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There weren’t any storms in the area.
None except for the one that whirled around us.
A hurricane held on the horizon. Lightning crackling at the edges.
Ezra ran the pad of his thumb beneath the hollow of my eye.
Gently.
Another brittle piece inside myself cracked and fell away.
A knot formed in my throat, and it made my eyes sting and my chest burn.
Then I squealed when he suddenly hoisted me into his arms again.
Ezra kept dragging me from one extreme of emotions to another.
From heavy to light.
Though I realized then that every single one of them were positive. That I felt…good. Amazing, really.
My arms flew around his neck, and it was joy that spread through as I looked down at where he grinned up at me as he carried me back to my bed. He tossed me to it, and I bounced on the mattress.
A peal of my laughter danced toward the ceiling.
“Scoot over.”
“Excuse me?” Surprise carved its way into my expression, and I pushed up onto my elbows to look at him.
“You don’t think I can sleep on a foot of space, do you?” He gestured at himself, all six-foot-five deliciousness of him.
“You want to stay here? With me?”
Oh, it was a bad idea.
Such a bad idea.
The rush of giddiness that poured into my bloodstream was proof of that.
“Yeah, I like the feel of you against me.”
Don’t make me fall for you, Ezra Patterson.
I should have said it aloud. A warning for us both. But he was already crawling in next to me, and he lifted the covers for me to slide under before he did the same then pulled me tight against the rigid planes of his body.
His arms massive around me, the scent of him invading, his heart a steady beat.
A sigh pilfered free.
Far too contented.
This night a dream.
He shifted us so we were both on our sides, though my head was rested on his bicep, and for the longest time he just…stared over at me with this smile quietly dancing on his lips, his thumb running circles over my shoulder and back.
And that’s what it felt like…dancing.
Like we were dancing with the stars. Elevated above reality. Where it was glitter and light and ecstasy.
My attention dropped to the single tattoo on his chest, and I forced myself back into that reality because ignoring it wouldn’t make it go away.
I wondered how deeply it would burn me if I touched it. If it might scar me the way it had surely scarred him.
Clearly, I had no self-preservation since I reached out and did it anyway. My fingertips trembled as I lightly ran them over the black-inked art.
Ezra flinched, and his teeth snapped as his hand stopped moving against my skin.
“I’m sorry that you lost her.” It came as a whisper as I searched every dip and groove and furrow of his features. Wishing to know him in a way I hadn’t allowed myself to know anyone in a long, long time. Wishing he might know me the same, all while it being blatantly clear it’d put me in a position I’d promised myself I’d never be in again.
Only I was terrified that I was already there. On an altar laid out like an offering.
This was probably the worst time for me to bring up the subject, but the evidence of his loss was right in front of me. Square in the face. And I didn’t know this part of him. Hell, I really didn’t know him at all except for this connection that burned so bright that it made it feel like he was an intrinsic part of me.
When that had happened, I didn’t know.
I didn’t know when I’d started to care.
But it was there, like binds wrapping around my ankles and wrists, tying me to a man I couldn’t keep.
A fool who was secretly wishing that there might be a way that he could keep me.
Hold me.
And there was that trust. What I’d sworn to never have for another because people had a nasty habit of taking that trust and trampling it to dust.
It didn’t seem to matter right then, though.
Not in this second.
Not in this moment.
Such a stupid girl because this time I was sure my heart would go down in a fiery ball of flames, and there would be no making it out on the other side.
“Please don’t feel sorry for me, Savannah.” It ground from his mouth like the grinding of stones.
I blinked, searching the shadows that flickered across his face. “Why can’t I be sorry for you, Ezra? Feel sorrow for you?”
He already had me feeling so many things, I guessed it only seemed logical that I would feel that, too.
His arms tightened around me, and he brushed his fingers through my hair. A dent was cut so deep between his brow that I had the impulse to reach out and smooth it out.
