Page 56 of Only Her (K2 Team)
“I came back to the building one evening after I got off work and found him. He was barely alive, and all the kids had split, afraid of sticking around for the cops to come. Not one of them, the ones he considered his friends, cared enough to get help. Since I didn’t have a phone, I ran down the street until I found a cop, but it was too late. When we got back to the building, Reed was taking his last breaths and I held him while he died.” She swiped at the tears. Hadn’t she already cried an ocean of tears for the boy she’d loved and lost? How did she even have any left to shed for him?
“What happened to you?”
“I got sent back to Florida, back into the hands of Protective Services. Honestly, I didn’t care anymore what they did with me. But a funny thing happened. They finally got something right when they put me in Pat and John Haywood’s home. I wasn’t a fun kid to be around, but they turned out to be more stubborn than me. They were my salvation.”
Cody caught Riley’s hand and pulled her between his legs. She lifted the edges of the blanket and wrapped it around them, resting her face against his chest. Her story had just about ripped out his heart, and he was in awe of what she had made of herself considering what and where she’d come from. If she could recover from a life gone wrong, how could he do any less? From her, he took the determination to deal with what he faced.
“I’m sorry he died, darlin’.” He kissed the top of her head. “But I’ll say it again, he made the choice to take the road he did.”
“I can’t argue with that, but I’ll always live with knowing that if he’d never met me, he would be alive today and happy.”
“You can’t know that either. Maybe he would be, or maybe he would have found his way to drugs some other way.” When she shivered, he slid off the railing. “Don’t move.” He grabbed his guitar, putting it inside before locking his front door. “I think we’ve bared our souls enough for one night, don’t you?”
She nodded, and the tears glistening on her cheeks tore at his heart. No sixteen-year-old should have experienced what she had. Hell, no child should have to live a life like hers—in and out of foster homes, an abandoned, unwanted little girl. He didn’t think she had any idea just how strong and determined her character was. How beautiful she was.
Although he’d never understood his parents, or they him, he’d appreciated that they’d loved him, even if it was in their own way. They would never be different from who they were, would never understand the man he was, but that no longer mattered. He was blessed to have them.
Riley pulled the bottom of the blanket up around her waist, and they walked to her house, hand in hand. Not a man who had ever wanted a long-term relationship before, he now wanted one with her. Considering they’d yet to make love, his coming at this relationship with Riley from a friends-first angle was novel.
When they stepped inside her house, she dropped the blanket. Taking his hand, she led him to her bedroom. He kicked the door closed behind them to keep out nosy critters.
By unspoken agreement, they didn’t speak. Maybe they’d talked themselves out. He didn’t know, only knew that words weren’t needed between them to understand what this night meant.
He was all for a little rough sex when his partner was of a like mind, but this brave, beautiful woman standing in front of him with warmth in her eyes meant just for him had not had an easy life. On this night of confessions, he wanted to worship her, wanted her to know that the world was sometimes soft and tender, even though she’d never known such a thing. Maybe she had with her Reed in the beginning, but he’d ended up abusing the love she had for him.
Cody cradled her face with his hands, leaned down, and brushed his lips over hers. Her eyes slid closed, and he smiled against her mouth. Although they’d kissed before, tonight felt like a new beginning, a chance to touch something magical. He moved behind her and flattened his palms on her shoulders, then with the barest of touches, slid his hands down her arms, lacing their fingers together when he’d reached her hands. As he did that, he nibbled on her earlobe. Goosebumps rose on her skin, and he felt a shudder travel through her.
Letting go of her hands, he gathered her long hair and moved it over her shoulder to trail down the front of her. Her neck exposed, he swept his tongue over her skin, eliciting more shudders from her. She was responsive to his every touch, and he wanted to bury himself in her heat right then, but tonight was for her. To show her that she was special, because he didn’t think she knew that.
He reached for the hem of her top, and pulled it up. She lifted her arms, and he tossed the shirt onto a chair. There were still no words spoken between them, and he didn’t want any. The skin under his palms as he slid them down her back—tracing the curve of her spine—was silky smooth. Waves of shivers rippled through her when he danced his fingers up her ribs. She leaned against him, and he rested his chin on her head, closing his eyes.
