Run to Ground(67)

He gently nipped her full bottom lip, and she gasped. Theo took full advantage, deepening the kiss. Stroking both hands down her sides, he shifted forward, erasing the last half inch between their upper bodies.

The feel of her pressed against him was overwhelming. Theo had to break the kiss for a moment, just so he could suck air into his oxygen-starved lungs. At some point—he was not sure when—Jules’s hands had slid to the back of his neck, and she was massaging the muscles there. It ramped up his arousal, but at the same time, it soothed him.

After a few ragged breaths, he kissed her again. Immediately, he was consumed. Need and pleasure raged through him, burning as they flared to life after months of numbness. It was like his emotions had fallen asleep, and now they were waking with a wonderfully painful tingling. Theo kissed her harder, his hands flattening at the small of her back so he could press her against him.

She groaned into his mouth, and he loved hearing that, loved knowing their kiss was affecting her this way. Theo felt so wrapped up in her, always thinking about her, wanting to be with her, and it was a heady sensation to know she wanted him just as much. He stroked up and down her spine, running his hands over the small but strong muscles in her back. Jules scraped her nails lightly over his head, and it was his time to shudder.

Even as lost as he was in her, Theo heard the click of the latch. Ripping himself away from the most intense kiss of his life, he stood and whirled toward the sound, keeping his body between Jules and whoever was interrupting.

“Theo?” Jules’s husky voice questioned at the same time Dee barreled onto the porch, making a beeline for Viggy as she squealed with excitement.

“Hi, Theo.” Dee greeted him absently, all her attention on the dog.

“Dee.” He’d regained most of his composure, although hearing Jules’s audible breaths was not helping in that regard. “Did we wake you?” He wondered how loud they’d gotten. Although it had only been a kiss, he’d been completely immersed in the moment. It had felt so huge, so explosive, he didn’t know how anyone could’ve slept through it.

“Yes, but that’s okay.” Dee hugged the dog. “If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten to see Viggy. What are you doing here?”

Since making out with your sister seemed age-inappropriate, Theo just said, “Viggy decided to visit you.”

“On his own? He ran off?” Her arms squeezed tightly around Viggy. The dog didn’t seem to mind. On the contrary, he leaned into the girl with a low groan. Dee’s expression was guarded as she asked, “Did something happen?”

“To make Viggy want to leave?” When she nodded, Theo continued. “No. I think he just wanted to see you.”

Dee’s face lit up, and she turned her attention back to Viggy, talking inaudibly to him.

“That was kind,” Jules murmured, standing and leaning into his back. Her breath warmed his skin through his T-shirt. Theo got goose bumps. He wasn’t sure how to respond, so he didn’t—out loud, at least. Turning, he looped an arm around her waist and tugged her in front of him, pulling her close. She leaned back against him, and he couldn’t resist wrapping his arms around her.

The wind had quieted to a light breeze, and Theo just reveled in the moment, in the warm body pressed to his front, the cool night, the stars that were so bright they almost didn’t look real. The constant grief and rage churning in him had quieted for now, and Viggy looked happy.

It wouldn’t last. For this minute, though, it was enough.





Chapter 15


As she bussed the table, picking up the few coins wedged between two plates and trying not to think about all the things her family needed and how quickly that seventy-one cents would be spent, her stomach buzzed with excitement.

He’d actually kissed her. No, they had kissed. There’d definitely been some mutual lip action. Her cheeks grew warm as she rewound—for the hundredth time that morning—every second of their time together on the porch.

Her eyes darted to the clock on the wall, and she held back a grimace when she realized the three cops wouldn’t be there for another forty-five minutes. Jules wanted to see him, wanted to know if they were going to sneak each other secret looks and touches, or if the kiss was something Theo wanted to forget. If his gaze would slide right past her, as if it were a normal day, and they were normal people, and something miraculous hadn’t happened earlier that morning.

Wiping down the table, she snorted. Miraculous? It had been a kiss. A good kiss—an amazing kiss—but that was all. It hadn’t cured cancer or turned water into wine or stopped a plague of locusts. It was a kiss. A toe-curling, brain-erasing, life-altering kiss, sure, but still just a kiss.