Page 58 of Sutton's Shadow

“So I’ll see you this weekend, right, Bethany?” she asked, interrupting Wyatt’s objection.

Bethany agreed as they walked out the door. It struck Sutton that to any random observer, they might look like a family. An ache formed in her heart at that thought. She’d wanted that, had expected that with Liam, even as doubt toward the end settled in. The story she’d told Wyatt about Liam’s reaction to her talk about cutting back on their travel had concerned her more than she let anyone know. Her concern that Liam would never want to settle down and start a family had taken root in her gut. It had only grown from there as more instances like that had occurred.

But seeing a man like Wyatt, ready and willing to take in his young sister, gave her hope. She couldn’t deny that his actions were attractive to her. But could he ever be interested in someone as broken as her?

Shoving off her doubts, she accepted Bethany’s hug goodbye. She smiled as the girl skipped off to get into Wyatt’s truck. That smile slipped when Wyatt leaned close and kissed her on her temple, right over her beauty mark. Her heart pounded like it would burst from her chest. She held her breath, wishing those lips were a little farther down and to the left, on her lips.

“Thank you for telling me about your concerns,” he whispered in her ear, his warm breath causing goosebumps to skitter down her arms. She nodded, unable to find her voice.

“I’ll see you soon.” He gave her another kiss, this time on her cheek, before opening her car door for her. As she slid into her seat, he smiled down at her as if he knew exactly the effect he had on her.

Yeah, he affected her, she thought as she drove home. In wonderfully marvelous and dirty ways.

Chapter 18

Aweekpassed,andthere was still no sign of the missing teenage girl. That was frustrating in and of itself, but Wyatt was further exasperated that he couldn’t get Bethany to talk to him. He’d noticed the things that Sutton had said about Bethany. There was something she wasn’t telling him. And as the week had gone on, whatever she was holding inside seemed to fester.

He knew she wasn’t sleeping much. The evidence showed in the dark circles under her eyes. They spent most of their meals with her pushing food around on her plate but not actually consuming any of it.

But the killer was the phony bravado she put on for him. She was all smiles like usual, but it rang false. It tore at his heart that he couldn’t fix what was happening in her mind like he could fix her toys when she was little. But if she didn’t talk to him, there was nothing he could do.

Which was why he was seeking Sutton again. He needed to see if she would try getting through to Bethany. He had thought of putting her in therapy, and would soon, but he wanted to determine whether Sutton could get anywhere with her first.

But not only was he on Sutton’s doorstep for Bethany’s sake, he’d also really missed her. It had been far too long since he’d last touched her, last kissed her, and he was desperate for some alone time with her.

He was so hungry for a taste of her. Hungry for her smiles, for her scent, for the little sounds she made when he was deep inside her.

His desire for more of her ate at him, leaving him starving. He wanted to be close to her, to know her in a way no one had before. He wanted her to let him in. He wanted all of her. And he was terrified that the wanting was all he was going to get. He’d be back on that wall with Liam for all time, listening to his friend tell him he was going to marry the woman Wyatt wanted. His desire to remain forever unfulfilled, dying of starvation.

She opened her door wearing a pair of denim shorts and a T-shirt that pictured a camera and read “I shoot people and sometimes cut off their heads.” He wanted to laugh but was too busy drinking her in. And when she smiled, he forgot to breathe. He craved her smile, and now he wanted to savor her joy. If he could gorge himself on her smiles, he would gladly binge on them like a glutton.

Before she could say anything, he stepped into her space, his mouth descending on hers like a starving man. His hands were in her hair, on her back, on her ass. He lifted her and crossed the threshold, closing the door behind him with his foot. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he spun and crushed her to the door.

“I didn’t come here for this,” he gasped, his voice gravelly with need.

“Don’t care,” she answered, sliding her lips up the tendon in his neck before sinking her teeth into his earlobe. He growled and ground himself against her when she sucked it into her mouth.

Cupping her head, he captured her mouth again, drinking from her, long and deep. Savoring her. He would never be full. He would hunger for her for the rest of his life. He held her captive between his body and the door for what felt like forever. Their tongues dueling, her moans music to his ears.

Desire, thick and hot, pooled in his groin, and when he thrust his hips against her, she made the most erotic of melodies, and he did it again just to hear her sing. Reining in the hunger that had consumed him the moment she was in his arms, he softened the kiss, sipping at her lips, caressing them with his own. He took a moment to savor the sensation of her hands in his hair before he made himself pull back.

He rested his forehead against hers, and his eyes drifted shut as he struggled to slow his thundering heart. “Shit, Sutton. I really can’t resist your smiles.”

She giggled, and he absorbed the sound deep in his heart. “You get horny when I smile?” she teased.

He pinched her ass, making her shriek and surge against his still raging cock. He groaned and gritted his teeth against the urge to tear her clothes from her body and fuck her against the door.

“So, if I smiled at you in, say, Jolene’s, you’d what... pull me into one of the bathrooms to fuck me?”

“I just might.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

She gave him a sinfully seductive look that told him she just might tempt him the next time they were there together. There was a fifty-fifty chance of whether he’d do just as she’d suggested. Maybe more like sixty-forty in favor of it.

He still held her against the door, his throbbing dick trapped against her lower body. She rotated her hips, and his fingers tightened on her ass, attempting to hold her still.

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