Page 108 of Chains of Recompense
I need it desperately after the icy chill that had settled into my bones.
I’ve never watched a man die before, never seen the life drain from someone’s eyes, and it’s deeply rattling to realize that it would have been me bleeding out on the sidewalk if Raf hadn’t saved me.
And now, for a second time, it feels like he’s bringing me back to life as his strong arms twine around me, holding me in one piece when I’m dangerously close to falling apart.
I’ve never needed someone’s touch as desperately as I need his right now, and it’s like he can read my mind as his hands roam over me, keeping me safely trapped against his strong, steady chest. I don’t even care that they’re bloody.
All I want is to feel him, to know we’re both here, together, alive.
I came far too close to losing it all, and the realization has me clinging to everything I most desperately want—consequences be damned.
Against all my better judgment, I’m falling for Raf. Again.
Watching him step in to save my life without a second’s hesitation made me realize that, no matter our past, he’s the kind of man I want to be with—intelligent, ambitious, loyal, brave.
He might still be in love with his dead wife, but the way he stepped in to protect me feels like it’s changed everything.
I was already developing feelings for him after watching how sweet he is with Riley, but now, I’m hopelessly on my way to falling in love.
I can’t keep denying my attraction to him, and when his eyes dropped to my lips just now—that’s all it took to know that at least part of him wants me too.
Tonight, I’m done fighting it.
Done worrying about the broken pieces of my heart that might come as a result.
If I’ve learned anything from what happened outside that restaurant, it’s that life’s far too short and we don’t know which breath might be our last.
So I don’t want to waste another minute of the time I have.
Sliding my hands up Raf’s firm chest, I wrap my arms around his neck, melting into the kiss as we continue to kneel on the bedroom floor.
His hands trail down the curve of my waist, finding my hips, then thighs, and I spread my legs, straddling him as he pulls me onto his lap.
A soft gasp rushes from me when I feel the urgency of his arousal, his hard cock pressing against the sensitive peak of my thighs.
Raf groans, his tongue delving between my lips as he deepens the kiss, his fingers pulling me more firmly against him.
I rock forward unapologetically, rubbing against his hard length, and the whispered words are leaving my lips before I even make the conscious choice to say them. “God, I want you inside me.”
Raf tenses, his muscles locking in place as he freezes, then slowly draws back.
It comes dangerously close to feeling like rejection, but when our gazes clash, I can see the unbridled desire burning in his hazel depths.
“What does that mean for our… agreement?” he rasps, the husky edge to his voice making fresh heat coil low in my stomach.
I know what he’s really asking—how will sex affect our fake relationship? Our last night of passion put us on far shakier ground, and I’m sure he’s not eager to revisit that mistake.
But it wasn’t the sex that made me pull away.
It was the thought that he was picturing another woman while he was with me.
And tonight, I know without a shadow of a doubt that it’s me he wants.
“Can’t we just forget about it for a night?” I ask. “I want you. I need you.”
“And you won’t regret it in the morning?” His eyes search mine, sharp and filled with an emotion I can’t quite identify.
“I won’t,” I promise.
