Page 104 of Delicate Escape

God, she was so good. I lifted a hand, my fingers trailing over Thea’s face. “Building. Or even better, tearing down to form something new.”

Thea’s mouth curved. “We could fully demolish the guest bath.”

I wanted to laugh but still didn’t quite have it in me. I wouldn’t have minded doing a complete overhaul of that damn bathroom, but I didn’t have the tools we needed here. “Not tonight.”

Disappointment slid over Thea’s face, then something flashed in those pale green eyes. Something I didn’t read quickly enough.

Thea stretched up on her toes, pressing her body to mine. The moment her lips slid over mine, I was lost. Her scent, her feel, her taste. My tongue stroked in, and I took. There was nothing but Thea and me.

My hand slid down her back to her ass, pressing her tighter against me, needing more of everything that was Thea. The hoot of an owl overhead had me ripping my mouth away and breathing heavily.

“I’m sorry, I?—”

Thea gripped my T-shirt, her hands fisting in it. “I’m not.” Her eyes searched mine. “Let me help you burn this out.”

Fucking hell.

Standing there in the moonlight and offering me the world, Thea was pure temptation.

“I don’t trust myself right now.” It killed to say that out loud. But my mood was dark.

Her expression softened. “ButItrust you. And more than that, I wantallof you.” Thea’s fingers ghosted over my face, tracing my features in the moonlight. “You don’t have to be perfect for me, Shepard. You don’t have to have everything together. I want you just as you are, even when you want to burn down the world.”

My chest rose and fell in jagged pants. A scorching fire lit in my throat. “Thea.”

“Trust me to handle it. All of you. I can. Because it’syou. And there’s no one I’ve ever trusted more.”

She had no idea. Everything she’d just given me…those three words played on my tongue, but I swallowed them down. I would just have to show her instead.

40

THEA

I’d thoughtShep might push me away and lock me out, and that killed. Because each day I got to know the beautiful, broken man in front of me a little deeper, I saw that he, too, carried scars. Ones that made him feel like being anything but perfect meant being tossed aside.

I needed him to know that I wanted him in all his incarnations. To know that Isawhim.

But just when I thought he was going to walk away, everything changed. One second, he was holding back. The next, he was on me.

Shep’s mouth took mine in desperate need. But it was more. He was letting me in. Not telling me everything he was feeling butshowingme.

His fingers tangled in my hair, tipping my head back to grant him better access. But I needed more. Craved it. The feeling of him against me. The pressure. The weight.

Before I knew it, I had my legs wrapped around his waist, and Shep was moving for the door. We nearly crashed into it before hefumbled for the knob and navigated us inside, locking the door behind him.

Then we were moving again. Down the hallway, bumping into walls, so lost in the haze of each other. When we reached my room, Shep didn’t bother with the light, but he did slow his movements. He eased me down his body, the friction nearly sending me over the edge.

My breaths came quickly as my bare feet hit the floor. Shep’s hair was mussed, his eyes practically glowing in the dark.

I didn’t wait. My fingers went to my robe’s tie, loosening it and letting it fall. Then they moved to the hem of my tank, beginning to lift.

“Don’t.”

Shep’s single word cracked through the air like a clap of thunder.

My gaze shot to him. I waited for rejection, but it never came.

He took one step toward me and then another, his fingers covering mine. “Do you know how many times I’ve dreamt of peeling clothes off you? Don’t steal that pleasure from me.”

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