Page 56 of Her Guarded Hero

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Aurora’s hair smelled like it looked, shades of fragrant honey. Dalton lifted a silky strand to his face.

“Are you sniffing my hair?” her laugh was languid.

“Busted.” Not that he cared, she smelled delicious and he wanted to savor every moment of what little time they had left together. He looked down at her.

He saw the same need reflected in her eyes.

“When are you going?” she asked.

He shook his head. He didn’t want to talk about it now. She rested her cheek against his chest. If he could, he would make a habit of sleeping on a hard floor so that Aurora would always end up sleeping on top of him. He enjoyed having a blonde blanket. That was the problem, he liked her, this, too much.

He swept his hand down under the blanket and cupped the swell of her bottom. She looked up at him underneath her dark lashes. “Are you looking for an encore?”

“We need to get back to the house. Your grandfather is going to send out a search party.”

“I think granddad knows what’s going on,” she said wryly.

He winced inwardly, he really hadn’t wanted to consider that. Thank God for the man’s discretion, he’d done absolutely nothing to indicate that he’d noticed anything. Still, it made him feel lower than pond scum.

She shifted, raising herself up so that she was leaning on her crossed arms, her breasts a plumped feast.

“You’re looking pensive. What’s wrong?”

He tucked a thick lock of hair behind her ear. Then because he couldn’t resist, he lifted and kissed the pulse point that he’d revealed.

“You really have a thing for my hair. I heard you breathe in, don’t even deny it Sullivan.” God love her, she was trying to lighten the mood.

“I’m leaving tomorrow,” he said baldly, answering the question she’d asked before.

“I was pretty sure, since I was the one who folded your laundry,” she sighed.

He couldn’t figure if that made him feel better or worse. Better that she knew, or worse that she’d figured it out without him talking to her first.

She cupped his face in her calloused hands. Hands he reveled in. “Dalton, listen to me, you never once made a promise. We covered this, okay?”

“But tomorrow?”

Shit, why was this hitting him so hard? Hell, he’d had a couple of relationships since Lacey. Well, not relationships exactly. Now that he thought about it, he really couldn’t pretty it up that much, a relationship inferred emotions were involved, and he never let one emotion get past his walls. How in the hell had Aurora gotten past every single one of his barriers?

“-life.”

“What? I’m sorry I didn’t get that.” Shit, now he wasn’t even listening to her.

“I said I understood you had to get back to your normal life.”

“Did I ever tell you how much I love coffee?”

She stared at him like he’d grown a second head. “Well no Dalton, you’ve never mentioned that you were a coffee connoisseur.”

“Chocolate too. I love chocolate.”

“Okay.” She bit her bottom lip, and it turned a deep red.

“Raspberries. I fucking love raspberries. Shit Aurora, your eyes, coffee and chocolate, and your lips are like the sweetest, ripest raspberries. I don’t know how the hell I’m going to be able to drink another cup without thinking about you.”

He clamped one arm around her waist and fisted his other hand into her tangle of honey hair, forcing her luscious lips down to his. She twisted against his naked body, grappling for his erection, making him groan against the devastating power of her kiss. He bucked up, needing more, needing so much more of this woman.