Page 50 of Erik's Salvation
Her gaze returned to his eyes, and the look in them made her finger pause, because there was something different there now. The embers of a fire.
“I’m scared shitless of giving myself to another person.”
The air stopped in her lungs. That was so much more truth and honesty than she’d been expecting. It was real and raw, and it punctured her chest.
She let her palm slide across his cheek so she was cupping him. “Then don’t. Just give the pieces you can share.”
The moment of silence that followed was so heavy it felt immovable. She looked up to see his eyes so dark, they were almost midnight.
“You make me want to do just that, Angel.”
She swallowed, wetting her lips. And the second her tongue poked out, his gaze lowered. Burned her. Stripped her bare.
Like her hand had a mind of its own, it slid behind his head and tugged him toward her, so slowly it was as if there was no movement at all. Then, tentatively, she leaned forward and touched her lips to his.
This kiss was nothing like their last. It was a gentle graze of mouth against mouth. A cherish.
She swiped his lips again, getting a small nibble in return.
Then he growled, and, in one fluid motion, lifted her onto his lap to straddle him. She gasped and his tongue slipped into her mouth, melding with hers.
The kiss was life-giving air. It was refuge and protection. It was everything she’d been devoid of until now.
She slid her fingers through his hair, tugging him closer. Even the smallest space felt twisted and wrong.
When a hand at her waist slipped under her sleep top and trailed up, her belly clenched. Then he cupped her bare breast, and she whimpered. His thumb found her hard peak and swiped, and she gripped his hair, loving the extra sensation the rough pads of his fingers brought her.
She ground against him. He was thick and hard, and she wanted more. She was just reaching down for him when she was suddenly deposited back onto the bed. Erik stood. His three steps back were accompanied by the pulling of his hair in both fists, like he was in pain.
“Fuck! I need to stop doing that.”
She frowned, trying and failing to get her breathing under control. “Why do you need to stop?”
“Because I’m no fucking good for you, Hannah.”
Hurt began to twist into frustration. “Who areyouto tell me what’s good for me? Shouldn’t that be my choice?”
“No. Not when it comes to me.”
Then he left. Stormed out of the room like he was being chased by demons, and she just sat there, wondering what the hell had happened to the man to make him run so fast from something that felt so right.
CHAPTER15
Hannah woke slowly, her eyes fluttering a few times before she took in the room around her. Not her room. Erik’s spare room.
Her gaze shifted to the side of the bed where Erik had sat. Where he’d lifted her onto his lap and given her another of those soul-destroying kisses.
Oh God. She grabbed a pillow and shoved it over her face to muffle the groan.
It. Had. Been. Everything. Hot and passionate and safe… She’d never known a kiss to feel safe before, but his did.
With a long exhale, she tossed the pillow to the side and sat up. That’s when she saw the note on the nightstand.
She lifted it to see messy, masculine handwriting.
I’ve gone to help Dad with something but didn’t want to wake you. Eggs are on the stove, bread beside the toaster, and coffee maker ready to go. Take whatever you want, and when you leave, just pull the door closed and text me. I’ll lock and alarm the house from my phone. Hunter.
Her stomach dropped. It probably shouldn’t have, there was nothing blatantly unkind about what he’d written. It was just so…formal. No “Hope you slept well” or “Thanks for the earth-shattering kiss last night.” Okay, maybe she hadn’t expected the latter, but he hadn’t even signed off withErik. He’d used his damn last name.
