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She tenses. Then lifts her head to look at me.My God, the way her lips are swollen from my kisses… tangled hair framing her flushed face… I shift just enough so she doesn’t feel the effect she has on me.
Not while we discuss this, at least.
“What?” She looks like she genuinely didn’t hear my request.
So I repeat it. Even though it’s not exactly a request. “Come home with me.”
Clara squints at me, then laughs. “Right. Okay.”
“I’m serious.”
She must see that I mean it, because she sits up and self-consciously tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “You don’t even know me.”
I sit up as well, leaning back against the pillows still propped against the headboard. “I know that you can’t go home. Wherever ‘home’ used to be.”
She doesn’t respond.
“And I know that you didn’t exactly plan your escape in advance, judging by what you were wearing, and the size of the bag you’ve been clinging to. Which means you don’t actually know where to go, do you?”
Clara frowns, but she still avoids meeting my gaze. “I… might still need to figure out a few things.”
“Like what?”
Now, she’s more than nervous. Her bottom lip starts to tremble, and she bites it just hard enough to stop it. “I… I have a kid… waiting for me. A little girl.”
Ah.That does make things interesting.
I tilt my head to one side and gently turn her face so she’s forced to look me in the eyes. “Then bring her with you.”
I’m not exactly leaping for joy at the prospect of playing host to a single mom and her snot-nosed carpet crawler. In fact, somewhere in the back of my mind, Normal Demyen is demanding to know what the actual fuck I’m doing.
If this was anyone else, I’d be telling her to kick bricks. Tough shit.C’est la vie.
But “anyone else” wouldn’t be here with me, naked and warm and glistening in the soft light of the room as my fingers dance over her skin. I can’t stop touching her.
And I can’t stop the surge of aggression that keeps rising whenever I envision an alternative option.Anyalternative option.
Letting her go means her ex will probably find her. It definitely means I’ll never see her again.
I’m not okay with any of that. Not one fucking bit.
Clara looks unsure at first. Then a distinct sort of stubbornness settles into her expression and she straightens. “Thank you, really,” she says, “but I’m good. We’re good.”
I loft a brow. “Really.”
“School starts soon, and I’m going to go get Willow enrolled and all that parenting stuff, so…” She shrugs.
“I’m not joking, Clara. I’ll send a car to get your daughter and?—”
“Do you think you’re the first white knight to come riding in to save the day?”
Her question stops me in my tracks. Not just the question itself, but the way she snaps it.
She sighs and sweeps her long hair over one shoulder. “Look, it’s not that I’m not grateful. I appreciate the thought. But I’ve heard this song before.” When her eyes meet mine again, they’re filled with a deep sadness I suddenly have an urge to kiss away. “I just need to get out of Vegas and far away from him. I don’t need a savior, or an avenging angel, or?—”
I bark out a laugh. It startles her, and for a fleeting moment, she looks scared. But then she sees that I’m genuinely laughing and relaxes a little.
“I am no ‘avenging angel’,” I chuckle. “And I’m sure as fuck no one’s savior.”
