Page 83 of Burn Point

I laid a hand on his chest, needing to get the rest of this out. “I’ll be honest. I stayed up most of the night, because my first inclination was to run. I even packed a bag.”

He was shaking his head, gripping me with both hands now.

“But I saw your messages and stopped. Running away from that fear, and you, that’s not the right answer.”

“No, it’s definitely not.” His reply was swift. Adamant.

My lips lifted in a sad smile. “Do you know what happened to me yesterday while you were saving the world?”

He shook his head, still gripping me with his fierce gaze, as if he couldn’t look away for fear I’d be gone. As much as I hated seeing his discomfort, and being the reason for it, seeing that he was taking me seriously gave me the courage to continue.

“Leah came to get me. She took me to meet Mrs. O’Malley, who is hilarious by the way. They sat with me and took care of me. And later, Mike called Leah, because he knew we were together, and he talked to me and told me that he’d spoken to you, and you looked fine. That you weren’t the one trapped.” I turned away, resuming our lazy meandering. It was easier to talk if I didn’t have to meet his gaze. I noted the pretty summer flowers we’d nurtured together, the pops of color vibrant in the morning sun.

“I was scared to death thinking that I’d lost you, and I had people around me supporting me. Telling me to keep the faith. And I know that if anything had happened to you, I wouldn’t have been allowed to run, because these people would’ve wrapped me up in their love and they would’ve taken care of me.” From the corner of my eye, I saw his nod. He knew how wonderful his friends were. Birdsong serenaded our stroll, and I paused to soak in how much I’d come to love this place.

Drawing strength from that, I turned to Nate to find his eyes swimming with emotion. I took comfort in seeing that emotion and forged ahead. “But I also realized that I don’t want to run away. I need you Nate.” I gripped both of his hands in mine, pressing them to my chest. “I care about you. But I need you to be gentle with me, and I need you to let me know that you are in this with me. And I need you to not take risks that you don’t have to take. Because I can’t lose you.” My tears spilled over again. At what point did they dry up?

He brushed away my tears with the gentlest sweep of his thumb across my cheek. As more fell, he framed my face and kissed them away. “I’m so fucking sorry, Jordan.” The ragged apology was whispered, tortured. “I hate that you were so scared. That it triggered a bad memory, and I didn’t make things any better by being short with you.” He kissed my forehead. “I’m not used to checking in. I’ve never really had anyone who gave a shit about me to need to do that.” Another brush of my cheek, another gentle kiss. “Captain let me know I was wrong. He clued me in that sometimes we need to go gentle. And I wasn’t with you. And I’m so sorry.”

His eyes swam with remorse. He hadn’t meant to hurt me.

I was the one with the issues. And poor Nate was beating himself up over it. It was time to face my problems because no matter how far I ran, I’d never get over Nate. So I needed to fix the real issue. “I think I need to go see someone to help me get past this trauma response,” I admitted.

Nate slid his arms around my shoulders, my face pressed to the skin of his neck. I breathed in his comforting scent, cherishing the way he ran his hand over my hair. His voice, when it came, was soft and sweet and went straight to my heart. “Do you want me to go with you?”

Bless this sweet man. How could I have ever thought that I could run away and leave him? He was so much a part of me, I didn’t know where I ended, and he began. “I’d like that.”

He released me, letting me see all the emotion that he felt, before gifting me the softest, most heartfelt kiss of my life. Even if we hadn’t said the words, I knew we were both in the same place. He showed me every day in all the little ways he took care of me.

I closed my eyes and kissed him back, needing to feel him in this moment. All of him. I stepped closer, wrapping one arm around his strong shoulders, and the other around his head. His hands went to the backs of my legs as he lifted me up. Automatically, my legs hooked around his hips and then he started moving.

I broke the kiss to ask, “Where are you taking me?” Not that it mattered as long as he was with me.

“I want you, Jordan.” His voice was deep. The need in it sent my heart racing.

I pulled him back for another kiss, letting him know I wanted him too. My back crashed into the side of the van. In a flurry of movement, he ripped the hem of my shirt up, over my head, flinging it to the ground at his feet.

He latched onto my breast, sucking my nipple through the lace of my bra, and desire exploded in me. I flung my head back against the camper, holding him to me, needing more. I reached down and pulled his shirt up, panting as he reached back with one hand, breaking his kiss long enough to pull the shirt off over his back.

“Damn, that’s hot.” I whispered.

“What?” He grinned down at me, spanning my ribcage with a rough hand.

“I like that thing you do with your shirt—you know, the pulling it off like that.”

The grin grew. “That’s good to know.” Then he was back at my chest, leaving a trail of heat as he licked the curve of my breast, running his tongue across my collarbone and up my neck, sending my heart rate soaring.

“I need you, Nate.”

He pulled back a little and popped the button on my shorts. “Off” he growled against my lips, dropping my legs. I shimmied out of my shorts as he undid his enough to let his glorious cock spring free. He bent and hoisted me up again, while I reached between us, gripping the length of him and giving him a slow drag with my fist, my other arm draped over his shoulder.

“Oh God damn, Skippy, just like that.” He groaned, his forehead landing on mine. But I needed more, so I gave him another tug as I lined him up at my entrance.

“Nate, baby, please,” I begged.

He slid into me, in one long slow thrust until he was seated deep. He pulled back, meeting my eyes. “Watch us, Jordan. See how beautiful we are. How beautiful you are.”

He leaned back to get a better view, eyes on where we were joined, his jaw gritted, face entranced. I looked down to see him pull out of me, pause, and then slide gloriously back in, and a moan burst from my throat before I could catch it.

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