Using his sense of touch, of smell as he inhaled the essence that was Riley, and of sound—listening to her little gasps of breaths—he knew nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing but her. When his thumbs scraped under the soft flesh of her breasts, she made a little humming sound that had him throbbing with desire. He pressed his erection against her bottom, letting her know how much he wanted her.
But not yet. There was more to learn about her. He shed his shirt, needing to feel her, skin to skin. With her back against his chest again, he cupped her breasts, and flicked his thumbs over her nipples.
“Oooh,” she murmured.
He would allow her that one word tonight. While he played with her breasts, he pressed his mouth to her neck and sucked, marking her as his. She lowered her hands, digging her fingers into his thighs when he gave her nipples a light pinch. Cody licked the red, irritated skin on her neck, soothing it. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt the need to mark a woman, if he even ever had.
Still standing behind her, he slid one hand under the waistband of her silk pajama bottoms. He cupped her mound, and just held his hand there, feeling her heat. She tilted her head, looking up at him with eyes darkened by desire, and he covered her mouth with his. Keeping his hand cupped over her, he pressed his tongue to the seam of her lips, urging her to open for him. When she let him in, their tongues sought out each other, tangling in a demanding dance.
He could no longer keep his hand still, and he slipped a finger into her slick heat. She was so damn wet for him. There was something hot about both of them bare from the waist up, but clothed from the waist down. Half their bodies touched skin to skin, while the friction of the material separating their lower halves created a kind of pleasurable pain.
Finding her sweet spot, he toyed with her until her breaths were coming fast. When she came, it was as if her legs gave out, and he held her close until he was sure she would remain upright. He moved to stand in front of her, and when she opened her mouth, he put a finger over her lips, shaking his head. All that existed in her bedroom this night was the two of them. They didn’t need words.
Understanding entered her eyes, and she lifted on her toes and kissed him. He didn’t know why he wanted it this way, had never cared before how much a woman talked, but the quiet between Riley and him seemed... spiritual. Yes, that was the right word. She brought her hands up, cradling his face as she kissed him, and he covered her hands with his. The kiss started as gentle, but quickly became intense. He wanted to devour her, wanted her to climb into his skin and live there.
Was that love? He didn’t know. All he did know was that she calmed him, that he desired her like no other, and that he couldn’t imagine ever tiring of her. With her, he felt complete. Because of her, he was determined to conquer his demons. She didn’t know it yet, but he was hers for as long as she would have him.
She lowered her hands to the button on his jeans, and he inched away, giving her room for her task. He’d gone commando after his shower, and decided he’d best take over the job of unzipping the jeans, considering he was already about to pop out of them. The thought of getting caught in the zipper made him want to squeeze his legs closed. He took out the condoms he’d put in his pocket, then pushed his pants over his hips, chuckling when Riley’s eyes widened at the sight of him.
She had mentioned that she hadn’t been with anyone since starting her clinic. He knew she’d been with the boy she’d loved, and he assumed there had been college boyfriends. But those were boys, and he would be her first man. He liked that.
After kicking his jeans to the side, he lifted Riley in his arms and carried her to the bed, dropping the condom packs on the bedside table. The lamp was on its brightest setting, and he dimmed it. Her gaze roamed over him when he knelt beside her, and he hoped she liked what she saw. She reached up and traced the Trident tat—an eagle clutching a U.S.Navy anchor, a trident, and a flintlock pistol—on his upper arm. He’d been proud when he’d made it through BUD/S, the SEAL training school. Only two hundred or so sailors out of a thousand made it through the rigorous course each year, and the first thing he’d done when he had was to get the tattoo.
Her eyes lifted to his when he pulled her pajama bottoms down. Every time she looked at him with those soft, desire-darkened eyes, he felt caught up in something he’d never known before, something magical, and he couldn’t tear his gaze away.
The yellow glow of the lamp fell on her hair, spread out over the pillow, making the red and gold highlights shimmer. He wondered what she’d think if he told her that her hair reminded him of a German shepherd’s coat. Coming from him, that was a high compliment, but he thought it wise to save that piece of info for some other time. It amused him, though, and a smile slipped out. To keep her from wondering what he was thinking, he kissed her. He’d been wanting to do that, anyway.
