He shut his eyes and held her close. Pretending, for a moment, he could keep her in his life forever.
Waves crashed at the jagged, rocky cliffs below. Violence in nature; the purest form. The air smelled sweet. Just like Amelia.
Jaysus, but she twisted him up in bits. Feckin’ bits. He wanted to hold her, to protect her from everything and everyone bad. He wanted to wrap her up and keep her safe in his arms for as long as she allowed.
It wasn’t fair. But nothing about life was fair. Good people suffered for the horrid deeds of bad people, and those rogues went through life with a silver spoon shoved up their arses. In the short time he spent with her, Daniel saw Amelia as a kind-hearted, caring individual who put the needs of others before her own.
She’d be waking soon. He wanted to be there when her eyes opened. Wanted to be the first thing she saw, and then kiss the sadness from her eyes. Daniel turned away from the cliffs, making his way back inside the small inn. Quiet as he could manage, he slipped through the halls until he reached his bedroom door. Knowing she was on the other side, curled up in his bed – even if it was just his bed for the duration of their stay – gave him a sense of belonging.
He wanted to belong to her. He wanted her to belong to him. Wanted too damned much he wasn’t worthy of.
Back in his room with the door closed behind him, Daniel quietly toed off his shoes. The jeans came next, followed by his shirt. Wearing just a pair of boxers, he slipped beneath the covers, just in time for Amelia to roll over and enter his arms. The feel of her was torture.
Her scent teased his senses. Heat from her body awakened his nerve endings and set his entire being alight with need. And all he wanted to do was kiss her. Everywhere. All day long.
Warmth surrounded her in the first moments of wakefulness. Amelia sighed, curling her knees closer to her chest, enjoying the comfort. Last night she couldn’t sleep until…
Until she came into Daniel’s room.
Where she begged him to let her…
Oh my gosh, I didn’t…
She did.
And she loved every minute of it. Touching him, making him feel, taking his mind from the faraway places it often vanished to. She made him see her. She made him want her. He did, she knew. He proved it. She wasn’t damaged, not to him. To Daniel, she must have been at least a little special.
The wonder of anonymity. Amelia sighed. If he knew how her mind worked he might not be so quick to want her.
Daniel’s arms wrapped around her, holding her like she was the most precious thing in the world. His lips touched the top of her head once. Twice. “That you awake then?”
“Mmhm.” Amelia slid closer, winding her arms around the granite hard muscles of his shoulders.
“Good.” Daniel held her face in the palms of his hands. Eyes searching.
For what?
She didn’t know.
Did he regret letting her do what she did last night?
Amelia hoped not. The feel of him in her hands gave her a sense of control she long thought she lacked. The scent of him drove her insane with wanting. The taste of him lingered, reminding her of the way his hands burrowed through the roots of her hair, softly, like he cared.
She met his gaze again, trying to figure him out. A small fleck of a scar under his right eye, barely noticeable from a foot away, stood out this close, with his breath bathing her lips.
“Let me taste you, Amelia,” he said, his voice low; almost like a growl. “I’m dying to taste you.”
Taste me? What does he mean–
Gentle and warm, his lips brushed against hers. Tempting. Teasing. Driving her wild.
“Let me,” he begged again, gliding his lips over her collarbone. His hands moved from her jaw, down her arms…down…lower still, massaging her ribs and sliding back up to the undersides of her breasts. “Need to taste you.”
Amelia was powerless to deny him. Her body hummed with unexplored desires. Electric jolts shot over her skin everywhere he kissed. Then his tongue…oh lord his tongue. Hot, wet, sucking her nipples through her shirt. A burning river of desire flooded down between her legs. She cried out, bucking her hips.
Coherence slipped away. Too many emotions to name surrounded her, filled her. But the sensations…the feel of his hands on her body, the way his every touch and caress stoked the fires within her, it stunned Amelia into a state of bliss she’d never known.
“Daniel!”
“Ah, love,” he murmured, sliding lower. “Tell me I can; tell me you want me to taste you.”
Each pass of his lips over her skin sent tingles racing to her core. Too caught up in the moment to worry about modesty, Amelia watched his descent down her stomach. “Please, oh god, please!”