Page 76 of Catch Me When I Fall

“I-I know that our first one was sudden and we were—”

He laid his coat on the entry table, not breaking our gaze. “You want it now?” he asked, cutting me off.

“Would that be okay?”

Leo laughed and shook his head. He said nothing else as he closed the distance between us and wrapped his arms around me, his hold on me gentle and loose. He gave me a smirk as he bent his head. As his lips fell to mine, my eyes closed, and—

Are you coming back?

Yeah, Sunshine. I’ll always come back to you.

I stiffened, hearing the bounty hunter’s promise in my ears, but Leo didn’t notice, his lips softly and gently moving against my own. He wasn’t forceful with me; he took his time, holding me against him like I was a piece of glass.

With Robert, he never held me close. He rushed everything; our kisses never lasted more than a few seconds. He never looked me in the eye when he made love to me, never worried about my pleasure.

With Leo, it was gentle and slow. He was taking his time, but he kept his hands on my waist, not wanting to venture.

With the bounty hunter, it was frenzy, both of us drowning in an addicting passion, not wanting to come up for air. He couldn’t get enough of me, his hands searching and exploring my body as he ravaged my mouth, taking my breath away.

Get him out of your head, Carrie.

I needed to find that passion with Leo; maybe I just needed to dig a little deeper. Taking the chance, I brought my hands up to his chest, testing the waters, kissing him back. A soft noise came from his throat, and he slanted his head, so I took another chance, sliding my hands up over his shoulders and locking him behind his neck. Then, I felt his fingers tighten against my waist, and I pressed myself against him completely.

We stayed that way, kissing each other slowly and softly for a few more minutes.

When he finally pulled back, keeping his forehead against me, I opened my eyes to find a sea of green. “Carrie,” he breathed.

I smiled at him. “You hungry?”

He chuckled. “You take a man’s breath away and then ask him if he’s hungry?”

I nodded, and he laughed some more, his hands falling away from me. He rubbed the back of his neck, his lips twitching. I grabbed his other hand and lead him into the living room. “Take a seat. It should be ready in just a few minutes. Would you like something to drink?”

“Yeah, you still have that Blue Moon?”

An hour later, when the leftover stew and cornbread had been put away and the dishes had been washed, we moved into the living room. My head was on his chest, his sock-covered feet on my coffee table, crossed at the ankle, one arm around me while the other hand held a beer. I’d had two glasses of white wine, and this was his fifth beer, which was a little more than his normal, but I figured it was his nerves. Mine were the reason I even pulled out that bottle of wine in the first place.

“Did you enjoy the stew?” I asked, tilting my head back to look at him.

He looked down at me, his eyes sparkling and his smile lazy. “Loved it, sweetheart. Thank you.”

I waited for him to say more, and when he didn’t, I gave him a smile. Then he turned his attention back to the TV. The Game of Thrones theme song began, and I settled in, feeling content.

Eventually, as the Mother of Dragons headed up to Winterfell, I drifted off to sleep with the feeling of Leo’s warm body beside mine…

I felt a weight on top of me, and I tried to move, but for some reason, I couldn’t.

My eyes fluttered open to find Leo looming over me, his eyelids drooping slightly.

“Hey,” he murmured, slurring a bit. “You’re finally up.”

As I looked around, I tried to bring my hands up, but I couldn’t. My eyes shot to his. “Leo, what’s going on?” I asked, my head feeling heavy.

“Carrie,” he groaned, and the weight on top of me shifted.

Fear shot through my bloodstream then, cooling my blood as my brain registered where we were.

We weren’t in the living room. We were in my bedroom—on my bed.

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