I had to wipe tears away and clear my throat before I could go on.
“I just wanted to tell the guy, the one she was so stuck on, that hearts really can break and when they do, there is no fixing them. I have no clue if he could even pick Xanthe out of a lineup, but he mattered so much to her. You’re right. I didn’t think it through when I headed up here. I wanted some kind of closure but it isn’t going to come from a stranger that probably doesn’t even know who my sister is.”
My hair moved as he moved closer to me, curling an arm above my head and wrapping his warmth around me. “If you didn’t have a busted wing, I would snuggle up on you, Pop-Tart.”
I let out a surprised laugh and smiled into the darkness. “If it didn’t hurt to move, I would let you.” I wanted to rub against that broad chest and press into all the places where he was hard to my soft. For a dangerous man, he made me feel safer than I ever had before.
“For what it’s worth, when those MacKenzies fall, they fall hard. Love didn’t come easy for them, so they tend be a pretty fierce lot when they get their hands on it. I doubt whichever one it was intentionally did anything to lead your sister on. It was just luck of the draw.”
My cheek pressed into his fuzzy chin and I sighed as I was surrounded in the sweet scent of honey. “How do you know so much about them if you’re new in town and isolated all the way out here?”
He shrugged and it moved his arm up higher so that my breast was pressing into the inflexible hardness of his bicep. I wasn’t nearly as tired as I had been a moment before. My nipples pulled tight and suddenly it was an ache between my legs that was distracting me instead of the one in my shoulder.
“I told you it’s a small town and they rule the roost. They’re kind of legends around here, so everyone talks. Plus, the feds filled me in. I think they were worried I might accidentally try and score with one of the wives and if I did that, there wouldn’t be a surgeon in the country that could save me.” He let out a yawn and blinked his eyes at me. On the last blink, they stayed shut and he yawned again.
I was all hot and bothered and he was ready to pass out. It was probably for the best. I was already out of my depths with this guy; if I got any deeper, I would drown. “Goodnight, Ben.”
There was no response other than a little breath. I reached up and touched his scar again. He was wrong about not deserving another chance and I was wrong about some people, him included, not being worthy of being saved.
Chapter 6
Ben
I woke up wrapped up in the scent of warm woman with my hands buried in what felt like an endless amount of silky hair. There were curls for days and they were the softest thing I had ever felt. I had a hard-on that was so rigid and stiff it hurt to breathe and at some point in the night, I’d moved so that every inch of my uncovered skin was pressed against hers. One of my legs had wedged between hers, taking the only thing covering her up with it. I could feel the softness of her skin and the gentle heat radiating from her velvety center. I hadn’t been this close to a woman in a long time and all my favorite parts of being in bed with one hit me like a ton of bricks. I’d had too much on my plate to worry about the lack of action in my love life as of late, but with Echo mostly naked, the curves of her perfectly rounded backside cradling an erection that felt like it was hard enough to hammer nails, everything I was missing ripped its way through me. I never bothered to know the women I usually went to bed with and they were never that interested in knowing anything about me beyond my reputation. I felt a connection to Echo. One that was born from saving her life and in turn, feeling like she might have saved mine.
The thing was, I’d never been this close to a woman that I actually gave a shit about. It felt different. It felt heavy in my gut and significant as it wound its way through my thoughts. It was the only time my heart was throbbing and pulsating with as much intensity as my dick was.
I blew out a breath that moved her hair and had her shifting her weight more fully into me. Her legs twitched and rubbed against mine as her body slowly stiffened and tightened with wakefulness. Her ass moved against the front of me and my cock went even harder, which I couldn’t believe was possible. I untangled my hands from her wild hair and rolled onto my back with a groan that was torn from my soul. If it was possible to die of repressed want and desire, I was going to be a dead man by the time she found her way off my mountain. Need clawed hungrily and furiously at my insides, which meant I needed to get out of this bed and put some much-needed space between us before I reverted back to my old ways, which involved me taking advantage of both the girl and the situation we were in.