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“Anna… Sweetheart… You’re okay.” Derek unbuckled my seatbelt. I didn’t even hear my door open. “Brea told me what happened. Come on... Let me take you inside, baby.”
I nodded, taking his hand. He held me close to his body as he took my keys out of the ignition. At the front door, he opened it like he would each evening for me. I always thought it was a charming gesture.
My body shook as more images of my car hitting the minivan replayed. The little kids were screaming, puddles of blood were everywhere. Why was my mind doing this to me? None of it happened… but it could have.
“Brea, order Chinese while I take Anna to her bedroom. We’ll be out shortly.” I heard Derek giving Brea directions as we walked down the hallway, but I was too numb to care.
The door closed and I was pulled into Derek’s safe arms. He held me close, one hand on the back of my head, the other wrapped around my waist.
I melted into him and sobbed.
“You’re safe. Nobody was hurt. You’re safe,” he whispered against my head.
I continued to tremble and buried my face into his chest. My emotions were a mess. After everything with Will the last several months, leaving everything I knew behind and then Alastair showing a side to him I didn’t like, I was a fucking hot mess.
At some point, we had moved to the bed. As I calmed, it occurred to me this was the first time Derek had been in my room. It felt right. Natural. And at that moment, I wanted him to stay with me. I wanted him to hold me all night.
“Derek, I don’t know what happened. Brea and I were talking about… Oh God, Alastair.” My body quaked against his as he raised my left hand to his lips.
He stopped, holding my arm in place as my coat sleeve raised up, revealing my wrist.
“What happened here?” He lightly ran his thumb over the skin.
My inner wrist had three small bruises where Alastair had burrowed his fingers and nails into my flesh.
“Anna, this isn’t from thealmostaccident.”
“Alastair. He… he…” I fell apart again. Derek held me closer than before, his chest heaving against mine. I sensed a fire brewing inside him, but he said nothing else.
Minutes passed until I again regained control of myself. And I waited for it. The question I knew that was on the tip of Derek’s tongue. So instead of making him wonder, I put his mind at ease.
“He didn’t do anything else.” I looked into Derek’s intense olive-green eyes as they filled with relief. “He didn’t do anything else.”
Derek swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he cupped my face gently. He lowered his mouth, hovering over mine. My breathing deepened as his fingers threaded into my hair and down to my neck.
“Yes,” I said through a heavy breath.
It happened. Our lips met, and butterflies took flight in my stomach. Derek’s lips moved over mine slowly, earnestly. He didn’t rush as he didn’t deepen it. He kissed me with so much tenderness, my head grew light and airy.
I ran my hands along his forearms, up to his biceps, and urged his arms to wrap around me and pull me flush against him.
I wanted more. Needed more.
As if Derek heard my desperate thoughts, he parted my lips. I whimpered as our tongues curled into the other. I tingled, my body heating up. I clasped the back of his neck and tilted my head in a silent cry for more.
He accepted my invitation, sweeping his delicious tongue into my mouth. He groaned, and our kiss exploded. The wait was over. No more imagining what Derek tasted or felt like. He was better than I’d imagined, with soft full lips and a warm, comforting mouth.
Derek kissed me with the same precision he’d used with every one of his projects around my home. He nibbled here and there, enveloping my lips as he inhaled me, sucking on my tongue, moaning against my mouth. It was all so sweet and perfect. I knew our first kiss would be lovely and beautiful.
And it was nothing like kissing Will.
The connection that had gradually built between us was deeply gratifying at this moment. Even though we’d felt the chemistry between us the night we met, Derek hadn’t rushed anything. I appreciated his patience and the respect he’d shown. Over the last five days, we’d gotten to know a lot about each other. I knew Derek wanted to kiss me but had held back, waiting for me to be sure. Not once had he pressured me, and now, I didn’t want to wait anymore.
I whimpered as he ended the kiss and his warm lips left mine.
“Don’t stop.” I was so starved for affection. After having an abundance of physical touch and intimacy, having nothing had sent me spiraling into withdrawals. I was like an addict, one Will had created, then tossed into the street with no way of getting the fix I desperately needed.
But now I had Derek.
