Page 29 of What We Keep
Why are you so worried about where Haven is?
My lips burned from the memory of that brief kiss when my mind taunted me.
It wasn’t a romantic kiss, I told myself for what felt like the thousandth time.
With a sigh, I quickly went through the motions of getting ready for bed. I heard Haven come in after I was in my bedroom, but I stayed quiet. It didn’t matter that there was a thin wall between my room and his. It didn’t matter that I knew his bed was against the same wall as my bed.
I almost groaned aloud at how ridiculous my train of thought was. Against the odds with my body churning restlessly, I fell asleep.
During the night, my bladder woke me, and I tiptoed into the shared bathroom. I was a little groggy and out of it. The tiny night-light by the sink gave me just enough light to see.
A moment later, I walked out, stopping in the kitchen to get a sip of water. Setting the glass on the counter, I turned, only to collide with a tall, muscular man. Haven.
My palm landed on his bare chest. “Oh!” I exclaimed.
My eyes collided with his. His eyes widened slightly in surprise. Neither one of us moved.
Chapter Fifteen
Elsa
As I stood there, a tiny corner of my brain shouted that I was wearing a tank top and the little cotton shorts I liked sleeping in. They were soft and stretchy and so comfortable. Meanwhile, my brain also clocked that Haven was shirtless and wearing a pair of fitted boxer briefs.
Even in my sleep-hazed mind, I managed to absorb that his chest was pure muscle with a dusting of hair. He emanated heat, and it felt as if it spun around me in a soft caress. Sweet hell. Haven, with that dark hair rumpled from sleep and a day or two’s growth of stubble, just might have been the most delicious, sexy sight I’d ever encountered.
“Elsa,” he finally said, his voice a little ragged on the edges with sleep.
“I was just using the bathroom and getting some water,” I said, my hand still on his chest as I gestured behind me with the other one pointlessly.
Why else would anyone be out here in the middle of the night?
He nodded wordlessly, and we just kept staring at each other. I couldn’t make myself move away.
“Thanks for my get-a-job celebration,” I added, instantly feeling silly.
I stood here close to naked, inches away from him, with my hand on his chest, which was warm and muscly, and I was thanking him.
His dark eyes studied me as his lips kicked up at one corner. The following moment felt like molasses dropping off a spoon in a slow, delicious roll. He stepped incrementally closer, even though it didn’t really feel like he moved, or maybe I moved.
I could barely breathe, and my pulse was racing at a breakneck pace. So fast, I was convinced my heart might pound its way out of my chest. I could feel his own heart beating under my palm.
“Elsa,” Haven whispered as he dipped his head.
This time, when I felt the hot shock of his lips on mine, I let out a little whimper. All of me was leaning toward him.
My fingers flexed against his chest. When he slid one hand into my hair and angled my head to the side to deepen our kiss, I moaned. In the next moment, there was no doubt he stepped closer to me. He slid his other arm around my waist, his palm splaying just over the top of my bottom, and he brought me flush against every hard inch of his body.
I gasped into our kiss at the feel of his arousal pressing against my lower belly. My nipples were tight, and all of me was dizzy with need, with desire, with a rushing want.
I just wanted more—of this kiss, of Haven, of all of it. I curled my arm around his waist, savoring the corded muscles along his back as he deepened our kiss, his tongue claiming my mouth, my own teasing with his. This wasn’t my first kiss, but I’d always felt a little detached. I’d honestly never grasped the whole chemistry thing. Kisses usually let me down.
Kisses from Haven were the opposite. This was like being dropped into sensation, a fire burning up inside me. At some point, his knee nudged between my thighs, and before I could even think it through, I was rocking my hips over his thigh.
We broke apart, our breaths heaving in the quiet room.
“Elsa.” My name fell into the space between us.
The air felt loaded, cinders drifting into that charged space, the heat building.
