Page 111 of Things Left Unsaid

I’m just his temporary wife?—

“It’s fine, Zee. I’ll have to figure something else out.”

When his chin settles on the crown of my head, I nearly choke because I’m surrounded by him at all angles. That’s when the realization hits: I haven’t felt this safe since the last time he held me this way.

The day that changed both our lives—forever.

Tears prick my eyes at how wonderful the sensation is.

To be under this man’s protection, temporarily or not, is a glorious thing—all the more so because I know what it’s like to have it and to exist without it.

Then, he shifts, not to end the hug but to tuck my chin in his grasp and tilt my head so he can look at me. “I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do.”

Still trembling, I study him. “What’s your goal, Colt?”

“To make the bastard pay.”

Though my lips part at his answer, when his head bows, I’m prepared for the fallout.

The air around us has shifted—turned. Grown charged.

His mouth hovers so close to mine.

Is he going to kiss me?

His jaw tightens and he moves again, higher this time. When he brushes my forehead with a soft peck, I stiffen and, like a fool, cup his jaw and unite our mouths, half expecting him to pull away.

But he doesn’t.

He kisses me back.

He. Kisses. Me. Back.

My inner teenager is squealing in delight, but the adult Zee knows that this is a kiss beyond compare.

He tastes like coffee and the sugar cookies Ida bakes for him.

Before I can have a meltdown, against my stomach, I feel him harden.

The way he explores me has my heart pounding and my lungs burning, but it’s worth it. So worth it. His tongue tangles with mine. Fast at first, until he slows it down and I realize I was the one rushing it.

My skin feels tight. I want to crawloutof my clothes andontohim, but I don’t. Can’t. Not when his hands cup my chin like mine hold his.

Neither of us is letting go. We’re staying put and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than here until the end of time.

But, of course, life doesn’t work that way.

Eventually, he edges away.

My lips tingle with the ferocity of that kiss, the hunger, and the fire, and I drop my forehead against his chest.

I can feel his heartbeat pounding. Experience the rush of his lungs as he brings his breathing under control.

He doesn’t push me aside.

If anything, he encourages me to lean on him.

And for the first time, I get the feeling that he’d let me do that forever.

---