With Every Breath (Slow Burn 4)

He lay down next to her on his side and then turned her so she faced him. Their legs tangled together and one hand slid up the length of her leg, over the curve of her hip, following the indentation of her waistline and then up to cup her breast. He thumbed the firm peak, coaxing it to further rigidity before finally continuing his journey upward.

She emitted a small sigh and turned into his touch the tiniest bit when he cupped and then began caressing her cheek. Almost as if she were enjoying something so simple as his touch. The soft reassurance he was trying so very hard to give her.

“Your face is beautiful,” he whispered. “Your eyes. Your mouth,” he added, extending his thumb outward to trace her lips. Then he lifted his hand to delve into her hair, tangling his fingers deeply into the tresses. “Your hair is like silk. I could get lost in it. How it smells.”

She made a small sound of dismay when he let his hand fall away from her face, but then it turned into another contented sigh when he once more cupped her breast and toyed with the puckered bud.

“Your breasts are fucking perfect, and your nipples are the most mouthwatering shade of pink. I’ve fantasized about doing nothing for an entire night but sucking and licking them.”

Color bloomed again in her cheeks and her eyes grew hazy as if she were entering a different world. A dream world. But he was already there.

“But those things aren’t what make you beautiful, Eliza,” he said, his tone becoming more serious.

His gaze searched hers, looking for some sign that she understood what he was saying. Or at least understood what he wasn’t saying.

“Looks, physical attributes, physical beauty never stay the same in a person’s life. They aren’t what’s important and they aren’t what make you beautiful.”

He touched her temple, lightly tapping.

“Your mind is beautiful. It’s sharp, intelligent. One of your greatest assets. You’re funny, witty, always know the right thing to say, always have the answer to any problem.”

He lowered his hand and splayed it out over her chest, resting between her breasts.

“This . . . this is what makes you the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. Your heart, Eliza.”

Her sharp inhale sounded, her nostrils flaring and tears glittered harshly in the light.

“You’re warm, funny, kind, compassionate, loyal. You stand for what’s right.”

Her lips began to tremble and even more moisture welled in her blue eyes. She shook her head but didn’t disobey his order not to say anything.

He nodded. “Although I’m certainly not complaining about the way what I have in my arms looks at all. But you’re also beautiful where it counts the most. On the inside. And that’s rare and so very precious. You’re rare. You’re precious. And if you think I’m going to let you throw away rare and precious because you think you did something you aren’t even capable of then you’re out of your fucking mind.”

She wouldn’t even meet his gaze any longer so great was the shame reflected in her eyes. Then she closed her eyes and sucked in a deep, stuttering breath that ended on a sob.

“Let it go, Eliza,” he said softly. “You don’t have to carry your burden alone. Not anymore. Let it go, baby. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. Give yourself—and your burden—to me.”

FOURTEEN

ELIZA couldn’t breathe. Her heart was about to pound right out of her chest. There was simply too much for her to take in and process all at once. She was lying in Wade’s arms. Wade was calling her—had called her—beautiful over and over. Wade wanted to make love to her because he thought she was special.

Rare and precious.

You stand for what’s right.

His words burned an acid trail through her mind, searing a path straight to her ravaged, already blackened soul. If she stood for what was right, then none of those women would have ever been touched by Thomas’s evil.

But most heart-wrenching was his quiet plea for her to put her burden down and share it with him.

If only it were that simple. If only!

Tears burned her swollen eyes. But she’d shed far too many tears and had broken her vow countless times. A vow to never let anyone see her cry again. Ever since Wade had barged into the rented house in Calvary, she’d done nothing but cry.

“Eliza,” Wade said gently, tipping her chin upward with one knuckle.

She couldn’t look at him. Couldn’t bear to look at him.

Then as if understanding how close to becoming completely unhinged she was, he merely lowered his mouth and pressed it to hers in a kiss that was every bit as beautiful as he kept claiming her to be.

“I’m going to make love to you, Eliza,” he said, the words rumbling and vibrating from his chest. “I want you with me, baby. Tell me you’re with me.”

She closed her eyes because just for a while she could pretend. She needed to pretend. For a few moments she wanted to touch something heartrendingly beautiful and poignant.

“I’m with you,” she whispered.

At once, his kisses became more masterful, dominant. Aggressive. Shivers of arousal and need erupted but she was anything but cold. For so long she’d existed in ice and now it was as if she’d suddenly been thrust under the sun’s rays after a long, harsh winter.

Had she ever lain awake at night fantasizing about being in Wade’s arms? She was honest enough with herself to admit she had. He was a gorgeous specimen of alpha male. When she wasn’t doing her best to needle him, a self-defense mechanism she’d employed with him from the very start, she was positively shivery at the way he looked at her with naked possession in his eyes.

Even when he seemed to feel the same way about her, that is to say not much at all, and he acted as though she were nothing but a huge thorn in his side, he’d still acted to protect her. Had acted as though what happened to her mattered to him. He’d been furious after she was abducted and tortured. Not just furious. Sick with worry. For her. He’d been the one who’d held her cradled in his arms in the aftermath until she’d realized who held her and then quickly put as much distance between them as possible. Another thing she did often around him.

And then him insisting on accompanying her and her team for the takedown, his fury of her going. Him taking a bullet meant for her. She shivered again as his lips closed over one nipple and she closed her eyes, pushing aside those confusing thoughts and memories. They had no place in the here and now.