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Scooping Cara up, I held her against my chest as the emotional turmoil overtook her trembling frame and she cried, clutching at my shirt while her face burrowed into my neck. “R.J.”
“Shhh, baby. You’re safe. I have you.”
She sniffled but didn’t move. “Don’t leave me.”
“I won’t, my sweet Cara. I promise.”
She barely let me put her in Rae’s car for the short drive to the clubhouse, but Cara wasn’t in the frame of mind to hold on and ride on the back of my bike. As soon as we arrived, I had her in my arms again, walking inside and right up to my room on the second floor. Most of the guys had rooms of their own. Since I was here so often, I had one of the nicer ones.
I unlocked the door and entered, leading Cara over to the bed. She was exhausted. I could see the fatigue, stress, and defeat on her face. Her makeup was smeared, and my heart stuttered at the broken and lost look in her pretty green eyes.
“Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
In the bathroom, I pulled a clean washcloth from the stack and wet it with warm water, ringing the material out before I returned to her side. “Here, look up.”
She tilted her chin upward. I washed the tear stains from her face and set the cloth down, swallowing hard as I tried to push down the rage that was building deep inside.
“Thank you.” Her voice was little more than a whisper.
“I want to kill him.” The anger in my voice was so thick you could almost reach out and touch it. “There’s no fuckin’ way he’s going to live after this. I’ll –”
Cara placed a finger against my lips. “Hold me.”
I couldn’t refuse her request. We lay down on the bed as she kicked off her heels and lay on her side. My body hummed and buzzed with both desire and need, as well as a fierce urge to protect her at all costs. My arm wrapped around her waist and I pulled her into my body, hugging her tight against my chest. My head was just slightly above hers on the same shared pillow.
Cara’s fingers slid through my own as she cradled my hand against her breast. “R.J.?”
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“You were right.”
My heart nearly skipped a beat. “About?”
“Everything.” She sighed softly. “You and me. It’s real.”
“I know, honey. That’s why you’re staying here with me.”
She nodded.
“As long as you want.”
“And if I want more?”
“I’ll give you whatever you want. I’m yours,” I whispered, tightening my hold.
“Good. I’m yours too.”
It wasn’t a passionate declaration of love and it wasn’t a hasty decision made in a moment of lust. Somehow, those sweetly spoken words between us were so much more than either of those things.
“Sleep, Cara. I won’t leave your side.”
Her body relaxed a few minutes later and I knew she finally let it all go, safe and secure as long as I held her in my arms. My heart did a funny lurch and I knew that what I felt for Cara was more than a passing infatuation or desire.
She’d quickly become someone I couldn’t live without.
Maybe I was just a sinner and she was just a saint or maybe we were both sinners and saints.
The difference no longer mattered.
