Chapter 5 #2
His rough but passionate kisses evolved into something gentler. Soft flicks of his tongue. Sweeps along the seam of her lips. Light groans of pleasure from the both of them.
He pulled her lip with his teeth. Gently nipped and sucked. Softly moaned into her mouth with pleasure.
His lips traveled to her cheek before he brought a hand to the column of her throat and worked it up, tipping her head to the side to set his mouth on the sensitive skin near her ear.
She set her hands over his shoulders, angling her head to give him better access to her neck, prepared to steal as many seconds as they could before facing reality and focusing back on the op.
“Harper,” he panted. “We’re not together anymore.”
She froze at his words, replaying them in her head to make sure she heard him correctly. Then why did this feel so right? Why did he let her kiss him?
“No, that can’t be.” She shook her head and stepped back, and he drew a hand through that lush hair of his, guilt flashing across his face.
“I let myself get carried away. I’m sorry.” His piercing brown eyes found hers after his apology, one that didn’t feel all that heartfelt. Because he wasn’t sorry, was he? He was desperate for her, and she’d felt that in his kiss.
“But I only remember us being together,” she whispered. “When did it happen? Why’d we stop?” She cupped her mouth, finding her lips tender from his possessive kiss.
“We shouldn’t get into that right now. The team needs us.”
An imminent terrorist attack. Revenge for her source.
She wasn’t supposed to think about her emotions at a time like this, and she knew that, but she felt like they were breaking up for the first time.
And it hurt. Cut far too deep—clean through the muscle and straight to the softer tissue around her heart.
“Why’d you kiss me?” she asked, still working to catch her breath. “I’ll focus on the case and put my head back in the game if you tell me that.”
He averted his gaze from her eyes down to her shirt. She’d picked it out based on her mood. In an array of colors, the print on the black tee read: Most Girls Chase Rainbows, I Chase Shadows.
“Because you asked me to.” His words should have dropped a hammer to her heart, but the way he’d responded during that kiss was anything but cold and distant, like he was attempting to pull off now.
That was a lie, and she knew it. “I may not remember what happened between us, but it’s hard to forget your unwillingness to communicate and open up whenever I pressed.
” A cold chill wrapped around her body, and did he feel that harsh breeze of despair, too?
He eyed the gold throw blanket on the bed as if he wanted to wrap her up in it.
“I can’t change the circumstances of why we can’t be together,” Roman said quietly.
That low, gravelly tone only had her more curious. What circumstances? What was he hiding?
“And I answered your question, so now I’m going to head back out to talk with the team. It looks like you might need more rest, though.” His voice took on a frosty tone now.
Oh, if the man hadn’t gotten hit by a car to save her life, she’d be tempted to rip him a new one.
Instead, she bit down on her tongue and breathed through her frustration.
Yes, he was right. He answered her question, and she shouldn’t keep circling back to why they were no longer together, but that didn’t change the fact it was a little maddening that he knew, and she was the one in the dark.
Roman’s hands landed on his hips as his mouth tightened into a hard line, his lips rolling between his teeth. The grimace on his face was a sure sign the man was in pain. He most likely had a massive bruise from when his body connected with the car and then the road.
“And your memory is solid? You’re the one that got hit by a car, not me.” Why am I so angry at him?
“I’m fine.”
She stalked closer as if she’d be able to stare down a man that stood half a foot taller than her.
“Why do I get the feeling we argue a lot, more so lately?” Why am I struggling to remember that?
The doctor said her brain might purposefully hide painful memories.
Breaking up with Roman was at the top of that list, she supposed.
“We only argue when we’re talking about why we can’t be together.” He turned toward the door as if preparing to escape, to dodge her questions by focusing on the mission.
“Hey, you two ready?” A knock at the door stopped the words she was about to deliver that were most likely irrational and inappropriate in light of everything that had recently happened.
“We’ll be right out,” Roman told Wyatt.
“If you need to rest—”
“I’m fine,” she cut off Wyatt. If Roman was going to be a stubborn ass and not get sleep, why in the world wouldn’t she be one, too?
“Okay.” She waited until she could no longer hear Wyatt’s retreating steps before returning her focus to the most infuriating man she’d ever met. God, how was it that one minute Roman made her want to fling herself into the comfort of his arms, and the next slam the door in his face?
With his back to her and his hand on the knob, she expected him to leave, but instead, he set his free palm on the door and bowed his head. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” she asked softly.
“I don’t know . . . for everything, I guess.” Darkness wrapped around his words. Darkness and regret.
But until he defined everything, she’d have to read between the lines.
“I could have lost you.” He lifted his head and shifted to face her, his eyes riveted to her temple, the same place that throbbed from whacking her head on the curb.
You already did, she thought darkly. And now she was on her own to remember why.