Page 58 of For the Birds

Chapter12

The drive was agonizingly long.After all his twists and turns to make sure we weren’t being followed, he finally turned down the partially hidden driveway to his house. We’d both stayed on our side of the car, as though we knew that touching each other before we got to his house was dangerous.

But he practically leapt out of the car after he parked in the garage and circled around to meet me as I got out. He shut the door and pushed my back against it, kissing me, soft and leisurely this time. Then he broke loose and smiled—the soft smile that warmed up hiseyes.

The smile he saved forme.

He grabbed my hand, tugging me up a couple of steps and then through a door into his kitchen. Pulling me against his chest, he stroked my hair from my face. “Are you thirsty? Hungry?”

“I only wantyou.”

He took my hand again, more gently this time, and led me around the corner into his living room and up the stairs.

I stopped in my tracks when we reached the top. “Neely Kate.” How could I have forgotten that she had no idea of anything that had happened? She’d be worried sick when she realized I hadn’t comehome.

“Jed took care of it. He knows I haveyou.”

“Took care ofit?”

“Told her you’re with me. He’s with hernow.”

“You know aboutthem?”

“Since the day they lefttown.”

I frowned. Jed had told him before Neely Kate had toldme?

“No talk about Jed and Neely Kate,” he grunted, pushing my back to the wall and covering my body with his. His hand came to rest on the side of my neck, and my body burned with desire just from the feel of him against me. “You’re mine tonight. There’s no one else. Just you andme.”

He kissed me again, and I pressed myself into him. Maybe if I tried hard enough, I could seep under his skin and into his soul. Then we could fuse together, and I’d still have a piece of him with me after Ileft.

His hands grabbed my hips, and he pressed himself into my abdomen, proving how much he already wanted me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my knees weak. He lifted me, cradling my butt in his hands as my legs wrapped around his waist, still kissing me as he carried me into hisroom.

He set my feet on the ground, then took a small step back, his eyes skimming overme.

“Are you on the pill?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“I can still wear a condom.”

“Do you always wear one?” I asked.

“Always.”

“Then I trust you not to wear one tonight.”

He kissed me again, soft and gentle, as his hands lightly cupped my face and then skimmed down my neck and my nearly bare shoulders.

“You are so damned beautiful,” he said breathlessly as he lifted his head. His hands reached for the hem of my shirt and slowly lifted it, tugging it over my head, then tossed it onto the floor. He was already reaching for the button at the back of my skirt, and the zipper came next. Pushing the fabric over my hips, he let the fabric pool at myfeet.

He took a step back and stared at me, taking in the view. I’d worn a strapless nude-colored bra and panties today—boring—but at least they matched and both had a hint of lace. “I would have dressed up more underneath had I known this was happening.”

He grinned the sly grin I was used to. “I’m not complaining.”

“I want to see you,” I said, closing the distance between us and reaching for the hem of his T-shirt. I lifted it, and he helped me pull it over his head and arms. I traced the scars on his side and his shoulder. He’d shown them to me a few weeks before, trying to convince me how dangerous his life was. They were wounds from past skirmishes with men who’d wanted what he had. It had only made me more intrigued.

His upper chest and arms were covered with elaborate tattoos. I’d seen them before but hadn’t paid much attention. Multiple images that appeared to tell a story—the story of his life, I assumed. I had no idea what most of them meant. Probably no one did other than James, and possibly Jed. I traced the largest piece with my finger, a tree that covered the left side of his chest, the branches reaching up to the base of his neck and over his shoulder. Multiple leaves lay at the base of the trunk, but something else caught my attention—a tiny daisy at the base of the tree, a fragile-looking thing with a single petal falling and caught in midair as if blowingaway.

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