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She stands.
Her heart’s probably beating faster right about now.
So’s mine.
Her palms might be sweaty with nerves, but she knows that if she crosses the distance between us, there’s no turning back.
I’m tired of turning back. I’ve been turning back in the name of loyalty and honor my entire fucking life, and I don’t want to anymore.
I open my mouth to tell her all this, to tell her that she can trust me, to tell her I understand that she isn’t like other women, and I won’t hurt her. But that isn’t what comes out at all.
“I could have died today.”Saying it out loud somehow makes it more real.
Eden stands in front of me, so close I can see the tiniest birthmark at the corner of her mouth. I want to kiss it.
“Almost-death can be a gift,” she whispers.
I draw in a breath and let it out slowly. “It can be. It was.” Without conscious thought, I reach for one of her hands, then both of them. I love the feel of her small, soft hands in mine. Warmth envelopes me, the first brush of intimacy like the spark of a flame. My need for her kindles and smolders. I crave more.
Even when I’m half sitting on the edge of my desk, she’s much smaller than me. She has to tilt her head back to look into my eyes. I love that she does. I love the way she peers at me from beneath lowered lashes.
I’m not a careful man nor am I a cautious one, but the stakes have never been so high. For once in my life, I need to speak with my heart and not with my head. I swallow.
“I asked myself… If I’m going to die… have I really lived?”
A slow blink. She swallows and nods. “That’s a good question to ask. I can relate.”
“Can you?” I eye her curiously. I didn’t expect that.
“Of course,” she says with an eager nod. “I left my home so I could—I needed to—” Haltingly, she stares at hour connected hands before she finally says in a rush of words, “I needed to change the course of my life, and the life of someone I love with all my heart. And I’m the only one who can do it. Just like… just like you.”
Such wisdom from a woman who doesn’t even know how to use a cell phone.
Someone she loves?
“Who do you have to go back for?” I ask, holding myself back.
Eden licks her lips before she answers in a choked voice, “My sister. My younger sister. I need to go back for her.”
I exhale a sigh of relief and nod. “Ah.”
The earnest way she talks speaks straight to my heart. “Sergio, you’re the only one who can change the course ofyourlife. People can influence you. They can help you along the way. But the choices you make are yours.”
I nod. “Yes. So I’m changing it. Right here. Right now.”
I release her hand and slide my palm along the column of her neck.
Her pulse beats beneath my fingers, her skin soft and silky. I run my thumb along her jaw, memorizing the feel of her vulnerability.
I’m not turning back. Eden calls to me like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I need her.
My mouth hovers over hers. Her sweet breath washes over me and I close my eyes, relishing the moment before I change the course of our lives forever. We stand on the brink of something magical, and I want to savor this.
Eden needs to know she can trust me. It may be the most important thing I ever give to her.
So I take my time. I gently stroke the back of her neck. I trace the curve of her lower lip. I slide my hand to her hip and draw her between my legs. Everything about her is soft and feminine, but the woman has a spine of steel.
The way she yields to me is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
