Page 18 of Dangerous Love

Riley took a deep breath, his hand kneading the back of his neck. “Baby girl, this is something to talk to your brother about.”

“Why? I know you were there too.”

He clenched his jaw, his eyes lost in the distance. “There’s a reason he didn’t want you there.”

I pressed a hand to his chest. “Tell me, Riley. Please.”

His palm covered mine. “Sienna,” he growled. “Go and talk to your brother about it. He had his reasons.” My thumb rubbed his pecs in slow circles until he relaxed against the back of his chair. He closed his eyes, his fingers lacing with mine as I continued rubbing his chest. “It feels nice,” he murmured.

I shuffled closer until our bodies touched. “I could make you feel even nicer.”

His head did a one-eighty until he glared at me, his eyes wide and his mouth gaped. “Jesus Christ, Sienna Curtis, you’re scaring me a little bit.” With both hands, he pushed me back to my side of the car. “Where did you learn that line?Fifty Shades of Grey?”

I narrowed my eyes to slits and crossed my arms against my chest. “Shut up,” I said. “And it was a midday show.”

His gravelly laugh resonated in the car, slight lines crinkling his eyes. “Tell me that’s not your best pick-up line?”

I fought the smile forcing its way to the surface. “How would I know? I’ve never picked anyone up sober.”

Riley’s face dropped, his eyes questioning me as he asked, “What do you mean?”

I shrugged. “Three one-night stands, all drunken mistakes, that’s the extent of my pickups. And I don’t remember anything about any of those three, so don’t ask me.”

My joke fell flat when Riley’s breathing grew shallow. He remained silent for a second. Then, as he latched onto the steering wheel like he held on to a lifeline, he murmured, “You deserve so much better, Sienna. You deserve to be loved the right way. Not just kissed like tomorrow’s old news.”

I smiled, enough to trick my brain into not crying. “I’ve never been kissed. Well, not since we almost did back then.”

Riley shook his head, his eyes empty as he turned towards me. “I can’t listen to any more of this, or I’ll end up doing something I’ll regret.”

“Sorry.” That was all I could say to undo the tension visibly crunching his jaw. “I’m gonna go now.” My fingers clutched the door handle, but before I could get out, Riley stopped me. His hand felt warm against my skin. It lingered there as we both remained silent, processing the weirdness between us. Then, like sweet butterflies, his fingers stroked my cheeks, bringing me closer to him until our foreheads touched.

A strange current filled me. My body pumped with a new energy as my heart was laced with both safety and apprehension. His hands cupped my face, his breath tickling my lips. “Baby girl, you are the most beautiful thing a man could dream of, and I want you to promise me that the next time you give yourself to one of them, it will be because you want to.”

I nodded, my voice mute. My fingers fisted his shirt as I inhaled him deep into my core and imprinted him into my memory.

He lowered his face until his lips almost touched mine. His whisper vibrated against me, all my senses getting high on his proximity. “And when you tell your daughter and granddaughter about your first kiss, tell them how much you meant to me.” Then, his lips brushed mine, softly, his tongue teasing my bottom lip.

A thousand flutters filled me. They travelled to my toes, neurons firing at every crossroad of nerve endings. My heart skyrocketed until I could barely hear the sound of my own breathing in my head. A whimper left me, my fists clenching his shirt tighter.

His kiss grew deeper, his hands firmer against my face as he pushed his tongue farther into my mouth. I welcomed him. His warmth, his love, as my hands snaked the back of his neck, travelling to his head until my fingers lost themselves in his thick black locks. Like I’d discovered a new world, I hung on to his kiss like it promised me a new beginning. One that made me strong against all odds.

Riley’s heart thumped in rhythm with mine, and when his embrace became more pressing, he grabbed my hands and tucked them into his chest. Then, his kiss grew slower, like he savoured its last moment, his breathing as erratic as the heaving of my breasts. He left a final peck on my forehead and murmured, “I love you.”

My eyes filled with unshed tears as I cried, “I love you too.”

CHAPTER10

Riley

The heavy door of the psychiatric unit closed behind me, the washed-up grey walls as depressing as they’d been for the last three years. Elly, the front nurse, greeted me while handing me the visitor’s guest book.

“How has he been?” I scribbled my name on the log, right next to the patient’s details.Seth Cooper. High Dependency Unit.

She pursed her lips. “Same old, Riley. Not better, but not worse. On the upside, Dr Williams’s practicing rights have been signed by the clinical director.”

About time.“Perfect. So is my brother good to receive the new treatment?”

She nodded. “As soon as Dr Williams approves the experimental trial, and it lands from the States, Seth is good to go.”

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