9 Leo Wherever I Go—Noah Rinker #3
I know I’ve pushed too hard when her expression shutters, cutting the cord stretched tight between us.
“Doesn’t matter. It’s time for me to go.”
“Go where?” I press on.
“Anywhere,” she replies. “I should’ve left Hawkthorpe before I got comfortable here.”
That vacant look on her face is making my hair raise. The last thing I want right now is to watch her walk away from this town and never see her again. Just thinking about it makes me want to scream.
“Tell me why.”
“You’re the one who told me not to get stuck here.” She hiccups a weak laugh.
“I know what I said,” I cut back, my voice rasping painfully. “I’m just . . . Hell, Eden. The truth is, I’m not ready to say goodbye yet. I want more time.”
“Time for what?”
“I don’t know why you came here looking for a fresh start, but I want to help you.”
“You can’t fix me,” she says sadly.
“You don’t need fixing. Just protecting and caring for . . . if you’ll let me.”
Her bottom lip trembles, betraying a deeper fear. Fingers clenching around my hand, she pushes her knees into mine, leaning so close I could reach out and cup her cheek. So I do.
The rulebook goes up in flames as I stroke a thumb over the dark circle beneath her eye, longing for the ability to take her pain away. Whatever it may be. She shudders at my faint touch but doesn’t retreat.
“Protecting?” Eden whispers.
“People don’t start over for no reason. I hope that one day, I’ll earn your trust enough to learn what that reason is. I want to know who told you to make yourself so small, even taking a full breath feels cataclysmic. I want to know so I can shield you from them.”
Her look of wonderment is downright soul destroying. Whoever taught her to believe she isn’t worth a damn has earned themselves a place on my relatively short shit-list. And lucky me, I know a couple guys with plenty of anger to vent on someone else’s face.
“Until then, I want to do whatever I can to make this fresh start easier for you.”
“I don’t understand why,” she admits.
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“Well . . . then here’s another secret.”
Nerves line my throat, forcing me to take a deep breath for courage.
“I think you’re just about the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, and coming from a man who hasn’t bothered to date in a very long time, that’s saying something. You caught my attention when I wasn’t even looking. Now I can’t look away.”
“Me?” Eden splutters.
“Yes. You.”
She laughs like she doesn’t believe me. Fine. Let’s do this.
“You’re whip smart, secretly sassy, and brave enough to waltz into this town without a plan or hope in the world.
That’s real courage. You’re kind and gentle, but quietly strong beneath it all.
You laugh like it’s a foreign feeling and smile like it could be taken from you at any moment. You’re breathtaking.”
Her hazel eyes shimmer, tears forming a pearlescent lake over muddied brown-green. When a single tear swells over her waterline and escapes, I catch it with my thumbpad, needing to acknowledge the mere presence of her astonishment.
“Eden, the last thing you could ever be is small. I’m sorry, but you’re right. You did fail. And I’m sure glad you did so I get the privilege of seeing all the space you take up without even realising it.”
“Leo . . . You shouldn’t care about me. It’s not safe.”
“Why? Because I’ll get hurt?”
“Maybe,” she offers.
“Then I’ll take my chances. I’ve been hurt plenty before and it doesn’t change how I feel.”
Lashes casting shadows across her cheeks, I move to stroke her jaw when her eyes duck, bringing them back to mine. Lord, help me, she’s stunning. In every way that truly matters. Her innocence and tragic mistrust of affection only make her more endearing.
“Let me show you it’s safe to be cared for,” I entreat, caressing her skin. “It might even feel good.”
Another tear grows and spills over.
“Why would you want someone so broken?” Eden vocalises in a tiny voice.
Dusting the droplet aside, the tension snapping between us inches closer to a fatal drop. I can hardly breathe for choking on it. She’s breathing fast, clinging to my hand like it’s a buoy keeping her afloat and watching me with equal parts fascination and trepidation.
“Because, sweetheart, broken is the one thing I can work with.”
My fingers slip into her wet hair, coasting against the firm lines of her skull to somehow dig my way into her mind with sheer will alone. Eden’s nose nudges mine, her breath ghosting over my lips in a temptress’s whisper.
The shoestring of control I’m barely holding on to is agonising. Fraying threads slice my hands bloody as all the reasons I shouldn’t open myself up to this woman take centre stage. Yet not a single one stops me.
“Can I kiss you?” I ask softly.
Her breathing hitches. “Yes.”
Mouth hovering over hers, the crackle of flames fills my ears as our lips touch. Just an angel’s breath. A whisper that shatters any remaining illusion I hold about being her friend.
She melts into my touch—lips parting, a low sound spilling from her throat, that intoxicating vanilla-and-jasmine scent sending me into a drunken stupor. Cradling the back of her head, I lightly peck her lips again, seeking permission to deepen the kiss.
Eden opens up to me in the manner of a blooming rose. All fragile hope and a trust so blinding, I hardly know how to handle it. Our mouths lock in a riotous symphony. Lips meld and breath exchanges, her hand leaving mine to fist in my T-shirt.
The moan she emits is pure fucking torture. A lightning bolt that lands squarely in my crotch. My cock twitches as it stiffens, paying far too much attention to how her body seeks mine, radiating heat and perfectly perfumed temptation.
“Dammit, Eden,” I break the kiss to gasp.
“Why did you stop?”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to get carried away.”
“Don’t be.”
Eden plants her swollen lips back on mine. This time, her hand curls around the nape of my neck to hold me prone, unable to escape her onslaught. I don’t know if she realises it, but it’s a power move. One that sets my passion alight and demands more from the strength she keeps hidden.
A growl echoes from my chest with each hard peck. God, I’d let her do whatever the hell she wants to me. Whatever she needs to realise how heart-stoppingly gorgeous she is. If this is how she retakes control, then sign me up. I’ll be her guinea pig.
“I’ve never kissed anyone like this before,” she breathes into my mouth. “It feels . . . good. So good.”
Yep. Torture is an appropriate word.
“This is how it should feel,” I grunt back.
“Please kiss me again, Leo.”
Firmly capturing her lips, I push her with a hint of tongue. She lets me glide into her mouth and stake an irrefutable claim that only makes my cock ache harder. Her tongue is hot and wet, nervously touching mine like she’s afraid of doing it wrong.
I use my grip on her skull to angle her head, opening up a new angle to our interlocked lips. Shit, I’m going to combust. She tastes extraordinary. I don’t even want to know what she’s been kissed like before.
Every time she moans into my mouth, tongue stroking against mine and lips spilling blood-laced heat, it’s impossible not to imagine what else I could show her. She’s so receptive. I’d never push her, but I want her to feel good. Especially with her legs wrapped around my head.
When we break apart once more, both panting like we’ve sprinted a marathon, I relish in her surprised laugh.
“I never knew touch could feel so wonderful,” she admits.
“Shit, Eden. We have some work to do here.”
“I’m not opposed to that. You may need to be patient with me though.”
My thumb trails over her red-stained lips. “You’ll never have to ask for that. It’s a given, and the minute touch doesn’t feel good, I’ll fuck off as far as you’d like me to go.”
Big, blown pupils plead with me. “You’d do that for me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Fuck, she is euphoric.
Untouched moonlight spilling from heaven itself.
Now I’ll never be able to let her go.