Finding Our Forever (Silver Springs #1)(44)

He lifted his hands to her shoulders. He intended to push her away, couldn’t believe he’d allowed himself to need her. He should’ve gone home like he was about to do now. He couldn’t rely on her, on anyone, no matter how tempting it was to believe otherwise. But she wouldn’t let go—and the next thing he knew his arms slid around her, securing her against him instead of breaking off the embrace.

“It’s okay,” she said.

He knew she could probably feel how badly he was shaking, but there was nothing he could do about that now. “Where’ve you been?” he asked.

Her hands slipped up the back of his shirt, and he felt her press her palms against his bare skin—a move he found both satisfying and intimate. She wasn’t merely offering him a light “you’ll be okay” pat. She was making it clear that she cared about him and wouldn’t let him down. “It doesn’t matter. I’m here now.”

Burying his face in her hair, he gripped her that much tighter, and they stood like that until he could overcome all the terrible feelings that had him so twisted up inside. “Come home with me,” he said at length, his mouth at her ear.

When she hesitated, he feared she’d refuse. She had Matt in the house, after all. He was asking a lot for her to leave her guest, but he needed to hear her say yes, needed to know that he came before Matt.

And, in the end, she murmured, “Okay.”

*

Cora promised herself she’d tell Eli. Tonight. She had to. She didn’t see how she could continue sleeping in his bed without divulging her connection to Aiyana. But, despite what he’d indicated at her place, Eli wasn’t interested in having a discussion. That she’d go home with him was all that seemed important at the moment.

On the drive over, when she asked him what was wrong, he said he didn’t want to talk about it. So she let the conversation lapse, but the ensuing silence wasn’t awkward or upsetting. It was more like everything that’d been so wrong was now right, just because they were together.

The moment they reached his house, he tugged her inside and, without so much as turning on the light, began to let her know how badly he’d missed her. He wasn’t unwilling to communicate, she realized. He just preferred to speak to her in a different way, one in which he felt more capable of expressing himself.

She did get four words out of him—“I’m glad you’re back.” But that was all, and she wasn’t willing to push. Something significant was going on between them that he didn’t seem capable of putting into words, and she didn’t need him to. She could feel the difference in the way he touched her.

His thick eyelashes rested on his cheeks as he ran his tongue across her lips. “You’re what I need,” he said, surprising her by speaking again.

What’d happened tonight? He’d been so upset at her house he’d been trembling when she slid her arms around his waist. Just the memory of it made her defensive of him. She knew simply seeing her with Matt wasn’t enough to cause a reaction like that. So what was it?

Regardless, she could feel that he was doing much better. His fingers curled and locked through hers as he bent his head to kiss her.

“You can kiss like no one else,” she told him, relaxing as the desire he so easily evoked began to rise inside her once again.

“It’s not difficult to kiss good when the person you’re kissing tastes like honey,” he told her and pulled back to look at her, seemingly content just to have her back in his house.

Cora might’ve been embarrassed to be the subject of such close scrutiny. She couldn’t hide how deeply he affected her, so there was a certain vulnerability that came with holding his gaze. The fact that she did hold it, however—that she let him see she wasn’t unaffected—appeared to be what he was looking for. His lips curved into a rather boyish smile and he kissed her again, even more softly, before leading her into his bedroom.

“Will you undress for me?” he asked as he sat on the bed.

Cora was tempted to derail that request by closing the gap between them. There’d be so much less risk in what they were doing if she could accelerate their lovemaking to the point that neither one of them was thinking clearly. Doing it with such intention—it almost felt like this was the first time they’d ever been together.

In a way it was, she realized. He was taking her more seriously, investing more time, effort and emotion. But...dared she take this step? Before telling him who she was?

“Relax. It’s just me.” He wanted her to trust him, to act confidently, but by not telling him who she was, she was sort of lying to him...

Although she hesitated, in the end she couldn’t bring herself to ruin this moment. She’d slept with Matt for two years and never experienced what it was like to make love in such a cerebral fashion, one in which her heart and mind were as active and involved as her body. Now she understood how many times she’d merely gone through the motions, either for her own physical release or simply to be a good partner and satisfy Matt.

Eli was much deeper than the women he’d been with had given him credit for, she decided. He had a tender heart; he merely protected it well. That he would reveal his sensitive side was making her fall that much harder.

Slowly, she removed her clothes.

“Gorgeous,” he said, his expression rapt. “It’s been such a long week.”