Chapter Sixteen
RACHEL PRESSED HER lips to Noah’s before he could say more about her staying.
The taste of him, warm and salty, lingered, mixing with something sweet he’d chugged, maybe an electrolyte replenisher.
The gesture was meant to reassure him of her presence, but his mouth, warm with invitation, pliable from exhaustion, yielded with such vulnerability that her chest tightened at the raw hunger.
He used his mouth to caress hers with a slow, undistracted thoroughness.
“Six,” he murmured against her mouth, his voice thick with… maybe, relief. No, it was gratitude. In this moment, Noah gave her something more precious than desire. He trusted her to care for him the way he’d cared for all those who had needed him tonight. “I miss you.”
“Why didn’t you come for me?” she asked, the sting of her teeth against her bottom lip grounding her against what he might say.
With one hand lifted, he cupped her jaw with fingers that trembled, whether from fatigue or emotion, it mattered not, because this wasn’t seduction, this was far more intimate. “Guess I deserved that. Truth be told, it would’ve broken me if you’d sent me away.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to, but I know now we weren’t ready for forever.” She rested her forehead against his, comfortable in a way she hadn’t been with him before tonight.
“Good to know. And now?” he whispered.
Her heart hammered to the banjo of crickets singing beyond the windows. She pulled back, watching Noah’s inky lashes droop over hazel eyes, losing the battle to focus on her face.
“That’s a question for the morning,” she teased, but neither of them expected a punch line. At least, not for a laugh. “Sleep now,” she muttered.
With the hand cupping her jaw, he traced his thumb over her cheek, his hand going slack as it slid down her neck, her shoulder, to rest on her arm. “You’ll be here if I do?”
“Promise.” Catching his wrist before his hand could fall away completely, she guided it around her waist instead, pressing closer into the shelter of his body.
Solid. Perfect.
Even with his eyes closed, he smiled. “And the farmer’s daughter keeps her promises.”
“For you, I will.” The words were honest. As real as she could be for the boy once loved, and the man she wanted to.
Noah’s breathing deepened, in a lazy rhythm like the plunge pool in the dry season.
His features softened, creases around his eyes and mouth smoothing into a rugged handsomeness.
Like a guardian completely at ease with her state of undress, she watched the rise and fall of his chest, relishing her duty.
Shifting, she pressed her palm flat against his chest. Instinctively, he curled his broad body around hers, his fingers spreading across the bare skin of her hip in a protective grip.
A shiver raked over her skin, not from the chill, but the tenderness of his touch.
Even in sleep, he anchored himself to her.
All of a sudden, tears stung her eyes. Noah had let her see him depleted and desperate for rest. He’d let himself fall in front of her, trusting her to be his refuge.
She tightened her hold on him. “You won’t get rid of me, Noah Calvary,” she whispered, knowing he couldn’t hear but needing to say it anyway.
The steady thump of Noah’s heartbeat lulled a yawn from her.
A soft exhale warmed her cheek as the firm planes of his body relaxed.
Whether he realized it or not, Noah had given her a nonverbal sign of his true feelings.
He’d accept her body, but he wanted her heart.
Rachel pillowed her head on his bicep and her mind on everything that had happened since she ran to him.
Thankful he was safe in her arms, she breathed in his woodsy scent, letting herself fall with him into a peaceful slumber.
She would stay not because he asked, but because she wanted to be where he was.