She Can Hide (She Can #4)(56)

“You have the most beautiful body.” He pressed his lips against her throat and trailed his mouth down her chest. Her torso bent backward over his arm.

He stripped the pajamas from her body, like he wanted to strip her fears away, leaving every inch of her bared to him. He stroked and caressed, kissed and tasted until her muscles went lax. When a heavy sigh left her lips, Ethan scooped her up and laid her on his bed. Shedding his pants, he stretched out beside her. His eyes roamed her flushed skin. Her nipples were pebbled from his tongue, her lips swollen from his kisses.

“I’ll tell you what.” He brushed his lips across her jaw. “I am loving this whole lights-on thing. I can see every inch of you, and you are perfect.”

She smiled, desire seeping through the sadness.

He was in no hurry. His hands moved lazily across her skin. His mouth took hers deeply over and over. His tongue stroked thoroughly, showing her just how much he cared about her.

Earlier their lovemaking had been playful, with a touch of frantic need. This was tenderness defined. He slipped a hand between her legs.

She opened for him. “I need you, Ethan. Hurry.”

Never had his body felt this primitive, basic urge that was now consuming him. He rolled toward her. Ah, shoot. Condom.

He reached into the nightstand drawer for a packet. There. He had it on in a second. He stretched out on top of her. She wrapped around him as he slid into her heat.

Her body arched off the bed. “Ethan.” His name escaped her lips as a plea.

Were those tears on her face?

“Shh. I know. I’m right here.” He rocked inside her, claiming her as his, promising with his body to be part of her, to keep her safe. Her body surged up to meet his, trying to find his rhythm. “Just relax, Abby. I got this.”

But her body tensed more, so he put aside his tender intentions and matched her rhythm instead. Speeding up his thrusts to bring her close to the release she desperately needed.

Her body went tense, and she clamped around him, tight as a vise. The aftershocks of her orgasm rolled around him and faded to a shimmer. Ethan let himself go. Abby’s body went soft underneath him.

Levering his weight off her with an elbow, he kissed her head and brushed the tears from her face. Her eyes blinked up at him, a heady mix of gratitude and confusion.

Yeah. What just passed between them had rocked him too.

But Ethan wasn’t confused. For once in his life he was absolutely sure about something. Abby had slid under his defenses.





CHAPTER NINETEEN

Abby opened her eyes to a beeping sound.

“I’m sorry I woke you.” Ethan swiped his cell phone from the nightstand. “I have to work today. And I have the horses to take care of first.”

The night’s events flooded her brain in a collage of humiliating images. Never in her life had she been so needy. But despite the lack of sleep and the threat that remained to her life, her body felt lighter this morning. What did Ethan think?

Abby sat up, dragging the bedclothes up to cover her breasts. She smoothed the edge of the sheet between her fingers. “I’m sorry about last night.”

Ethan lowered his cell. “Why would you be sorry?”

“I don’t know what happened to make me lose it like that.”

“You mean except for nearly being killed, finding two dead bodies, and realizing that the people involved in your case are being murdered?”

“The last time I broke down was after I was rescued.” She flattened a wrinkle in the cotton. “I held it together while I was in the well. It wasn’t until it was all over that I lost it.”

“You were in survival mode,” Ethan said.

Abby looked up. “I’m sorry I dumped all that on you.”

“Don’t be.” Ethan pried her fingers off the linens. “Last night was amazing.” He lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles. “You’re an amazing woman. I’ve never met anyone as strong as you.”

“I blubbered all over you.”

“You can blubber on me anytime.” Ethan pulled her to his chest. “Why don’t you close your eyes for a while? You didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“No, I should get up. If you’re working today, perhaps I should go home.” But she didn’t really want to be alone.

Ethan planted a kiss on her lips. “No way.”

He turned his pillow vertically and propped up his sculpted torso. Watching his lean body move, Abby was reminded of what those muscles felt like under her hands.

“Do you want me to stay here and keep an eye on the horses?” Where else would she go? Not home. After the detective’s murder, she wouldn’t feel safe anywhere.

He scrolled through messages on his phone. “The chief messaged me. Some files came from the Harris Police Department. Plus Detective Marshall, that’s the cop who’s handling Roy Abrams’s murder, wants you to look at some mug shots and see if anyone looks familiar.”

“But I didn’t see the killer’s face.”

Ethan shrugged. “You saw his eyes, and you said they were distinctive.”

“Dead gray.” Abby shuddered. “Like a fish, a shark.”

“Gray isn’t as common as brown, blue, or hazel. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“Is this just an excuse for me to sit at the police station all day?”