Fractured Sky (Tattered & Torn #5)(76)

“You’re probably right.” And as much as the letters had scared me, I felt a sense of relief for the first time in weeks at knowing that the person who had tried to hurt me was behind bars.

Ramsey stared down at the phone. “Do you think Kenny’s lawyer will let him talk?”

“There’s not a lot in it for them. We aren’t going to offer a deal for information—not unless he wants to plead guilty to attempted murder.”

Ramsey’s knuckles turned white again.

“Thanks, Hayes,” I hurried to say. “I really appreciate you calling.” But Ramsey didn’t need us rehashing everything that had happened. Not tonight.

“No problem. I’ll call you tomorrow morning with an update. Get some sleep.”

“Goodnight.” I hit end on the call and set the phone back on the coffee table. I leaned forward and placed my hands on Ramsey’s face. “Talk to me.”

His eyes burned with a mixture of so many things I didn’t know where to start in identifying them.

“I could’ve lost you.”

The words came out in a low rasp, a guttural admission that cost way too much to speak out loud.

I moved in even closer, resting my forehead against his. “I’m right here.”

“You almost weren’t.”

Each syllable was tortured, and I felt powerless to stop Ramsey’s pain. I didn’t have the first idea what words to give him. Instead, I gave myself—my presence, my touch.

My mouth met his, tentative at first and then seeking more. My tongue parted his lips, searching, giving, trying to assure him that I was here and not going anywhere.

“Shiloh.” Ramsey rasped my name, the syllables vibrating against my lips. He pulled back, searching for something. “I love you. That word isn’t enough, not for what I feel for you, but it’s a start.”

My lungs burned with the kind of pain you got when you took your first breath after diving too deep in a lake. It was bliss and agony all at the same time. Joy and terror.

“I love you, too.”

He was right. It wasn’t nearly enough, but it was everything I had to give him.

My palm pressed against Ramsey’s chest. I felt his heart beat in a rapid rhythm against it, and I looked into those fathomless, onyx eyes. “I want everything with you.”

“Whatever you want, it’s yours.”

The words came so easily for Ramsey, and without a moment’s hesitation.

My fingers moved to the hem of his t-shirt. I tugged it up and over his head, then sent it sailing to the floor.

“Shiloh…”

“Everything.” I poured all I had into that one word. I didn’t want to hold back. I wasn’t scared—I couldn’t be, not with Ramsey.

Those dark depths searched my face again. “You’re sure?”

“Never been more sure of anything in my life.”

He moved then, so fast the air rushed out of me as Ramsey lifted me into his arms. My legs encircled his waist as he stood and strode to the bedroom. As quickly as he’d made it in there, he lowered me to the bed so slowly it was almost painful.

But I couldn’t find it in me to ask him to hurry, not when he had such reverence etched on his face. My hand lifted as if it had a mind of its own. I had to feel that tenderness with my fingertips.

They sifted through the thick stubble, feeling the emotion beneath. The love. The acceptance. The trust.

“Never knew I could feel this.” The words came in a husky whisper, but they rang with truth.

Ramsey cupped my face, his fingers trailing down to my neck and the opening of my robe. “I thought this part of me was broken. That I’d never have this with anyone. You’re a miracle. Made me truly live again.”

Everything in me burned, and all for this man—his touch, his love, his very soul.

Ramsey’s hand dipped lower, cupping my breast and swirling his roughened thumb around my nipple. The shiver that ran through me was nothing but pure pleasure—the knowledge that I was alive and, like Ramsey, somehow unbroken.

I arched into his touch. Into him. My mouth found his, seeking all of him. I lost myself in the kiss, knowing that everything we had been through had made us somehow perfect for each other.

My fingers found the button of his jeans, boldly seeking that more I knew I was ready for.

Ramsey stilled. “Condom. I need—”

“I’m on the pill,” I said, cutting him off.

He blinked a few times.

“I’ve been on it to regulate my periods since I was fourteen.”

Ramsey’s eyes bored into mine. “There hasn’t been anyone for me in a long time. You’re sure?”

I swallowed hard as I nodded. “I don’t want anything between us. I want to feel everything.”

I didn’t want to miss a second. A sensation. Nothing.

Ramsey shucked his jeans and boxers and stepped between my legs. One hand went to the tie on my robe while the other skimmed up my thigh.

As my robe fell open, Ramsey stared down at me. I could feel everything in that stare, and my nerve-endings came alive under it. My skin heated. My soul sang.

His fingers played a symphony over my skin again, skating in nonsensical patterns as if he just had to know what every place on my body felt like. My breaths came quicker, short pants that begged for more.