Page 51 of The Perfect Heart

And then there was no more time for laughter as our kisses grew furious. I tasted her, kissing her down her chin, her neck, taking her nipples into my mouth one by one to suck on them until Halle cried out, her nails raking down my shoulders and back.

I started my own rhythm with my hips, but it wouldn’t be a sweet ride this time. It was hard and fast as we took each other in, held each other close, our bodies twisting and meeting and pulling apart, only to meet again.

Halle’s legs fell open, and I pushed them up, her heels closer to her ass. And on my next stroke, I plunged in, deeper than before, until she had taken all of me. Halle cried out, her back arching, her hands scrabbling for a hold on the quilt.

I loved the feeling of her in my arms, coming undone, writhing beneath me as I pounded into her. Her hips rose to meet mine, matching me stroke for stroke as our movements grew faster, more frantic, sweat slicking our skin as our gasps and moans came quick and wild.

Halle’s scream filled the room as she came, swelling and pulsing around me, hitting every nerve ending as I came too. Everything went white, the eruption of pleasure making the world implode for a moment until I finally came back to my senses, gasping for breath.

“Shit,” I gasped. “Fuck.”

Beneath me, Halle still moaned and shuddered, her eyes closed as she rode the last waves of her orgasm, her hands tangled in her hair.

“You can say that again,” she finally managed.

It took us time to come down and lie in each other’s arms, still trying to regain our breath as the sweat dried on our skin.

“I think that was the best I ever had,” Halle finally said quietly, gently.

“Me, too.” It was the truth. Our first time had been something special, but this had been mind-blowing.

Halle reached up, stroking my cheek, her smile both soft and sad. “Thank you for caring about me.”

The words were odd, and I had to repeat them in my head before I understood the meaning behind them.

“You mean giving you an orgasm?”

“Yeah.” The word was so quiet I barely heard it, and Halle’s cheeks, already red from exertion, grew pinker.

“Halle, I—” My mind stumbled and stopped as I tried to grasp the implications, and I drew away, sitting up to stare at the woman sharing my bed.

Did she mean what I thought she meant?

“Halle—” I started again but stopped because this was what I had sworn not to do, to push her, to ask her, to pressure her. But this was the last straw. I had to know. “Halle, what happened in LA? What happened with Jack?”

She had sat up, too, and drawn the covers around her, but not just to ward off the cold—it looked like she was trying to draw some kind of protection or physical barrier around her. And it took her a long time to respond, so long I wasn’t sure she would until she finally drew a breath.

“That first night, the night I went to your bar after closing, I just—I had no idea where to turn. The truth is, I didn’t just leave Jack, I ran from him. Literally. In the middle of the night, wearing the same thing I’d had on for his office celebration that night. He was asleep, drunk on the couch, and I grabbed my shoes and my purse, ran to the bus stop closest to me, and then caught a bus up here with the cash I had. I didn’t have any other thought but to come home until I realized my only real thought was to come to you. I needed a friend, and you’ve always been that. You’ve always been safety for me—”

Tears welled in her eyes, and she shut them tightly. One still escaped to track down her cheek, though.

I didn’t know what had gone on in LA, not specifics, anyway, but the more I heard, the more I was sure it had been bad. Bad enough for her to run away without even taking a moment to pack.

“Why didn’t you come to me? I could have helped.”

Halle’s smile was watery, her voice choked.

“I did. I did go to you, and you offered me a job. You’ve been here for me the entire time, checking in on me, making sure I was safe. You did help.”

That wasn’t what I had meant, and we both knew it, though I was happy I was able to be that for her. But was I going to get my explanation this time? The one I hadn’t wanted to push for? I wasn’t sure. Halle looked like she was shutting down again, trying to block out whatever she was trying not to remember.

I could see it in every angle and tense line of her body, in the way her mouth thinned to a white line as she pressed her lips together, pulled her knees tightly to her chest, and gripped her hands around her legs, in the fear in her eyes.

As much as I wanted to know, it hurt to see.

“Halle, you don’t have to tell me—”

She shook her head violently, her hair whipping back and forth. But when she raised her gaze to mine, I saw determination in her eyes along with the fear.