She cocked her head. “Aren’t they?”
He waited for his chest to tighten, for his throat to squeeze, leaving him unable to voice his thoughts. But that’s not what happened. The words fell easily from his lips. “It’s when I wake up that I find hard.” She was frozen, unnaturally still, clearly absorbing each of his words as he went on. “When I dream, life is familiar. The rush. The missions I’m given. The hunt and the chase. I know that life. I live and breathe it. But when I wake up, in a comfortable bed, in warmth and safety, I don’t even know what I’m looking at anymore, and it’s jarring.”
She hesitated then her voice softened. “You’re looking at home.”
He slid his fingers down the strands of her hair. “When I came home, everything looked different.” He took another deep breath. “It’s like I’m looking through a filter. Almost like I’m looking through someone else’s eyes. And that filter doesn’t only affect me, it affects those who care about me.”
“What do you mean?”
He glanced into those pure eyes. “Why do you think my parents moved away?”
She didn’t even hesitate. “Because your dad got a new job.”
“Partly, yes,” he explained. “But the bigger reason was they couldn’t handle seeing me. Seeing what I had become.”
“Which was what exactly?” Her voice tightened with anger.
He gave her hair a little tug and smiled, oddly liking her protecting him. “Don’t be too hard on them about that. It was different when I first came back…I was different then. I’m better now.” Although the continuing dreams suggested otherwise. They should have been behind him. He should be more settled; even he knew that.
“You were just fine when you came back,” she said, snuggling back into him, her arm wrapped around his chest. “I cannot believe your parents left because you were struggling. That’s really shitty.”
“It’s not their fault, Kinsley,” he countered. “I could barely talk to them back then. When they visited, I got too edgy and had to leave. I spent all my time either on the job or at the gym with Theo. Things were very hard for them. They didn’t know how to help me. Then Dad’s job offer came up. I told them if they really wanted to help me, they should leave, so they did.”
“Bullshit,” she growled. “So things get tough. That’s life. They never should have left, and they should have told you to shove it right up your bossy butt!”
A low chuckle passed through his lips. He flipped their positions, leaning over her while on his knees. “But then there is you. This woman who seems to not listen to a damn thing I say and is somehow fighting like hell to make me happy.” Untouched things in his chest warmed as he dropped his mouth close to hers. “Why is that, Kinsley?”
“You know why, Rhett,” she said simply. “You’ve known why for a very long time. The thing is, do you really want to hear it?”
Those three little words were hanging there between them. Words that he simply could not let her say. Not yet. Emotion clawed at his throat; an odd feeling that made him want to crawl out of his skin and yet stay in that warmth too. It felt like a tidal wave of uneasiness flooding him, threatening to drown him, and that was a feeling he knew and understood. “I need you, Kinsley,” he murmured, bringing his mouth within a whisper of hers. “Spread your legs for me.”
He heard the hitch of her breath, felt her body shudder when he dropped his mouth to hers and kissed her with all the intensity between them. She widened her legs, and he slid between them, keeping his weight on his arms, careful of her belly. The tip of his cock touched her soft, warm folds, and then she was arching her hips up to him in a slight demand. One he didn’t ignore. He pushed forward, sliding into her, inch by inch, until he groaned against the pleasure of her sweet body hugging his. He took it slow, feeling all of her, letting her feel all of him.
He drank in every soft moan, loving the way she gave in to him so easily, so open and honest with him, like he deserved all of it. And he took everything she offered, needing it, claiming all that perfection as his own.
Soon, they were moving together. Thrusts meeting thrusts. Skin slapping against skin, the scent of their sex only intensifying the pleasure. Her moans brushing against all his senses. With every rock of his hips, he became more and more amazed at how perfectly they fit together.
Her breath hitched first, then her body responded to the pleasure, clamping down against him tight. And with a few long, slow, intimate thrusts, they soon came together, tangled in each other’s arms, sweaty and breathless in their pleasure. And he wondered, in the quiet moments after his release, if that’s what Kinsley was to him. Home.
Chapter 16
The next morning, Rhett dropped Kinsley off at Remy’s magic shop. As she was getting out of the truck, he said, “Listen, we’ve taken protective detail off your bar, not on your person. For now, just stay clear of it. All right?”
Cold bit into her that had nothing to do with the freezing temperatures outside. “You think they’re coming back?”
“We don’t know the answer to that”—his gaze flickered to his rearview mirror—“but I’m only thinking about keeping you safe. If you want to go anywhere, Cameron goes with you, all right?”
“Okay.” She smiled and was unsurprised to find Cameron sitting in his cruiser behind Rhett’s truck. She glanced back at Rhett through the window. “I’ll see ya later then.”
He winked. “You will.”
She leaned away and waved at Cameron, who was drinking his coffee, while Rhett drove toward the station. She was not at all surprised that the guys in her life were going into full protective mode. She entered Remy’s store but stopped short when she saw that Remy was with a customer. “I’ll go see Peyton for a bit,” she said quickly.
Remy gave her a quick nod and a wave then turned back to the customer, who was looking at a love potion. Kinsley smiled, thinking maybe that love potion had some merit now as she shut the door, chiming the bell.
Cameron opened his car door and got out. Kinsley assured him quickly, “Just going to see Peyton.”
“All right.” Cameron got back in his car.