"You were planning to stay here?" Guilt shot through Blue. There was no chance in hell he was stealing her safe house. He stood up. "No problem. It'll take me five minutes to pack, and the place is all yours." He set the beer on the counter of the kitchenette, and strode across the room to where his duffel was stashed. "I've already been here two days, and I told Harlan I wasn't staying any longer than that—"
"Whoa." She stood up just as quickly, her hand going to his arm as he passed.
He froze, his senses flashing to awareness at the feel of her touch. Her fingers were gentle, barely there, and yet he couldn't move away from her. He took a breath, and turned his head to look at her. "It's okay," he said softly. "The place is yours—"
"No, I don't need it. Emma found another place, one that's in town, which I would prefer anyway." She rolled her eyes. "I was never a huge nature girl, but after tonight, I think I'd lie in bed all night waiting for the boogie man to get me if I stayed here. It's all good."
"But you'll have to pay for that place, right?" He didn't move away from her touch, and she didn't take her hand away either.
Her face softened, and she smiled. "No, actually. You know how Harlan is a real estate agent in his spare time?" At his nod, she continued on. "He has a listing that's for sale, but the owners said I could stay there for free while it's on the market. They figure it'll help sell it if the windows get opened and the mustiness gets out, so I'm good. That's where you're driving me tonight, unless you can work magic with my car."
He grimaced. "I don't want to complicate things for you—"
"It's not complicating anything," she interrupted. "Seriously, this works out better for me." She patted his arm. "But I appreciate your willingness to surrender the cabin to me." Her smile faded. "It's nice. Nice is good."
He still didn't move. "I'm not nice."
She raised her brows. "No?"
"No." Her face was so close to his. Only inches away. Her mouth...it was insanely tempting. He imagined brushing a kiss over her forehead. Across her cheeks. Against the corner of her mouth.
Her eyes widened, and she caught her breath. Suddenly, that same tension from moments ago had returned, only this time, it hummed with higher intensity, like the eerie silence when a night was too still, indicating that all hell was about to break loose.
He brushed his fingers along her jaw, and she froze, not even breathing. "Would it be inappropriate to kiss you right now?"
"Yes." She blurted out the answer before he'd finished asking the question. "Don't kiss me. Don't even think about it." But she didn't move, or even turn her head away from the brush of his fingers along her jaw.
"Can't help thinking about it."
"Well, find a way." She swallowed hard.
"Can't." Silently, he moved his hand so his fingers were resting on her throat. The frantic fluttering of her pulse was like a butterfly beneath his touch, delicate, untamed, and beautiful. "You could stay here instead of going to town tonight."
Her eyes widened. "Stay here? With you?"
"Yeah." He ran his fingers along her collarbone, tracing the delicate curve of her body.
She closed her eyes, inhaling sharply at his touch, leaning into him ever so slightly. "Never."
"Why not?" He wanted to kiss that fluttering pulse in her throat. He wanted to trace it with his lips, and his tongue. He wanted to taste her lips.
"Because—-" She stopped, her breath catching again as he bent his head and pressed a feather-light kiss to the delicate skin of her throat. "Oh, God. Really? You had to do that?"
"Yeah, I did. Your throat was calling to me. Didn't you hear it? It was whispering my name. Blue, kiss me. Blue, kiss me now."
She made a strangled sound that sounded like a cross between laughter and disgusted, skeptical scorn. "My body would never beg for a man's kiss. Ever. You're delusional."
"Probably." He pressed another kiss to her collarbone, and her fingers tightened on his arm, where they were still resting from her initial contact. "But as delusions go, it's an extremely pleasant one, so I'm just going to go with it." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Can you hear it? Now it's your cheek whispering to me. Blue. Kiss me."
"My cheek is not saying that—" He brushed a kiss over her left cheekbone. "Damn you," she whispered.
He bent his head, so his lips were hovering over hers. "What about your lips? Can you hear them whispering?"
