Page 71 of Unbroken

“So, can we have the conversation we were supposed to have before?”

One side of his mouth curved upward, and his eyes dropped to my mouth as my tongue dipped out and licked across my lower lip. “I would like that.”

“Well, how do you feel about it?”

“How do I feel about our kiss?”

“Kisses, yes.”

He chuckled at my correction and stepped closer. With another step, there was no space left between us. I stood as still as possible while he reached out and cupped my cheek. The warmth of his palm seeped into my skin, and I took a deep breath that was all him, filled with his heady, clean scent.

His thumb brushed over my lips, and I couldn’t help but slip my tongue out and sneak a taste of his skin. Even in the dim light of the kitchen, I saw his pupils dilate and the muscles in his neck tense.

“I feel like if I don’t kiss you again soon, I’m going to go fucking crazy.”

“Fuck, then please do it.”

And I didn’t have to wait. His mouth was on mine in the nextsecond, and I was pinned between his hard body and the counter behind me. And it felt like I was exhaling. A weight lifted off me, and all the anxiety and stress were completely gone.

One of his hands dove into my hair and gripped it at the root, guiding the kiss and slipping his tongue past my lips. I loved the possession in his touch, contrasted by the care I felt as he brushed my cheek with his other hand.

My hands roamed his chest and abdomen. His muscles flexed beneath my touch, and I was eager to roam lower, but I refrained, wanting to extend our kiss as long as we could.

But something I hadn’t felt in years stirred within me. It was the need to touch and be touched. To feel someone else’s body against mine. I wanted to feel Devoneverywhere.

His lips against mine, firm and confident, were a tortuous tease. And as our kiss deepened, my desire to take things slow faded. His hands tightened in my hair, and my fingers wandered lower until I brushed against the waistband of his joggers.

He sucked in a breath, and a small grunt left his lips. Determined to see more reactions, I snuck my fingers lower, only an inch beneath the fabric, but it was enough that our kiss faltered. Enjoying the tease too much, I altered course, pushing his shirt up and dragging my nails across his taut, tattooed stomach.

A low moan rumbled in his chest, and his head dropped to my shoulder, kissing along my neck. “Your hands, Blake,” he groaned into my skin. I dragged my nails higher and higher until I brushed against his nipple, and the groan turned into a low growl. He snapped and took my face in his hands once again. His kiss was brutal and wanting. “It’s never felt like this before,” he muttered against my mouth. “It feels so…”

“…right,” I finished for him, completely understanding the feeling. It was perfect.

I began to wrap my arms around his neck, ready for more, when we both stopped. I thought the sound was in my head, butDevon’s simultaneous reaction made me realize it wasn’t. Then it happened again, and our widened eyes locked.

“Someone’s on the stairs. I don’t want?—”

Devon nodded and tugged at my hand. He led me farther into the kitchen, and it wasn’t until he grabbed the door handle to the pantry that I understood. We slipped into the room and the second the door closed, panic instantly set in.

It was so dark I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face or Devon, who was less than a foot in front of me. I could feel his hand in mine, but suddenly, I was back in that basement. The hard floor beneath me, the chain tight around my ankle, digging into my skin with a sharp ache every time I moved.

Darkness seemed to penetrate every corner of the room.

“Dev,” I managed to say through a shaky breath and the blind panic.

“I don’t know who it is, but they’ll be gone in a second,” he said, not recognizing the terror in my voice.

So, I tried again. “Dev,please. I-I?—”

It was so dark, I couldn’t see, but I felt Devon stop. Then his hand touched my hair and my face where he felt the tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Fuck, B, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“The dark,” I whispered, opening and closing my eyes against the memories bombarding me. “I can’t. I can’t?—”

Without any other information, Devon tugged me along, and my panic only rose when he led me deeper into the pantry. My breathing grew ragged, and more tears burned my eyes until he opened a door I didn’t know was there.

The house was so big it not only had a large pantry but also a butler’s pantry off the kitchen. The small hallway tucked off of the kitchen was filled with moonlight, and the moment we stepped into it, I began to breathe easier.

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