Keep Me Safe (Slow Burn #1)(30)

Right here, right now, right in front of her stood someone who professed to care about her. Not her abilities. He wasn’t asking her for anything. She’d be a fool to walk away even though it meant endangering him—his entire family. Maybe together, they could fight.

“I want you,” she said softly. “Me, Caleb. I want you. No matter what your last name is.”

FOURTEEN

CALEB stared back at Ramie, at the fear and vulnerability in her eyes, and marveled at what it must have taken for her to open herself up to him. There was doubt and her expression was troubled, not exactly the kind of reaction a man wanted to see on the face of the woman he planned to get intimate with, but Ramie wasn’t most women. Most women hadn’t seen the world through Ramie’s eyes.

He reached for the hands that had dropped his just moments before, and he knew why she’d severed the link between them. But he was calmer now, and he wanted her to see—to know—that she had nothing to fear from him.

She shivered when he tugged her back into his arms and her body went soft and pliant against his frame. There was still a hint of dampness in her hair. Hair that smelled like honeysuckle.

He wanted to take her to bed. Right now. He wanted to spend the entire day making love to her. Showing her without inept words the ever-strengthening bond between them.

Instead he smoothed his hand over the top of her curly hair and stroked reassuringly, getting her used to being touched by someone. A man. A man who had no intention of hurting her. It occurred to him that her sole experience with sex might be the degrading crimes that had been committed against so many women Ramie had helped.

And if that was the case, then he had to handle her with extreme caution. No rushing her into physical and emotional intimacy before she was ready. Yes, he wanted her to be able to depend on him. Willing to depend on him and trust him. But he didn’t want to be her crutch. For him to merely be a coping mechanism when he wanted so much more.

He dropped a kiss on top of her head as he continued to caress her back and nape, tangling his fingers periodically in the unruly strands of hair. And he simply enjoyed the feeling of her in his arms. Of her standing in his home and him knowing that she was safe. Not out there alone and vulnerable. Afraid that each breath would be her last. It was no way to live. And certainly no way to die.

Thank God she’d called him. Else he’d still be searching for her. Or worse, she could be in her stalker’s hands suffering indescribable torture.

He closed his eyes against that image and inhaled through his nose so he wouldn’t flood her with rage all over again.

There was too much anger and animosity in this house as it was. Caleb had never given thought to whether Tori would object so strenuously to Ramie’s presence. It wasn’t until Ramie’s explanation that he understood.

He hated feeling so goddamn helpless. If he gave in to his sister then Ramie suffered. She could die. She would die. If he dug in his heels, as he’d already done, he’d cause a rift between him and Tori that might never be mended.

“I want you to fight for your right to be here,” he murmured.

She stiffened and pulled away, glancing up at him with those troubled gray eyes that seemed too enormous for her face. Eyes that had several lifetimes of violence and pain behind them.

“I know what I’m asking isn’t easy,” he continued. “You don’t deserve Tori’s hostility and you don’t deserve for my brothers to look at you without welcome in their eyes. But I’m asking you to stay. For me. And you owe me nothing. God only knows how much I owe you. I’m still asking, though.”

“What exactly are you asking me to be?” she asked hoarsely. “Friend? Lover?”

“Yes and yes,” he responded quietly. “More. A lot more. But we’ll get to that in time. For now, yes. Friends. Eventually lovers. After that? It’s whatever you want. What you need. I hope to God I’m able to give you what you need.”

“And what about what you need?”

He stared back at her, momentarily off balance by her question. Need? He needed a lot of things. Things he had no control over. For a man used to being in control of every aspect of his life, suddenly not being in control was daunting. It made him feel weak at a time when his family needed his strength more than ever.

“I need . . . ​you,” he finally said. “I need for Tori to be able to sleep at night. For my brothers to quit blaming themselves for what happened to her. I need for the animals who have terrorized both you and Tori to be captured and punished. I need a lot of things, but the only thing I have any control over whatsoever is you and your presence in my life. So give me that, at least. If nothing else, give me that.”

“Okay,” she said in a near whisper. “I’ll stay. I’ll try. I’ve been running for so long that I don’t know any other way, Caleb. I don’t know how to be normal. Don’t let me run this time. I need you to believe in me even if I don’t believe in myself.”

He squeezed her hand and then slid his other hand up her arm to clasp her shoulder, balancing her, infusing her with his will and determination. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead, inhaling her scent.

“I won’t let you run, Ramie. Never again. I want you here with me and if you try to run, I’ll just come after you. Always.”

He watched the slow realization of his words sink in and the shocked look in her eyes but also unfettered hope. Maybe he was finally getting to her. God, he hoped so.