"They're telling you to stop bugging me." But her fingers continued to grip his arm, and she didn't pull away.
"What about the corner of your mouth? Right here?" He kissed the spot in question.
She sighed. "Okay, yeah, maybe there. That might have been saying something to you."
"And this corner?" He tried the other.
She made a small noise of pleasure that made him grin. "It's a distinct possibility," she muttered. "But only because that particular corner of my mouth is stupid, irresponsible, and a glutton for situations that would leave it strewn across the highway in a thousand shattered pieces."
He slid his hand through her hair, tangling his fingers in the strands. "No need for shattered pieces," he said gently. "I can't have any of that when I'm around. I'm a sucker for picking up broken pieces and trying to glue them back together. I can't ever leave them scattered around. It's against my nature." His lips brushed hers, barely, just a whispered touch that made visceral longing course through him, tightening every muscle in his body. "I need to kiss you, Chloe. Like my life fucking depends on it."
Her eyes snapped open, and she searched his face. He knew he'd sounded too desperate, but he didn't pull back. He let her see the raw brokenness of his soul. He let her see it, because she'd already ripped away his shields, leaving him with no defenses.
"Kiss me, Blue," she whispered. "Kiss me, now."
"Chloe." With a low groan, he closed the distance between them, and claimed her mouth with his own.
Chapter 4
Chloe felt like her world came to a complete standstill the moment Blue's lips touched hers. The intensity of his kiss seemed to ignite something inside her that she hadn't dared acknowledge in so long. Her entire soul seemed to cry out in response, aching for the wholeness that he seemed to pour into her merely from the touch of his lips.
Instinctively, her fingers slid up his arm, across his shoulder, and slipped behind his neck. His skin was soft, and his short hair tickled the pads of her fingers. Touching him like that made him real. He was a man. He was a human. He was someone running from shadows just as she was. His need for her was genuine, driven by a desperate emptiness in his soul that seemed to echo what she'd been trying to suppress in herself for so long.
Somehow, he seemed to make it acceptable for her to acknowledge how deeply she needed to be kissed, to be touched, to be held. For so long, she'd pretended that her deep, aching need for physical connection didn't exist. She'd convinced herself that living with a man who didn't believe in physical affection had been okay with her. She'd pretended she was fine. And, quite frankly, she'd actually thought she was fine. But his kiss changed everything for her. Somehow, he'd made it okay for her to feel how much she needed this, because he had been willing to let her see that same depth of need in himself.
Surrendering to the need he had given her permission to acknowledge, she parted her lips, allowing the kiss to become more, hoping that he would respond, unable and unwilling to initiate more herself.
With a low groan, he angled his head and deepened the kiss, taking immediate advantage of her offering.
At his instant response, desire tore through her. It coiled in her belly like a fire that had ignited a forest of dry, brittle timber. Her other hand found the back of his neck, tugging him closer. His arms wrapped around her back, coaxing her against him as he backed her up against the wall. Her back hit the raw wood, trapping her in his kiss in a feverish, decadent frenzy of need.
His body was solid, impenetrable muscle, pinning her against the wall. He was pure male, dangerous and sensual,
so much stronger and more physically dominant than she could ever be. He was armed, haunted by secrets dangerous enough that he'd pulled a gun on her when she'd startled him. He lived a life of sordid, ugly truths. He was everything that she didn't need in her life, not if she wanted to heal and reclaim her identity...and yet, every cell in her body seemed to cry out for more from him.
"Chloe." He whispered her name against her mouth, and her heart tightened at the sound of his rough, deep voice saying her name so tenderly, as if she was an angel that had been sent to breathe light into his darkness.
No one had ever said her name like that. Ever. And yet here was this man she'd just met, whispering her name so reverently, giving her something she'd craved her entire life.
He palmed her breast, and desire ricocheted through her. She shifted restlessly, pressing her hips against him in a decadent display of wantonness that seemed to come from deep inside her. She wanted his hand beneath her shirt. She needed to feel skin against skin, the heat of his body against hers, as if that would convince her that she was alive.
