Page 30 of Hero Unbound

She wanted to warn him that he should stay away from her. That she had so much she still needed to figure out, and secrets that would change things between them.

But more than that, she wanted to get lost in his kisses again.

Get lost in so much more with this man.

“I haven’t kissed you again because I wanted to make sure it was what you really wanted. I don’t want you to feel pressured into anything.”

“Oh.”

“I think we should test to see if your theory is true.” He grinned at her. “Another kiss to see if it really complicates things between us the way you think it might.”

She couldn’t help but smile as he took a step closer. Gruff and solemn Theo was attractive enough. Flirty and charming Theo was impossible to resist.

And the way he was looking at her like she was the only person in the world…

“I—”

She didn’t even get the sentence out—not that she knew what she was going to say anyway—before he eased her back against the table and cut off her words by pressing his lips against hers.

For just a moment, she thought of backing away. Theo would let her. Unlike with Gareth, she wouldn’t have to insist multiple times for space before he gave it to her. Theo couldn’t be further from Gareth in nearly every way.

A knot of need twisted inside her as he pulled her closer. That was different too. It had been a long time since her body had responded to the touch of a man.

He kissed the side of her mouth, running his tongue over her lower lip, and she sank farther into him. She liked how he kissed—like he wanted this to be equal play between the two of them, not some sort of domination. She skimmed her hands up his strong arms, across his shoulders, and threaded them into his hair.

He cradled her head in his hands, tilting her face to the side so he could have better access to her mouth. His tongue slid across her lower lip again, and this time, she opened her mouth to invite him in. An invitation he gladly accepted.

It didn’t take long before they were both breathing hard enough that the dogs were starting to get nervous. Both Spice and Sugar were trying to wedge themselves in between Theo and Eva to either get them to stop or at least to show them some attention.

Theo laughed against her mouth. “I think we have chaperones.”

She wasn’t sure if she was sad or relieved. “Thank you for being so patient with them.”

“They’re good dogs.” He reached down and scratched the top of Spice’s head. “So, any conclusion from our experiment? Does everything feel more complicated now?”

Yes. No. Yes.

“I just don’t want to do anything either of us will regret.”

He stepped back. “Do you regret anything so far?”

No. Yes. No.

She had lots of regrets, but none of them had anything to do with Theo’s kisses. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

How many times had that been true over the past few years? Every day, she’d known less and less what she was doing. And even away from Gareth, that was still true.

He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I think something has happened to you and that it would probably be a good thing to talk about it.”

He said it like it was that easy. Like words could make everything right. “It’s not that simple.”

He cupped her cheek. “Of course it’s not. It never is. But I think it could help. Even if you didn’t want to talk to me, maybe someone else.”

She didn’t know how to explain. She’d tried to talk to multiple people about what was happening with Gareth. But it wasn’t like a typical abuse situation. Hell, it hadn’t really been abuse at all.

Had it?

She didn’t know. All she knew was that she couldn’t expect anyone else to believe her when she couldn’t even believe herself.

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