Page 91 of More Than Nothing
Roman’s deep chuckle tapered off as he traced a darkening bruise on her shoulder. “Is this sore?”
She flexed it. “A little. But that’s what you get for being the filling in an idiot sandwich. I think I got in the way of someone’s elbow.” In truth, she felt a bit like she’d been hit by a wreckingball. “I mark really easily so I’ll probably be covered in bruises by tomorrow, but I’ve had worse. Tyson’s such a jerk.”
His arms tightened around her, his eyes pained. Roman turned her palm over to examine the thin, pink scratch that ran across its center. “I hate that I can’t stop you from getting hurt. That I can’t keep you safe. It makes me want to break things.”
Elenie touched the muscle that jumped in his jaw. “Everything in my life is a million times better because of you. I feel safer just by knowing you.”
Roman swallowed. He pressed his lips to the palm of her hand. “I was drowning before I met you. You can’t even imagine how bad it had gotten. But seeing you battle every single day, seeing your will and your determination—you make me remember that I’m strong, too. I would take on the world for you if I could. It’s what you deserve.” He pulled her up his body and kissed her with an intensity that fanned the glowing embers in all her nerve endings. “Stay with me tonight?”
Elenie blinked away a hot glaze of tears. She wished she could see herself through his eyes. “For a while, I was so desperate for someone to hold me that I made some really stupid relationship choices. I could pretend nothing else mattered if I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of being held.”
Roman expelled a long breath. “Let me hold you tonight.” No judgment, just understanding.
She had no defense against his tenderness. “It is very late...”
“And your clothes are covered in beer . . .”
“And you seem to have taken back your shirt...”
“Well, that’s sorted then. I don’t want to have to write you up for public indecency.”
Elenie could have stared at Roman’s teasing half-smile and his strong, tanned features forever. Even though keeping a grip on whatthey had together felt like cupping a handful of dry sand, somehow he had become the center of her world. It was terrifying.
“Don’t.” He caught hold of her chin.
“What?”
“You went somewhere else then. And you know I can hear you thinking.” There was purpose in his sudden movements as he sat up, then stood. Roman took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “I guess I’ll have to distract you.”
It was working already. Thinking of anything but the glory of his naked body was a physical impossibility. Elenie ran hungry eyes over him from head to toe and he laughed.
“What an insatiable little thief I have had the fortune to stumble across tonight!” Roman followed the trail of his clothes back to the countertop, scooping up each item as he went. Dumping them all into the washer with Elenie’s, he grabbed a laundry capsule from the cupboard and flicked the switch. “Come on, sweetheart.” He held out his hand. “Let’s get dirty while our clothes get clean?” Roman waggled a dissolute eyebrow, then shook his head ruefully. “That sounded better in my head.”
Elenie giggled. “If the good people of Pine Springs could hear you, Chief Martinez, they’d be scandalized!”
He reached for her with a scowl and led her toward the stairs. “If they even think of turning up here before morning, they will have only themselves to blame.”
In his bedroom, Roman turned on the small bedside lamp, pulling her down onto the covers. Elenie shivered, goosebumps springing up on her arms. She didn’t know if it was from the cool sheets against her skin or the expression on Roman’s face. He looked as if he wanted to swallow her whole. She forced herself to stay in the moment. This was too special to spoil with panic about the future.
“Are you cold?” he asked.
“A little.” Her eyes fixed on his, her voice husky. “Make me warmer.”
He lowered himself to cover her body and his heat surrounded her. It was blissful. His arousal, already hot and heavy against her legs, made her stomach flip. She curled her fingers into his hair, pulling his mouth down to hers, and Roman’s tongue parted her lips. Elenie heard herself sigh and he moaned into her mouth.
“The noises you make drive me crazy. I hear them in my dreams.” He began kissing a path down her neck, stopping to open his mouth on one of her breasts, stroking her nipple with his tongue. Roman’s hand drifted lower, skating over her hip, his thumb drawing circles on her skin.
“I love the way you touch me.” Her back arched off the bed, her head falling to one side. “Never stop. Please, never stop.”
He laughed against her skin. “Just try and make me. I can’t get enough—I want to do it forever.”
Forever. That word. It hurt to hear it when it couldn’t be true.
But the cramp had no time to take hold on her heart, as Roman’s fingers crept between her legs, curling in the dark triangle of hair between her thighs and stroking her already sensitive lips. He caressed her as his mouth switched to her other breast, sucking and pulling. His broad thumb brushed her clit, sweeping backwards and forwards in a movement that tugged at her core. He was so fucking good at that.
Elenie’s stomach trembled; her muscles tightened. Her blood was hot, spiked cider, heating her veins and intoxicating her senses. Her body wasn’t used to this kind of reverence. She was going to explode.
Roman moved lower, his lips hovering where his fingers traced the moist folds between her thighs, until she tugged on his hair and begged for relief. The flat of his tongue delivered it in strokes that sent her flying. Elenie’s fists clenched and the night air turnedhumid around them. She came with a cry, spiraling over and over as he played her with his clever mouth and agile fingers.
