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“Halle, talk to me,” he says, coming closer. “There’s no one else home yet. It’s just you and me. You’re safe.”
“I know that. I feel safe when I’m with you. It’s just…”
Why am I holding so much back from them? They can obviously tell I’ve been through some things. No woman ends up working at an off-the-beaten-path diner with two little children, struggling to make ends meet, because of how well she’s had it. Between the fire and the scare on my walk home, I’m strung out in more ways than one.
What bad can come from me opening up a little bit? Eric and his brothers deserve that much after all they’ve done to help me.
“Halle.”
“I’m scared, okay?” I burst into tears, no longer able to keep it together. Not when he’s looking at me with those deep blue eyes that seem to peer right into my soul. “I’m scared and I feel alone. I keep looking over my shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“What are you running away from? Or who?” Eric asks.
I can only laugh with bitterness in my tone. “It doesn’t even matter anymore.”
“For what it’s worth, you can talk to me about anything.”
“I know.”
“Even the things you might think I won’t understand.”
“It’s not that you wouldn’t understand. It’s just that am simply tired and worn out. Mentally and emotionally exhausted. Physically drained.”
I’m crying like a baby and he wraps his arms around me, pulling me in for a tight yet tender hug. I am helpless in his embrace, instantly melting as my terrible thoughts wither away like leaves falling in the wind. I hold on to him, breathing him in and letting everything out in raw, heaving sobs. I can’t control it.
Eric holds me close, giving me the emotional comfort and safety I need to release things that I’ve been keeping inside for far too long. As I slowly regain control, I look up to find him looking at me, his gaze warm and soft and filled with wonder.
“You try so hard to be a rock for your kids, but you forget that you’re still a human being,” Eric says. “It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to be afraid, regardless of the reason.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“You need to stop apologizing, Halle,” he replies, kissing my forehead with so much tenderness that it brings a second wave of tears to my eyes. “You’re going to be okay. I’m not letting you slip away, and I’m not leaving you alone to face whatever it is you’re so afraid of.”
“Oh, Eric, you’ve already done so much.”
He cups my cheek and smiles. “I’m ready to do a lot more if you’ll let me.”
He kisses me gently while my mind unravels.
Eric deepens the kiss and I welcome the taste of him on my lips. I welcome his hot breath and thundering heart, his strength and his body enveloping mine. I turn into mush as his tongue does quite the number on my senses. Twirling with mine in an increasingly tense battle for dominance.
“I can’t let you walk away like this,” Eric says.
“I can’t walk away,” I manage.
The ravenous kiss evolves into something far more intense and devastating as his hands work their way up and down my body. He helps me out of my boots. Then my pants and shirt come off in the blink of an eye. I place my palms on his chest, beckoning for his lips again while my fingers revel in the muscle of his rippling pecs.
He grabs my ass and squeezes hard, pulling me closer until I can feel him, hard as a rock against my lower belly. It causes liquid heat to trickle at the same time he peels my panties off.
With trembling fingers, I take his shirt off then struggle with the buttons of his pants. He chuckles softly, stopping to watch me fumble through what should otherwise be a simple and smooth task. “I find it amazing that you’re bad at this,” Eric jokes.
“I’m good at so many other things though,” I shoot back with a hungry smirk.
We’re playful and uninhibited, desperate for one another. It’s the kind of chemistry I’ve never felt with anyone before.
“Oh, I don’t doubt that
” Eric says, unclasping my bra. “You were made for excellence at just about anything you do,” he adds and looks down, dazzled as he admires my full breasts. “You are fucking gorgeous, Halle, has anyone ever told you that?”
