Maybe not even herself.
“I better go,” she said, her breath hot against my neck.
I so didn’t want to release her, but I loosened my grip.
“I think you have magic arms.” She drew in a deep breath, then stepped away. “I see why the babies like being held by you. It’s like you absorb every shitty thing going on.”
“I got big shoulders. I can take it.”
“Who takes yours?”
Hmm, that was a good question. Bill maybe…but mostly…it was only me. Seemed we had more in common than either of us thought. “Still working on that.”
“Wanna come up?”
“More than you know.” I grazed my knuckles along her cheek. “But I should go.”
She quirked her eyebrow. “I…want you to.”
The side of her mouth curled into a half smile, her lips drawing my interest. Damn I wanted those lips on mine. I’d seen her eating Red Vines earlier, too, so I imagined I’d get a little sweetness mixed in with her lilac scent.
Delicate fingers danced along my wrist, my palm, then twined with mine. On her own volition. I wanted to go to her place, but I probably shouldn’t. She was vulnerable. I’d learned a little more about her “bad” past that Bill had alluded to. Sure, she hadn’t told me anything, but she didn’t have to at this point. What I hated most was my terrible imagination. And it made my blood boil thinking she was badly hurt, like Angelina was.
Sarah stepped away and, since our hands were joined, I followed. There was no turning her down. Not with those big, seductive eyes staring at me.
Oh boy. I was in big trouble.
Chapter Fourteen
Sarah
“It’snothingfancy.”Iset my purse on the table beside the entrance and shut the door behind Drey. “But it works.”
“It’s great.” His big body filled the apartment more than I thought it would. But what scared me was how great it felt to have him here. I wasn’t sure what possessed me to ask him up, but now that he was here…it felt right.
His bright, amber eyes swept the one-room efficiency as he cracked his knuckles. He stood there, near the door, tense and almost like he was out of his element.
Was he nervous?
I stepped in front of him for a better view, and I drew in his scent. I loved how manly he smelled with the mix of sweat and cologne. I hadn’t quite figured out yet what he wore…but I would. This man, a virtual stranger, but not, was such a walking contradiction. His tough exterior with the ink, the piercings, and the rebel hair. But he was so gentle when he held me. And the babies. The two times I was in his arms, he held me like I was a precious treasure.
Me, precious. I’d never felt treasured or precious once in my entire life. But with Drey… There was strength in his arms, I felt that—more my body did—but it was the tenderness with which he used his muscles. He wasn’t always about brute violence, though he could dish that out with the best of them. And how his eyes shone with the truth so I could trust him.
I felt it. He wanted me. I knew I wanted him. But he wasn’t just some guy I’d picked up at the bar and could discard after. No, despite working to keep him at arm’s length, he snuck in and rocked through my protection. My safeguards.
“Smells nice in here.”
“Well, I clean once in a while.”
His black pupils ate up the fiery irises, and his chest puffed with a deep breath. A blanket of his scent swathed me, and I couldn’t have stopped my hand, even if I’d tried, from sliding up his chest.
Such a deep valley between his pecs. I needed a closer look. And maybe a taste.
“Sarah,” Drey hissed in a breath.
I took another step and he backed up, right against the door. Instantly my body went flush with his—and perked to life. His hands were out to the sides, fingers folded into fists.
I needed them on me.Now.