Chapter 10 #2
“Well, at least not until now,” he said, his tone a touch jagged, maybe from years of emotional scars.
“But you don’t need to hear all this.” His thumb went to her lower lip, tugging it down slightly, and she eased up on her toes on instinct.
The need to feel his mouth was destroying her sense of control.
“I do want to hear. Please, tell me.”
His hand moved back to that counter he found so comforting.
“You’ve probably heard this kind of story before.
The guy from the other side of the tracks falls for the rich girl from the Cape.
Well, that was my parents. My dad took over the plumbing business from my grandfather.
My mom met him at a bar, and they fell in love.
She said it didn’t matter that Dad didn’t have much, or that her parents refused to take part in our lives after she married him. ”
Rory had indeed heard variations of this story before. They rarely ended well. And she hated that Chris’s past held a version of one.
He peered out the window that overlooked where they trained Bear earlier, the sky pitch-black since it was two in the morning.
“Turns out, living in a triple-decker—a three-story home in Southie—wasn’t enough for her.
I lost count of how many times she left us and went back to her parents’ home in the Cape.
I’ll never forget the first time. Two days before my tenth birthday.
Maybe she forgot it was coming up. Maybe she didn’t care. ”
And there it was.
So very much of what made him Chris Hunter.
She wasn’t Freud, but she had to believe part of why Chris didn’t want many material possessions was on account of his mom.
He didn’t want a woman to love him because of what he owned or could buy.
His mom needed money more than she needed Chris, and Rory had no idea how to even process that thought.
“It destroyed my dad each time she left. He’d drink too much while waiting for her to come back.
” He visibly swallowed. “It was a vicious cycle of her coming in and out of our lives, and because he loved her so much, he let her do it. But she took pieces of his heart every time she ran off, to the point he didn’t have anything left to give, not even to me.
” He abruptly turned and set his palms to the counter.
His heart had been broken by one of the most important women in a man’s life.
Rory cupped her mouth and swallowed back the tears. She knew Chris wouldn’t want her to cry about what he’d just had the courage to reveal. It hadn’t taken her more than a few days of spending time with him to figure that out, either.
“The last time she left, she never came back. I was sixteen and decided fuck it—I’m leaving, too.” He lifted his hands and slowly faced her, a battle of emotions crossing his face. “I’ve never regretted it because it brought me to my decision to join the Navy.”
Her hand skated up his arm to his strong bicep, the cut of his muscles hard beneath her fingertips.
“My mom has a new family. It’s why she never came back. Why she asked my dad for a divorce,” he quickly added, his attention shifting to her hand on his arm.
“I thought you were an only child.” She narrowed her eyes, trying to get a read on a man who’d spent years trying to hide behind the mask of a warrior—and he was a warrior—but he was so much more than that.
He was a saint. A good man with a heart of gold.
The real fortune, the greatest catch, would be having someone like him in her life. His mom missed out.
“I am an only child. She might have another son, but I don’t know him.
I doubt he knows I even exist.” And yet, his words were laced with regret.
“I have all the family I need. The guys I work with now, the family I made while on the Teams in the Navy. I’m solid.
” He set a hand over hers and removed her touch.
Would Chris allow himself to fall in love and have a family even if he wanted to? Would he be able to look past his mom’s abandonment of her family, her son?
“I should let you get some sleep.” He gently smoothed the back of his hand over her cheek. “Sorry again about the gun.”
She shook her head. “I told you not to apologize.”
“Are you sure you feel safe sleeping here with me, especially after what I told you?”
“More than safe.” She smiled up at him. “And just so you know, I have a gun in a lock box under my bed, too.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “Okay, don’t go sneaking up on you at night. Got it.” He attempted casual and charming, but she knew he had to be emotionally spent. The effort it took for him to smile said it all.
Chris cleared his throat and jerked his thumb toward the hallway. “We should sleep. Not together, I mean.” He closed his eyes for a quick second. “Early morning and all.”
“Right,” she said and started to turn, but at the feel of his hand on her waist, she halted.
He slowly drew her closer until their bodies collided, her chest flush with his.
Their proximity meant he could feel her nipples hardening to peaks because she’d removed her bra when getting ready for bed all those sleepless hours ago.
And he was still only wearing boxers, which meant if he got hard, she’d feel his arousal as well.
“Rosemary.” Her name floated on a sigh as he cupped the back of her neck with his free hand, and the slight pressure he applied had her chin tilting up in response.
It was a possessive hold—intimate and fueled with desire, one from which she never wanted to walk away.
One she couldn’t possibly walk away from right now even if her life depended on it.
She stared up at him, breathless, speechless as his eyes claimed hers. A crackle of electricity sparked between them, the pull drawing her closer and up onto her toes.
He slowly lowered his mouth near hers.
So.
So.
Close.
She felt the warmth of his breath on her lips. Felt his indecision despite the way he held her as though she were his, and his forever.
When his lips brushed across hers and his hot mouth feathered over her cheek, she fisted the material of his boxers at his thighs with both hands.
A yearning like she’d never known grabbed hold of her when he delivered what she so desperately needed.
She had no idea she’d been that desperate until he kissed her, until he made love to her mouth with his lips and his tongue.
Her hands slid up along the sides of his torso, fingers roaming over his flesh as she pressed her body against his, getting as close as possible without actually wrapping her legs around him—though she wanted to.
Chris’s hand remained at the nape of her neck as he continued to kiss her, fusing them in a moment of passion.
Seconds later, he eased away and opened his eyes, yet kept a steady hold of her. They studied each other while their labored breathing returned to normal.
How would she find words to explain the raw emotions pouring through her, emotions still rocking her to her core from the kiss they shared?
Maybe words weren’t necessary.
“Technically speaking, I don’t think you mentioned no kissing in your rules.” He released his hold of her, but she remained glued in place, close as possible to this man.
He was using humor to avoid the heavy, of course. But maybe she would be okay with that this time. Because she needed to try and wrap her head around the entire night—from him opening up to her all the way to that incredible kiss.
“If that’s what it feels like to have your feet planted to the ground, to have roots, well . . .”
Tilting his head, he reached up and gently tucked her hair behind her ears, then cupped her jaw and gave her a smile. A real one this time. “No, that was called flying.”