Page 40 of When You Saved Me

A wave of torment shuddered across his face. His voice cracked as he spoke, “I stopped. In the middle of that hallway, Charlie, I stopped running. If I just would have kept going, the ceiling wouldn’t have collapsed on us, and you wouldn’t have?—”

“Shhh,” I pressed my finger to his lips. Looking down atme, he stopped talking, but I could still see the regret of that moment written in the shadows of his face.

I needed it to go away. His pain. His regret. His self-loathing. I needed him to see what I saw in him. So, I pressed my lips to his cheek. Then the other.

When I pulled back, his long black lashes lifted and his chest rose as he inhaled deeply.

“It wasn’t your fault, Deacon.” I shook my head back and forth, then leaned forward again until our foreheads touched. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Our breaths intertwined and with every rise and fall of his chest, mine rose and fell too.

Then, I kissed him.

Chapter 15

Deacon

Heaven.

That’s what it felt like to kiss Charlie.

My entire body seized up when she first pressed her lips to mine because I’d thought of this moment for so long. Dreamt of it in my wildest dreams, thinking it would never come true.

But as her little moan hummed against me, I couldn’t contain myself anymore. I wanted her.Neededher. Like I needed the fucking air I breathed.

I slid my palm down the length of her side and gripped her bottom with my hands to pull her down onto my lap. Our lips parted and she let out a bubble of laughter that had my heart skipping beats.

Long strands of her sunset red hair fell over her shoulders. The crystalline blue of her eyes seemed to soften as I moved my hands upward to the sides of her face.

“I want to make you laugh every fucking day of my life,Sunshine.” Nuzzling my nose against hers, I felt her cheeks ball as she smiled. “It’s the best sound I’ve ever heard.”

Soft lips pressed against the center of my forehead as my fingers dug into her plush hips. “As long as I get to see you smile every day of mine.” There was a huskiness to her voice I hadn’t heard before. It was sultry and luscious andfuck…everything about her was carved to perfection by God himself.

Burying my hands in her hair, I kissed her again. This time, she opened up for me fully. Swiping my tongue against hers, I groaned at her warmth and sweet taste. There was nothing in this world that mattered more than this. It felt like falling as my stomach tightened and my heart beat faster. But the feel of her…it kept me grounded too. Kissing her was like coming home after spending years at war. It was the only place I wanted to be.

Her arms draped over my shoulders and when she started running her fingertips lightly over the base of my neck, goosebumps exploded down my arms. Everything with her felt like I was seeing the world again for the first time. It didn’t matter who came before her because no one had made me feel the way she did.

Tangled together, she started rolling her hips forward in slow tantalizing motions that had my cock stirring.

When I gripped her ass and lifted my hips to give her the friction I knew she wanted, she bit my lower lip and dove her tongue deeper into my mouth.

“Fuck, yes,” I murmured against her lips, and I felt her smile against me.

“There’s too much clothing between us,” she said, breaking the kiss. She frantically reached between us for the hem of my sweater, but I grabbed the sides of her arms before she could continue.

Letting out a little whimper, she stuck out her bottom lip at me and pouted. I laughed because it was the cutest damn thing I’d ever seen.

“What?” The word was a plea. “Why are we stopping?”

With a deep inhale, I breathed in her sweet vanilla scent and moved my palms back to the sides of her face. Her skin was flush, making the dusting of freckles over her nose and cheeks stand out even more.

“I just want to look at you for a moment.” Her lashes fanned out over her cheeks as she leaned into my left palm. “I don’t want to miss a thing.”

The air between us was heady as we just looked at one another. Our breaths slowed as each moment passed by. I tried to memorize every detail of her beauty so if I ever lost the chance of keeping her in my arms, I’d at least have this. A memory I could hold onto forever.

The gentle slope of her pert nose was cute as a button. I drew my thumb along the edge of her jaw, bringing me to her rosy lips with a sharp cupid’s bow on top. There was a small chicken pox scar right below her left temple where she probably scratched herself as a kid. Firelight caught the strands of her hair, turning them copper and a deep red depending on the shadows that bounced around the room.

“Stunning,” I whispered as I grasped her wrists andlooked at her dainty hands. “I want to see what you’ve created with these hands. I want to watch you paint.”

---