless I can figure out how to be something different.
