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I could almost see the words form on her tongue, a confession, before she retracted them and instead leaned forward and set her cheek on my chest.
And she just…breathed me in.
Like I was her peace.
Her solace.
Fuck, how desperately I wanted to be.
I gently ran my hand up and down her exposed neck, lifting chills on her delicate skin.
My voice splintered when I told her, “I can handle your truth.”
The problem was I could never give her mine.
I dropped my lips to the top of her head. “Don’t need you to hide. I can handle your burden.”
When she only tightened her hold on my shirt, I murmured, “Whenever you’re ready, you say the fuckin’ word, and I’ll end this.”
Knew I was exposing more about myself than I ever had before. But I wouldn’t keep it from her. Not if it could set her free.
A shudder rolled through her, the woman getting the meaning, only she pressed herself closer, shifting so she was burrowing her face up into my neck.
She took in the deepest breath, like she was trying to draw me in, bring me closer.
Fuck, I was already there.
“Going to take you to my place now.”
She jolted back, and she was instantly shaking her head. “That’s not?—”
I had her back in my arms in a flash, plastering her against me, my mouth at her jaw. “Please don’t fight me on this, Charleigh. No fuckin’ way could I send you back out on your own after this.”
She peeled herself back so she could stare up at me. “I’m not your responsibility.”
I dipped down until my lips were a breadth from hers. “Yeah, baby, you are. The second you ran through my door? That’s what you became. My responsibility. So, thank you, Little Runner, for runnin’ to me.”
TWENTY-SIX
CHARLEIGH
I triedto get my bearings, to steady the world that was whirling and whipping, canting to the side.
My foundation no longer felt like my own.
River gripped me by both sides of the waist and rumbled, “I’ve got you,” as he lifted me from the desk to place me onto unsteady feet.
“You good?” he asked, trying to keep the aggression out of his voice, but there was no mistaking it. The way his big body vibrated with that same ferocity I’d felt in him when I’d come in here the first time.
When I’d been sure the man was dangerous.
Only I’d never been so sure of it than right then.
I didn’t know whether to be terrified or comforted that his words were clearly not an idle offer.
Okay, I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t comforted.
That was absolutely what I’d been as I burrowed myself into his hold because I’d carried this fear on my own for so long, it’d felt like the greatest relief to rest in someone else.
