Chapter 6 #4
“It matters that they’re still hurting you, even after all this time.”
“They aren’t hurting me. I don’t care about them.”
Except she did. She cared desperately. Did she think he couldn’t see the effort she was making to control her emotions?
“Don’t lie to me. Don’t ever lie to me.” He immediately regretted his tone, which was angrier than he’d intended. But it made him damned angry that she’d been treated the way she had by the man she’d once loved and her own sister.
Apparently, his sharp words didn’t matter to her, because she caressed his cheek. “I appreciate that you care so much. I really do. But they don’t matter to me anymore, and they can’t hurt me unless I let them. I choose not to let them.”
“Knowing what they did to you is still somewhat new to me, so is it okay that I’m not over it yet?”
Her smile lit up her face and made her eyes crinkle adorably in the corners. “That’s totally fine.”
“The rest of your family… What do they say about the two of them together?”
“My parents have been weird about it from the beginning. They acted like it was no big deal that Kelly had taken up with my boyfriend behind my back. They had a kind of ‘shit happens’ attitude about it.”
“Seriously?”
“You have to understand, they’re all about family peace and harmony. The rift between Kelly and me has been really hard on them because they see it as a failure on their part.”
“Someone needs to help them get their heads out of the sand.”
“I’ve given up on that ever happening. When my dad gave Kelly away at the elaborate wedding they threw for her and Matt, it became very clear to me that if I stuck around Bar Harbor, I was going to have to be confronted with my sister and her new husband on a regular basis.
Thus my move to Gansett Island.” She leaned in and gave him a kiss. “Best thing I ever did.”
“You really think so? Even after everything I’ve put you through?”
“I really think so.” Snuggling in closer to him, she said, “While I appreciate that you care, I don’t want to talk about them anymore. Not when I’ve waited so long to be with you again like this.”
“You’ve been waiting, too?”
“Oh, yeah. That first night we spent together… Let’s just say I’ve relived it a thousand or two times since then.”
“Me, too. At least a thousand or maybe three thousand times.”
“Thank you for forgiving me for freaking out afterward.”
“I was freaking out, too, you know—and not just because you tried to lose me like a bad habit the next morning.”
“You really were?”
“I’ve never felt like I do when I’m with you. It’s totally different and way, way better than anything I’ve ever known.”
“It is for me, too. And you’re a big reason why I don’t care about Matt and Kelly anymore.”
Dan knew there was no greater compliment she could ever pay him than that one.
“In my best moments with Matt, it was never like it is with you.”
“You stop my heart, Kara Ballard. Sometimes I think I dreamed up that day on the dock when you told me you love me. I wanted to hear those words from you so badly.”
“You didn’t dream it, and I want your love just as badly.”
“You have it. You’ve had it for a long time now.
” Cupping her breast and running his thumb over her nipple, he captured her lips in a deep, soulful kiss that started the fire burning again, hotter than ever.
The last thing on his mind at that moment were broken ribs or the arm still encased in plaster or anything other than the exquisite sensation of her soft skin against his, her legs curled around his, her tongue tangling with his.
Judging by the way he rolled them so he was on top, his injuries might never have happened.
She gazed up at him with wide eyes. “Dan! Be careful! You shouldn’t be doing that.”
“Kara?”
“What?” she asked, her voice full of exasperation.
“Shut up and kiss me.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him down slowly.
Her concern for his well-being touched him as he lost himself in the sweetness of her lips and the sensuous strokes of her tongue.
“Condom,” he said, wondering where the presence of mind had come from when every brain cell in his body seemed to be heading south to join the party.
“Where are they?”
“Bedside table.”
“Don’t move.” She shifted carefully under him to retrieve a foil packet, rolling it on him with an efficiency that astounded him. His girl didn’t mess around. “Are you okay?” she asked, looking up at him.
“I will be in a minute.”
That drew a small smile from her as she took him in hand and guided him to where he most wanted to be.
The relief of being joined with her after so many weeks of uncertainty was nearly as overwhelming as the clutch of her tight muscles.
“Christ,” he muttered. “This is going to be over before it begins.”
“That’s okay.”
He thrust into her deeply. “Tell me again.”
She arched into him, her fingers moving gently down his back, and he could tell she was afraid to hurt him even in the throes of passion. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
That was all he needed to hear. All he’d ever need to hear.