Page 87 of Rebellion

Right.

He cupped her chin and then gave into his instincts.

Just one small taste... it wouldn’t harm her. Leaning in, he kissed her. He took it further than he’d intended to, pressing his tongue into her mouth to play with hers.

She sighed. The lingering tension in her body faded away as she kissed him back.

Finally, he forced himself to draw away. He pressed his forehead to hers. “These feelings I have for you? They are definitely not brotherly. Trust me.”

“Good,” she whispered, her face as open and relaxed as he’d ever seen it.

It made him realize just how much tension she carried all the time.

Fuck.

Was she always worried? Always on alert?

Did she ever take the time to relax and pamper herself? Maybe she didn’t know how.

Perhaps she needed him to do that for her.

Some people might be shocked that the bodyguard of one of the biggest crime bosses in Texas knew how to pamper someone.

But he wanted to do it for her.

“And I won’t call you Squirt again, all right?”

Some of that worry returned.

What had he said?

He frowned. “What is it, lass?”

“I just... I don’t want to make any promises I can’t keep.”

Right.

So they were back to her doing her best to try to push him away from her.

“Not tonight,” he told her warningly. “I’m in charge until dawn. And I say you don’t get to worry about the future. Youdon’t concern yourself with how I’m feeling. You just let me take all of that on.”

“You really want to do that?”

“Baby, I need to. Just like I needed you to be in my clothes, not anyone else’s.”

She closed her eyes as he ran a finger down her cheek.

“You need sleep,” he told her.

The dark marks under her eyes were completely unacceptable. He hadn’t noticed them as much before. Had she worn make-up to cover them up?

“How long since you’ve had a good night’s sleep?”

“I don’t know,” she mumbled. She clearly liked the way he kept lightly running his finger over her skin.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” he asked in a calm, quiet voice. He didn’t want to startle her.

“Nightmares.”

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