"Blue." She slid her hands down his sides, over the hardness of his muscles, to his waist. His jeans were low on his hips, and the rough fabric of his tee shirt was loose. She hooked her fingers in his back pockets, whimpering as he kissed his way down her throat, and over her chest, toward her breast.
It felt so amazing, she knew she'd never stop him. She didn't want to. He made her feel alive. Beautiful. Needed.
She knew she shouldn't be kissing him. She knew she was too vulnerable to be letting herself be swept away by something as magical as his kiss. She knew that, and yet a deeper, more powerful instinct within her wouldn't allow her to break the kiss or push him away. As much as he had needed to kiss her, and she had felt that need in his words and seen it in his eyes, she knew she needed it more —
Her phone rang suddenly, a shrill interruption that made them both freeze. His mouth stilled on hers, with his palm still on her breast, and her hands still in his back pockets. For a long moment, neither of them moved, and the only sound was their heavy breathing.
Then her phone rang again, and he swore under his breath. "You going to get that?"
She didn't want to. She wanted to stay in that moment with him forever and pretend that the rest of life didn't exist. But even as she thought that, the old, familiar tightness descended upon her chest again, clamping that vice around her heart like it had been her whole life. She was so used to it that she barely noticed it anymore, but Blue's kiss had freed her for that one moment, making her want to cry when she felt that band of tension tighten around her ribs again.
"Chloe?" His hand went to her ass, where her phone was vibrating.
"Yes, it might be Emma." Biting back frustration, she accepted her phone after he pulled it free and handed it to her. It took two tries before she managed to answer it, and that was all the time it took for him to step back, taking away the physical connection he'd just given her. She put the phone to her ear, watching him as he ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath. "What?"
There was a pause. "Everything okay, Chloe?" Emma asked.
God, what was her problem? Sexual frustration? She took a deep breath, and managed a smile. "Yes, it's great. We were just going out to look at my car."
Blue glanced at her, the shadows almost hiding the scar on his cheek. She wondered what it was from. One of his assignments? It looked like it had been a major injury. Was that one of the shadows that haunted him?
"Oh, great. I was just calling to tell you that I saw the time and realized Wright's would be closed, so don't bother to stop there. I'll raid my fridge and bring you enough to get you through till morning. What do you want? Juice? Fruit? Have you had dinner? I can bring some soup."
"Anything is fine. It's late. I won't need much."
"Okay, I'll grab a few things. Love ya, babe. I'm so glad you're in Birch Crossing. See you soon!"
"Bye." Chloe hung up the phone, and let her hand drop to her side. Blue hadn't gone outside to check her car. He was still standing there, only a foot away. He hadn't turned away, pretending that nothing had happened. He was watching her, clearly waiting for her to finish the call. And she was finished...but she had no idea what to say. Thanks for a great kiss, please never do it again? Or, thanks for a great kiss. Do you think we could have sex and still meet Emma on time?
His gaze was hooded as he watched her.
She shifted uncomfortably. "What?" she finally blurted out, in a completely ungraceful and unromantic utterance.
He grinned, that same, heart-melting grin that made her want to smile back at him. How did a man who lived his life have a smile that was so endearing? "If Emma hadn't called, I would have tried to toss you on the bed and make love to you."
She blinked, heat rising to her cheeks in record speed. "What?"
"Yeah." He studied her thoughtfully. "That's unexpected."
She cleared her throat. "You don't normally want to toss women on your bed and make love to them?"
He shrugged. "You can't see beautiful things unless you're willing to notice them. I'm not."
She raised her brows. "So, you can see me because I'm not beautiful? Because that is a surefire way to get me into bed."
He laughed, a deep beautiful sound. "No, I want to make love to you because I can see you."
Her teasing quip died before she could say it, fading under the intensity of the words he hadn't said. "I make you see beauty?"
He nodded.
