Page 37 of Easton’s Claim

He leaned closer, unwilling to let this go. Not when he was so close to winning her. “I won’t hurt you. I’m not him.”

“I know. But I’m afraid of losing you if we go through with this.”

“You won’t lose me. Not ever.”

“It could wreck our friendship if things don’t work out. It could wreck my relationship with your entire family.”

“We’re adults, Piper. All of us. We’d figure it out.”

She blew out a breath, looking tortured and completely unconvinced. “What if I can’t give you what you’re asking for?” she said, repeating almost the same words from down by the creek.

“What if you can?”

She closed her eyes, shook her head. So afraid to follow her instincts and take what she wanted. What they both needed.

He skimmed his fingertips along her jaw, savoring the softness of her skin. “We both know it’ll be good.”

Her eyes opened, the pupils dilating in the dimness. They dropped to his mouth for a second before coming back to his and the desire and longing burning in them made his gut clench. “But does that make it worth the risk?”

He’d prove to her that it was. “Only one way to find out.” He bent his head and covered her lips with his, her swift intake of breath setting a match to the desire roaring through him. He slid a hand into her hair, his fingers bunching in the cool, silky strands as he pushed his tongue into her mouth.

Instead of pushing him away, Piper scooted up on her knees and gripped his head as she kissed him back, rubbing her tongue against his, her breasts pressed to his chest. The taste of her, the sweet scent of her perfume and the pliant curves of her body surrounded him in a sensual fog.

Giving into temptation for just a moment, he slid his right arm down until his hand met the curve of her ass. He spread his fingers, squeezed as he brought her pelvis flush with his thigh. She gasped into his mouth and shifted her stance, pressing closer. Close enough so that he could feel her heat through his jeans as he twined his tongue with hers.

Yellow light. Slow down.

Much as it killed him to stop and let her go, he had to. She wanted him, at least believed that he loved her, and that was a good start, but she was still fighting the rest of it and he didn’t know what the hell else to do except give her the space to make the choice herself.

If and when she came to him, it would be because she couldn’t stay away any longer. She had to give him her heart freely and on her own, not because of pressure, or it would never last.

And with Piper, he was playing for keeps. All or nothing, simple as that.

Gently disengaging from the kiss, he gazed into her heavy-lidded eyes a moment, then stood and offered his hand. “Come lie down with me so I can hold you.”

She stilled and watched him, all her emotions right there in her eyes. Hesitation, doubt. A need he was dying to satisfy but wouldn’t, not unless she gave him all of her.

He waited, unmoving, holding her gaze until the tension bled out of her shoulders. At last she put her hand in his, allowed him to pull her to her feet. Maybe things hadn’t gone according to his grand romantic plan, but he could still sweep her off her feet better than Greg had.

Sliding one arm around her back, he bent and tucked the other one beneath her knees, swinging her up into his arms. She let out a little squeak and then laughed, the happy sound flowing through him as she looped both arms around his neck and held on. “Don’t drop me.”

He stopped and looked down into her eyes. “I’d never let you fall.”

A slow, poignant smile curved her lips and he couldn’t resist tasting her. He kissed her slowly, heart thudding at the way she turned her face up to him, her mouth parting for the lazy stroke of his tongue.

Leaving her wanting more, he smiled to himself as he carried her through the door into the living room, through the kitchen and down the hall to his room. The covers were already turned back so he laid her down then crawled over her and lay on his side. He wrapped one arm around her ribs to pull her in tight to his body.

He was rock hard and aching but she didn’t wriggle away, and though he wanted nothing more than to strip her naked and slide into her warmth, he loved the feel of her settled against him like this. Soft and trusting.

He’d waited more than a decade for her, and now he was finally on the verge of winning her. No matter how hard it was, he had to be patient and let her come to him. It was the only way to claim her heart as well as her body.

Chapter Twelve

It really does rain when it pours.

Piper sat next to Easton at the lead detective’s desk down at the police station the next morning and suppressed a tired sigh. She’d woken in Easton’s arms with a call saying that her storage unit had been torched sometime last night, so she’d had to come down here again.

“I’m sorry to say that everything in the unit was a total loss,” the detective said.

---