I saw a shudder go through her body, and her next breath was shaky.
“I don’t want to get hurt again,” she admitted in a whisper.
I stepped closer, giving into my temptation to touch her, raising a hand to brush my fingers delicately over her cheek.
“Brooklyn,” I murmured, leaning closer. “I have no intention of hurting you. Not to night, not ever. I only want to make love to you.”
Her body shuddered once more, and the next blink of her eyes came slower.
Chapter Twelve
Brooklyn
Why can't I move?
Abe was standing too close. Close enough for me to feel his breath and the warmth coming off his body. So, naturally, I should have tried to back away and get some space between us. But my body just wouldn’t move.
The proximity was playing havoc with my body, too, my breath coming quicker, my heart beating faster in my chest.
My body warmed up at the thought of Abe making love to me, and I wanted to sway into his hold. Only my will still held me back, but it wasn’t enough to get me to retreat.
“Brooklyn,” Abe whispered my name.
His voice was low and oh so alluring. My eyelids fluttered shut and I held my breath. Abe, taking my silence as a cue, closed the small space between us, and his lips pressed against mine in a kiss.
It was different from that night at the bar. He kept the kiss chaste at first, only sliding his lips gently over mine. My body shivered and swayed closer as he did it again and again, my breathing coming out raggedly. I parted my lips, inviting him to deepen the kiss, only he didn’t. Instead, he sucked and nipped my lips, then kissed me softly.
“More,” I murmured against his lips when he didn’t do what I wanted, my hands rising to press against his chest.
I sighed against his mouth when I felt his tongue brush over my lips, my hands sliding up his chest to wrap around his shoulders. My fingers found their way into his thick, dark hair and I tugged lightly on it as I stuck my own tongue out to meet his.
Abe let out a groan, his hands moving to my waist, touching me carefully as he slid his tongue inside my mouth. We moved closer and closer, until our arms were tight around each other as Abe deepened the kiss. Our fronts were pressed together, and I suddenly thought how much I wanted to have all our clothes off.
There was still a voice in the back of my mind telling me not to do this. It would be so much harder to walk away from this, it would be a lot easier to just part with him with my lie out in the open. Abe was nice enough about it that I didn’t feel humiliated, and that would have been a good ending to the whole thing. But, there was no turning back for me now.
Abe didn’t break off the kiss until I felt like I would pass out for lack of breath, and I practically hung off him as I panted for breath. I blinked my eyes open and looked up. When my eyes met his, my breath hitched in my throat. The heat in his gaze made my body shudder and my legs felt more like jelly.
“Let’s move to the bed?” he asked huskily.
I nodded as I took in a deep breath.
Abe grinned at me and ducked down, and with an arm around my back and under my knees, he picked me up, making me yelp and tighten my arms around his shoulders.
“Abe!”
He chuckled, his arms squeezing around me. He circled the wall into the bedroom area, and set me down gently on the bed. He knelt on the edge and crawled on top of it, bracing above me on his hands and knees as he grinned down at me.
“I’ve wanted to do this since I first saw you at the bridal shop,” he admitted in a low whisper. “But then I saw you in a wedding dress and I got worried you’d moved on. Did you?”
The question was gentle, and as he asked it, he leaned down and kissed down the side of my neck, occasionally leaving a nibble.
I moaned and tilted my head to the side, carding my fingers through his hair. “I never did,” I said in a whisper. “For the past six years, I haven’t been with anyone else.”
Abe stopped and pulled back to look at me. His expression was serious, with a touch of eagerness in his gaze. “Really?” he asked tightly.
I smiled wryly up at him. “Yeah, really. Getting over you wasn’t so easy, Abe Sanchez.”
His eyes went half lidded as a smirk spread on his lips. “Good,” he said. And nothing else.