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“Rose, I’m glad you called. I want you to always feel safe.” He arched his brow and smiled softly at me.
“Thanks.”
He licked his lips softly, his eyes drifting down my face like he was studying me. Suddenly I was breathing heavier, my body hotter. When I met his deep, bright eyes again, I knew I was in deep shit.
Chapter Fifteen: Nate
Rose had this way about her that I didn’t know how to place just yet. She was gorgeous, of course. The kind of beauty she didn’t even have to work for, and barely even knew she had. I liked how secretly confident she was. She knew her worth and her ability, but didn’t want to flaunt it at the same time. It told me she was smart, and not just because she was a nurse.
I hated how she felt like she was being followed, but glad she had called me. I almost forgot who I was around her, but still knew I could protect her because of how my job trained me. I just kind of wished I didn’t have to. I wanted to be in the moment with her, not constantly glancing at the window, flinching when I heard noises outside the door.
Not even the guns blazing in the action movie we were watching could distract me. Rose was tucked under my arm and the vanilla, flowery scent of her hair matched her perfectly. Sweet, and so perfectly edible. Granted, I hadn’t tasted her yet, but I damn well wanted to.
“You didn’t have to stay. I think I was just being a little paranoid.” Rose spoke softly to me, her voice a little more than a whisper. I held back a snicker at the absurdity of it. I would never hesitate to be there for her when she needed me. The reality of that was a little scary, but I wasn’t going to shy away from it.
“You don’t need to thank me, Rose,” I said back. I pressed my lips to the top of her head softly. She stirred slightly and pressed her body closer to mine.
I could only barely feel the swells of her breast on her right side on mine. I willed my dick not to get hard about it, only because I didn’t want to assume anything. Much as I wanted to fuck her right into the couch.
“I know, but…this whole thing, it just feels like I’m underestimating it.”
“Yeah?” I tilted my head and tried to get her to look at me. Her eyelids twitched, and she twisted her lips around as she stared at the television, clearly not watching what was on it.
“I don’t know. It sounds silly. It’s just when I followed Parker down that trail I expected to find a dead squirrel or something. He literally hunts those things. But instead I found…I don’t even know what I found.”
I felt her body tightening by the second, the more she spoke. It made me so worried about her, I didn’t even really know what to say. Or what the right thing was to say at that time. Rose was very head strong, and I could tell that once she had even a small idea in her head, it would be hard to convince her otherwise.
For a little bit, I just held her tighter, rubbing her arm until her body started to relax again. It took me a while to figure what I should even say back.
“When I was in that convenience store, the first thing I wanted to do was run. I didn’t even want to think about what was going to happen to that old man, I just wanted to get out of there. But something didn’t let me. I don’t know if it was stupidity, or real bravery—I still don’t know even now, but I do know I’m glad I did it. So, it’s normal that you’re having second thoughts. Or…maybe wising you didn’t even do anything.” I sighed and chewed my inner lip, something I did when I was nervous and couldn’t tell a joke. I liked to pick the most appropriate moments, and comforting Rose was not a good one.
“How did you know that?” Rose finally looked up at me with wonder in her eyes that I wanted to look at forever. God, her eyes were so beautiful. Deep, soulful globes of wit and beauty.
Every part of her was amazing. The soft arch of her brow, her button nose, and the perfect cupi
d’s brow of her soft, full lips. I was just in awe of her, and her body wasn’t even the forefront. Granted, she had an amazing fucking body. I hadn’t seen hips like hers in…well, ever. I loved how she wasn’t thin and every part of her body had shape.
I blinked rapidly and brought myself back to the current situation.
“Because I’ve been where you are. But I know you’ll be okay, because you’re brave. And you’ve got us.” I shrugged and gave her an easy smile.
The hard ridges of her brows finally softened, and she gave me a small smile that made me feel better. She nodded slightly and rested her head back on my chest.
For a while, we just watched the movie. We had already gone through the popcorn and beer, but I wasn’t hungry. Well, I was hungry for her but also trying to be on my watch. I didn’t want her to notice though, she was already so set on thinking she was being watched. But, part of me knew that she wasn’t seeing things, and she wasn’t being paranoid.
Me and the guys knew the risks of keeping her involved with the case, and we wanted to keep them at a minimum. But we couldn’t control everything. The results of the autopsy were fucking disturbing—they matched those other two victims exactly. Amy was damned good at her job, so we knew to trust her. Every criminologist assigned to the case was doing their due diligence, and found it way too easy to link the cases.
We were dealing with a serial killer, or serial murders; depending on if these guys actually did something, and weren’t just targeted arbitrarily.
I had to stop thinking about it or I would cave and come clean to Rose. My hand started drifting farther south and rested on her hip. Just the warmth of it was enough to do me in. I had to shift closer to her, and pull her even closer to me. The desire I felt for Rose was a need and not a want at that point.
“Nate…” her voice was breathless as she looked up at me. Our faces were inches apart and her scent swirled around me, clouding my better judgement.
“Rose.” I smirked. She almost rolled her eyes, but then shook her head once.
I knew what she was planning to go on about before she even said anything. “I…”
I shut her up in the best way possible by pressing my lips to hers. I didn’t even press against her, I just trapped her lower lip between mine and sucked ever so softly. The smallest mewl of surprise left her mouth and it made my dick twitch in my pants. I cupped her face softly and tilted her head back. She turned her head and deepened the kiss, and I took the opportunity to graze her lips with my tongue. She didn’t even hesitate before dropping her jaw slightly and allowing my tongue in her mouth. I pulled back and swirled my tongue around hers before coming back and kissing her even harder. She moaned fully and reciprocated. Her fingers were soft and hesitant as they rested on my chest and then glided down to my abs. I kept kissing her, our lips pulling at each other, sucking at each other. Until we needed air.