"Oh." She swallowed, her throat suddenly tight. "Is that bad?"
"I don't know."
They both fell silent. The short distance between them was both a tiny gap that would be so easy to overcome, and also an endless chasm. Neither of them moved toward the other, and as they stood there, the tiny gap seemed to disappear, until all that was left was the endless chasm.
She cleared her throat. "So, um, I don't want to keep Emma waiting."
He nodded, but he still didn't move. He was studying her with such scrutiny that she felt her heart begin to pound again. She'd never met a man who exuded such raw intensity, and at the same time, she'd never met a man that could make her want to smile by doing nothing more than shooting a lazy grin in her direction. "Dark and light," she said softly.
He cocked an eyebrow. "What is?"
"You. You're dark and light."
He shook his head. "No. Just dark." He stood there for another moment, and then walked over to the door and held it open. "Let's go check your car, shall we?"
She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, both completely relieved and utterly disappointed that he'd opened the door, instead of shackling her wrist and dragging her into his arms. Of course, she could decline his offer to look at her car. She could see from the simmering intensity of his eyes that if she told him to close the door, he would.
In a heartbeat.
For a split second, she was tempted. Would it be so wrong to tumble into bed with a man who made her feel alive for the first time in so long? Would it be so wrong to grab life and hold on tight when it offered her a moment of respite from the emptiness she'd tried so hard to fill her whole life?
No. It wouldn't be wrong.
But when it was over, and she had to get up and face her life again, she would be in exactly the same situation she was in now, only she'd have one more loss hanging in her closet.
No more losses.
No more pain.
It was time for her to take life into her own hands, and to stop relying on anyone else to make it stop hurting so much. So, instead of leaping onto the couch and opening her arms in an unmistakable come-hither invite, she lifted her chin and took a deep breath. "It would be fantastic to check on my car. Thank you."
He raised his eyebrows at her as she marched past him, but he didn't stop her, and she didn't touch him. Well, except for when her elbow brushed against his stomach. And that wasn't an intentional, last-ditch effort to cop a little man-time before e
mbarking upon her solo, independent life.
Really. It wasn't.
* * *
"Oh, look! Isn't it cute?"
Blue glanced over at Chloe as she leaned forward to peer out his windshield. Her hands were resting on the dash of his truck as he pulled up to the address she'd given him. The house was an old white colonial with overgrown flowering bushes adorning the front yard. Chloe's face was radiant, her eyes glowing with excitement. "Isn't that porch adorable?"
His gaze flicked to the porch, and he noticed the carved wood railings and the paint that had once been white, but now looked a little worn out. The place had potential, but right now, it looked like it had been forgotten by someone who had once loved it.
"It's perfect!" Chloe, on the other hand, didn't appear to see the chipped paint or the overgrown nature of the bushes. She was beaming, her gaze rapidly scanning the exterior of her temporary home, her excitement becoming more visible by the moment.
Blue looked back at the house, trying to see what she saw, but to him, it just looked like a house. It was on a quiet street lined with similar houses, many of which had quaint signs hanging on them, indicating that the residents had opened businesses or shops in them. The one next door appeared to be under construction, but the others were similar to hers. Most of the lights were off, but there was a definite sense of the street being occupied and safe, so he supposed that was a good thing for her.
She beamed at him. "Pink flowers. Really? Can you believe it? I've always wanted pink flowers in my front yard!"
"Pink flowers?" He frowned, looking back at the house. This time, he noticed that the overgrown bushes had small blossoms on them, which appeared pink under the glow of his headlights. Something flickered through him, a loss of sorts, that he couldn't see the world as Chloe saw it.
She patted his arm as he pulled to a stop in the driveway. "Thank you so much for stealing that cabin from me. This is so much better!"
He couldn't help but grin at the excitement in her voice. "No problem. Always happy to help." He was astounded by her ability to rebound, by her ability to simply let go of things that didn't go the way she'd planned.
Irresistibly Mine Page 3