Chapter 9
Kim lay her cheek on Raze’s shoulder and draped her arm across his hard chest. Her fingers drifted idly up and down the bulge of his biceps.
Draped along his side with one leg tucked between his, she listened to the steady beat of his heart and thought about how none of this night had gone as she’d expected it to.
She had set out to get drunk, so she could sleep without having to take a sleeping pill.
Then she’d seen Raze and figured they’d screw each other into exhaustion.
They had, but she had pictured more of a rolling, clawing, pounding rut.
On the floor, maybe. Or the couch if they got that far.
She hadn’t envisioned a bed or imagined luxuriating in each other.
She certainly hadn’t thought about cuddling afterward.
There’s something here, she thought. Something that could become important to both of them.
“Kim.” His fingers were sifting through her horribly tangled hair. His other hand was splayed over her back.
“Hmm?” She snuggled closer. Everything about the way he touched her made her feel good. Hell, he’d sucked on her neck, and she’d had the orgasm of her life. None of the hickies she’d gotten in high school had ever revved her engine, let alone blown the top of her head off.
“Would you tell me why you cried when you first got here?”
She stiffened, unprepared for the question.
“Shh.” He pressed his lips to her crown. “You don’t have to.”
“No. It’s okay.” After a shaky breath, she told him, stumbling over the words a little because she hadn’t talked about it since the police questioned her.
Saying the words brought the painful and horrifying pictures in her mind to life, making her relive the agony of finding her home a bloodbath, and her dearest friend lying in the gore like a rag doll.
The tears came with the words until she was sobbing violently.
Raze rolled carefully, covering her with his body in a hot, hard blanket of powerful male.
He tucked her under him, sheltering her, his cheek pressed to hers and his arms caging her shoulders.
The quiet strength of him sank into her, shoring her up, anchoring her.
She didn’t have to be strong for him. She didn’t have to hide her pain to make it easier for him.
She didn’t need to shield her grief behind a smile so he’d think everything was all right.
He didn’t say anything, which was such a gift. She wondered if he knew that or if it was just his way. He was an old soul. She’d sensed that from the moment their eyes had met.
Eventually, Kim quieted, her heart feeling so much lighter that she might’ve shed a tear over it if she’d had any tears left.
“There’s a lot of shit in this world,” he said, kissing her softly. “I’m sorry you had to experience any of it.”
Cupping his cheeks, she lifted his head and looked into his eyes. “You experience a lot of it, don’t you?”
“Yeah.” He rolled to his back and heaved out a sigh. “I have to wade through some of it today. Can I see you tonight?”
Delight fluttered through her tummy. “Would you like to come to my place? I can make dinner.”
He looked at her with those amber eyes and smiled wryly. “I have some unusual dietary restrictions. How about movies instead? I’ll bring over one of my favorites, and you pick out another one of yours. I’ll feed you while we watch the shows.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? Really? That’s good?”
She bent over and nudged his nose with her own, hiding a smile over his startled wonder. One could almost think he’d never planned a date before. “It’s great. You’re great.”
He answered that with an exuberant kiss.