Page 79 of Shallow Remains

“No, I’m done. I actually feel better now that you know.”

“That’s good. You can talk to me about her whenever you want. I don’t mind. It won’t bother me. She deserves to be remembered.”

He hugged her closer and closed his eyes. She was so fucking sweet, disarmed him without even trying. How was he supposed to wall off his heart when she’d already snuck into it? “Thank you.”

“Of course.” She tilted her head back on his shoulder to look up at the sky. “Orion’s belt is so clear tonight.”

He followed her gaze, not surprised that she knew her constellations. Maddy was so damned smart, and noticed things most people didn’t. “It is.”

“How’s your back?”

“Better.” All of him felt better now. He nuzzled the side of her face. Kissed the edge of her jaw and found the sensitive spot on the side of her neck. Wanting to hold on to her, yet all too aware that time could be running out for them.

“Good. Because I want you to take me upstairs to your bed.”

FORTY

Maddy swiveled to face him and straddled his lap, planting a knee on either side of his hips. The cool air chilled her hot skin as she emerged from the water, but she barely noticed because that hungry look on Lachlan’s face raised her internal temperature by at least ten degrees.

“I missed you last night and today,” she said.

“I missed you more.”

She smiled, pleased by his answer. This was completely different to how she’d felt with Elliot. So much deeper she couldn’t believe she’d ever mistaken her previous infatuation for anything else. Lachlan was as solid a person as she’d ever known, and he mattered to her in a way no one else ever had.

She leaned in to kiss him, a hot thrill whipping through her when he closed a hand around the back of her neck to pull her closer. His other arm slid beneath the hem of the sodden T-shirt to grab her bare butt and squeeze.

“I’m already addicted to you,” he groaned, and kissed her deeper, his tongue twining with hers.

Maddy sank into it. There was no point in talking more about where things stood between them. She had no answers, no further information other than what she’d just told him. She didn’t know if she was even capable of real love, or a lasting, committed relationship.

Maybe she was too scarred by betrayal to ever be able to give someone her whole heart. But dammit, she was sick of living in fear and questioning her instincts.

He was already hard between her thighs. She rocked into him, letting sensation take over. His mouth found the side of her neck, one hand slipping up under the shirt to find and tease a hard nipple.

Maddy gasped, already breathing faster. She didn’t care that their relationship didn’t have an official status. She’d learned firsthand in Syria how uncertain life could be.

All she knew was, she wanted him. Right now. For as long as they had together.

“Take me upstairs,” she whispered, her heart racing and about to burst.

Lachlan growled and kissed her again. “With pleasure.” He stood and pulled her from the tub, wrapping her up in a towel.

They hurried up the stairs, stopping partway up for him to peel the shirt off her and drop it on the floor. He took her hand and pulled her down the hall.

In his darkened bedroom, he caught her by the hips and spun her around to face him. His mouth came down on hers, tongue gliding inside to tease hers. But there was another layer to his kisses now. An urgency that hadn’t been there last night.

He walked her in until the backs of her thighs met the bed. “Lie down,” he ordered in a low, commanding voice that sent a shiver of anticipation through her. A shiver that turned hot when he stripped off his trunks.

She stretched out on the soft bedding, heart tripping all over itself as he came down on top of her and blanketed her with his naked body. His mouth found hers again, kissing her deep and slow before moving to the side of her neck.

Her eyes closed when he claimed that lovely, sensitive spot with his tongue, scraped the edge of his teeth over it. She inhaled sharply, wound her arms around his wide shoulders. She loved the contrast in their size. How much bigger he was compared to her. The power coiled in his muscles as she ran her hands over his bare skin.

His big hands slid under her to grasp the backs of her thighs as he sank to his knees at the edge of the bed. Maddy’s heart galloped against her ribs, her core already wet and aching.

“Been thinking about doing this since I left yesterday,” he murmured, kissing the top of her thigh.

She tensed slightly, a little uncomfortable at being so exposed and having his face right in her most intimate area. But it faded the instant his mouth touched her heated skin.