AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"You had a dazed look in your eyes." He touches my forehead. "Your fever hasn’t increased, has it?"
"Nope, the medicine I took is making me drowsy, is all."
He runs his fingers though my hair. "You should rest."
"You evaded my question again."
He sighs. "There’s nothing to evade. I tried to deliver on my responsibilities toward my congregation with the utmost sincerity. I felt I was making a difference in peoples’ lives. I tried to be a spiritual guide, a counsellor for couples, and I loved teaching young minds. It was deeply satisfying and yet"—he swallows—"something was missing. I knew I wasn’t addressing the real reasons I was pushing myself so hard to feel needed. And when I had a crisis of faith, I left."
"You did what felt right at that time."
"I turned my back on everything that defined me." He firms his lips.
"That took courage."
"That was cowardly of me," he says at the same time.
I begin to sit up, and he doesn’t stop me. "It’s all about how you look at things, isn’t it? It’s your mindset. You think you were running away, I think you knew it was time to leave and find yourself, so you could deal with whatever happened earlier in your life."
His lips curve. "When did you become so wise?"
"I was born wise." I smile back.
Our gazes hold; the air between us shimmers and grows heavy. My thighs clench, and my pussy feels like Niagara Falls opened up between them.OMG, I did not just think that!
"I can read what’s on your mind," he warns.
I scoff, "You cannot."
"I did, but I’m not going to elaborate because you need your rest." He urges me to pillow my head in his lap, then reaches for the remote. Between the familiar scenes ofThe Notebookplaying on the screen and the gentle touch of his fingers combing through my hair and whispering down my neck—which is both soothing and a turn on—a warmth steals over me. I close my eyes and drift off. I have a vague recollection of him carrying me to bed, me protesting, and him kissing my forehead.
He slides me into bed, pulls the covers over me ,and I’m asleep again. When I wake up, dawn is breaking through on the horizon. The silver light pours through the un-curtained windows. I turn on my side and realize, he’s stretched out on the bed, on top of the covers. He’s still wearing the same shirt with his sleeves rolled up, and he’s folded his arms over his vest. I take in his shoulders, his chest, those lean hips, the powerful thighs, his bare feet. He must have discarded his socks at some point in the night. His toes—Oh, my god, his toes—why do I find the sight of them so erotic?I manage to drag my gaze back to his face, and the sight of his thick eyelashes fanned over his cheekbones, that hooked nose, the mean upper lip and that plush lower lip, now parted slightly in sleep, draws me to him.
Before I can stop myself, I throw off the covers, then inch closer. I play my mouth over his, not touching him, but drawing of his breath. That scent of woodsmoke surrounds me. That sharp tang in the air, which reminds me of an incoming storm, a sensation I always associate with him, envelops me. I lean in and touch my lips to his. That’s when he opens his eyes.
66
Edward
Her blue gaze holds mine. Her breath mingles with mine. She keeps her mouth on mine, doesn’t back away, and I let her kiss me. She licks my lower lip, and my groin tightens. She nips on my mouth, and it takes everything in me not to throw her over on her back and plant my hips between her thighs and grind into her to show her exactly what she’s doing to me. Instead, I curl my fingers into fists, push them into the mattress, and savor the sensation of her exploring my mouth. She drags her tongue across the seam of my lips, and my blood begins to thud at my temples. She takes small bites of my chin, down the column of my throat, and nudges her nose into the hollow between my collar bones. She draws in a deep breath, and it’s my head that spins. I feel the beat of her heart against mine, the flutter of her fingers as she clutches at my vest, and when she reaches for the button of my waistband, I wrap my fingers around her wrist. She looks up at me, a question in her eyes.
"We need to talk."
A flutter of fear pulses over her features, then she nods. "Okay."
I cup her cheek. "I love you." I bring her forehead to mine and draw in her familiar scent.
"I love you," she whispers against my mouth.
And I want to kiss her. Want to move her on her back and press her into the mattress and show her how much I worship that gorgeous body of hers, but I will not. Not until I’ve come clean with her. And if she decides she never wants to see me again, then I'll have to accept it. I'll have to walk away from her and spend the rest of my life making it up to her. I’d do everything possible to win her back. I have to. I don’t have a choice because without her, I’m nothing.
She brushes her knuckles over my cheekbone. "Eddie?"
"Yeah." I open my eyes. "Let me make you some breakfast."
* * *
"That was good." She scoops up the rest of the omelet with her bread and chews on it. "I shouldn’t be eating like this."
