Page 72 of More Than Nothing
This embrace, this kiss, blew his mind.
With an iron will that made his hands shake, Roman kept his touch gentle and lost himself in her lips.
5 Dummkopf (moron)—German
Chapter 33
Elenie
Roman’s body was unreal. His tall frame, the firm muscles, his arms—dear God, his arms. She wanted to grip them, stroke them, lick them. They were ripped and defined. Elenie loved them. She was officially an arm freak. Arm-obsessed.
Why had she never realized how sexy arms could be?
Maybe because she’d never closed her fingers around the taut, tanned biceps of Roman Martinez before.
And as for his chest—
Elenie’s mind had become a fickle thing. Every part of him she touched, every sculpted ridge she stroked was her new favorite place. She was torn between pressing into him and needing enough space to run her hands everywhere. Never had she felt this desire to explore someone’s body so thoroughly. She wanted to map him out and memorize him. Hours could pass and she would never tire of kissing Roman.
Elenie pushed her hips into his hardness and he uttered a broken curse into her mouth, his hands clenching in her hair. She could feel every inch of him straining against the zipper of his pants. A pool of need centered between her legs and she ground into him again.
Roman tore his mouth from her lips. “God, Elenie, we have to stop this.” His voice was hoarse. She raised glazed eyes to his beautiful face. Roman’s eyes were almost black, his hair ruffled by her fingers. “I want to take you to bed so badly.” Her stomach flipped and leaped with desire, lips parted and swollen. “And you looking at me like that doesn’t help.” Roman’s words were wry, his mouth lifted at one corner in the way she adored the most, his chest heaving as if he’d just completed an assault course. He gave another pained groan as he took a small step away from her. “I’m on shift today. I need to head to the station.”
“Yes, of course.” Elenie straightened her t-shirt. “I’m sorry.”
“Are you? I’m not.” Roman fingered a strand of her hair. The look on his face stole her breath again. “I’ve thought about kissing you more times than I can count in the last couple of weeks. And I don’t think that’ll stop anytime soon.” All of Elenie’s words, in every language, deserted her. He bent to collect their mugs from the coffee table. “The only thing I’m sorry about is that I have to go now.”
Roman smiled at her and she almost melted like cheese on a griddle. He ran a hand through his hair to smooth it but only rumpled it more. Watching him as he rinsed the mugs, Elenie wanted to throw herself at his back and cling onto him like a koala.
“Let me grab my shirt and I’ll drop you wherever you want on my way to work.”
She heard him taking the stairs two by two and leaned against an armchair, inhaling her first full breath in what felt like a lifetime. He was back in less than a minute, buttoning his uniform as he strode into the room. She hadn’t moved a muscle. His presence was magnetic, drawing her eyes and making it impossible to look away.
“What are you doing today? Got any plans?” Roman’s voice still sounded husky.
Elenie shook her head, dumbly.
He paused as he tucked in his shirt. “Stay here.” It was part command, part invitation. “Please. I’ll only be at the station until two. I can come straight back afterward. And we could go and see my parents after that.” He reached her side in three strides. “If you haven’t anywhere else to be, I’d love you to make yourself at home here.” Roman gently cupped her chin in his hand. His fingers trembled just a little. “I’ve wanted you in my house so many times.” He dipped his head and pressed a kiss on the corner of her mouth.
Elenie clenched her fists to stop herself from grabbing a handful of his neatly ironed shirt. “I can stay.”
She nodded. Roman nodded. For a while, they both forgot to stop.
“What I wouldn’t give not to be rushing out and leaving you alone.” He spoke the words against her hair. Rubbed his cheek on her temple, sighed, and stepped away. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He opened one of the kitchen drawers and placed a key on the countertop. “That’s a spare,” he told her. “Keep it and lock up if you need to go for any reason. Otherwise, I’ll see you soon. Don’t worry about my parents—we’ll fix it.”
Elenie heard him lift his own keys from a table in the entryway. Roman gave the sticky door a hard pull, slammed it behind him, and was gone. His truck fired up and, minutes later, the engine faded away, leaving nothing but silence behind. She sank down onto the couch and blew out a shaky breath. Her thoughts were scattered, her body tingling. Minutes passed and she looked around.
Roman’s cabin was filled with light. It flooded into the living room and kitchen through enormous windows and bounced off the warm timber walls. The leaves on the tall pine trees outside filtered the watery sunshine into broken dapples which lay on the wooden floor like pebbles at the bottom of a stream. There was no sound at all. It was like being wrapped up in a blanket of peace.
Her house was never like this. Even when no one was home, the atmosphere felt strained and unwelcoming. On her guard the minute she opened the front door, she never knew what she was walking into.
Elenie wandered a circuit of the living room. She trailed her fingers along a bookshelf that ran either side of the fireplace. Non-fiction and true crime took up most of the space, sitting alongside thrillers, some autobiographies, and the odd tattered classic. It looked as if he’d brought all his books with him even if this was just a temporary move.
Roman had no ornaments—or “dust-catchers” as Otto called them—but the few pieces of furniture in the room were well chosen, colorful, and solid. A big blue lamp stood on a wooden sideboard and a rust-red rug covered most of the floor beneath the couch. It was a very comfortable space.
Elenie couldn’t get over the fact that he trusted her enough to let her stay. He’d left her a key, as if she was someone special, from a regular family. He hadn’t thought twice about it. Every single other person in town would assume she’d rob them blind. He saw her, he knew her. And it made her want to cry.
Tempted to curl up with one of Roman’s books, another idea hit her instead. Elenie rummaged through a couple of cupboards in the kitchen and took a peek inside the surprisingly well-stocked fridge. With a quick evaluation of her finds, she narrowed down the options, giving a triumphant cry when she found three fresh lemons in the fruit bowl.
