The Drift (Preacher Brothers 3)

A moment of silence passed before he commanded, “Come closer, Zoey.” His voice was deep and had every part of me tingling with awareness.

I licked my lips again and started moving on the mattress, shifting my body until there was now just an arm’s length separating us.

Another bout of silence. “Closer.” God, his voice was so deep, husky, like he’d been gargling sand. And still, he stared at me so damn intensely.

I exhaled slowly and moved closer until I felt his body heat deep in every part of me. Goose bumps moved along my arms and legs, and I curled my bare toes against the cold hardwood floor. He didn’t even have to touch me, and I felt so… aware.

Wilder still said nothing, just kept his focus on me, his eyes seeming hard, like cut diamonds. I heard him inhale deeply, and I felt my face flush, wondering if he was smelling me.

“Fuck,” he said softly, and I could tell he meant to say it to himself. He tore his gaze from me and stared straight ahead.

I could see the way the muscle under his cheek twitched as if he ground his teeth. He had his face set hard, clearly plenty of thoughts running through his head right now. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one, although I had a feeling I knew what he was going to say—that I had to leave.

I wasn’t worried about him hurting me physically, or Frankie not keeping his word about me not getting hurt. I knew Wilder would never let anyone hurt me. How I knew that, I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like I really knew these men or the women. But in my heart, I understood Wilder wouldn’t let anything happen to me.

Maybe I should be the one to broach the subject first, to not wait for him to say the words that definitely needed to be said. But God, they felt so abhorrent to me it made my stomach clench. I was just about to open my mouth and speak, when he looked back at me, everything in me tightening painfully. His gaze was so focused, so dark in intensity, that it had my throat closing in.

“I want to first say I’m sorry about what Frankie did. Taking you, keeping you here….” he spoke and ran his hand over his jaw again, looking pissed all of a sudden before he schooled himself.

There was some thick emotion in his words, and I could tell a man like Wilder didn’t show that very often. But he wasn’t even trying to hide it from me. His throat moved as he swallowed, and although I could hear and see his feelings written across his face and laced in his words, his eyes were still so hard as he stared at me.

“I get why he did it, but—” God, I didn’t want to say the words but knew they had to be out in the open. “—it’s time for me to leave.”

I felt the air thicken, heat. I felt everything shift in an almost violent manner, as if the words I just uttered were the catalyst to something massive happening.

I didn’t know what I expected from him when I finally spoke that out loud, but I didn’t expect to get this. Because after the tension dissipated in the air, the nothingness I saw on his face had my blood running cold. His statuesque expression. The void. It was all so painfully clear.

I ran my fingers over my bare thighs, my hands shaking.

I noticed the way his eyes lowered to the action before he dragged them back up slowly, looking me in the face again. “You’re trembling, Zoey,” he said softly, yet his voice was so deep. It had dual sensations moving over me, through me.

I didn’t know how to respond, so I just nodded slowly. I was surprised I was able to keep it together as much as I was.

“Do I make you nervous?”

I took a stuttering breath and shook my head, but that was a lie.

“Do I scare you?”

I couldn’t breathe. I shook my head again, and although I wasn’t afraid of him, I was afraid of the emotions he caused within me. I closed my eyes and exhaled roughly. I whispered, “I don’t know anymore, Wilder.” A second later, I felt his finger under my chin, the slight motion turning my face more toward him.

“Open your eyes.” The demand came gently, but it was an order nonetheless.

I slowly opened my eyes and heard him suck in a deep breath, as if the sight alone affected him so profoundly he couldn’t contain himself.

“God,” he muttered before dipping his gaze down to my mouth. I licked my lips involuntarily, as if the sight of him watching the act alone was a physical touch. “You make my heart stop, Zoey.” I wondered if he meant to say it out loud. When he stared me in the eyes again, it was then I felt my heart stop. “I don’t know what’s happening, how I could feel like this—” He took a deep, stuttering breath before continuing. “—but I know one thing with certainty.” He paused, but I knew it wasn’t for a dramatic effect. He seemed at a loss for words. “I know what I feel is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, Zoey,”