Page 7 of Scarred Trust

She tracked my movements as I pulled my phone out and stepped in front of her. Her gaze locked with mine as I brushed loose strands of hair behind her ear. If I hadn’t been touching her, I might not have noticed her tremble. She didn’t pull away. I removed one of my earbuds, placed it in her ear, and pressed start on a different playlist.

It only took her a moment to recognize the song I knew to be one of her favorites. Closing her eyes, she smiled and leaned on one hand. It was so close to mine. I flexed slightly to connect to her fingers. Impatiently, I forwarded to the next song.

She glared at me until the music registered and softened her expression. She resumed her relaxed position, tilting her head back, her hair falling behind her, and started mouthing the words. Watching her petal pink lips move like that seemed obscene, based on my body’s reaction. It was urging me to be impulsive, but I needed to finish what I had started.

“What is this?” With another switch of songs, waves of emotions passed over her expressive face, from annoyed to confused to questioning. Her tone was gentle, but I was still worried as I slowly turned my phone for her to see the screen title ‘Studying with Caitríona’.

“You were always with me,” I murmured. Her fingers curled around mine, encouraging me to continue, though I couldn’t look at her while I eased into my confession. “You had this serenity about you when you listened to your music. I had to know what the magic was. So, I would peek at your phone whenever I got the chance. Before I knew it, I had a playlist that motivated me to meet you step for step, academically at least.”

“I don’t understand. You never even noticed me.” The crack in her voice caught my attention more than her words. In school, I had intentionally distanced myself from her, knowing she was out of my league. In hindsight, I saw how she may have taken it differently. I laid my phone on the table, unwilling to let go of her other hand.

“How could I not? The gorgeous redhead with the stormy gray eyes. You were fierce and unstoppable.” She played with the ends of her hair and stared at her lap. I stepped between her legs, and I lifted her chin with the tip of my finger, drawing her attention back to me. There was a sadness that said she didn’t believe me. “You know those muffins, and Dr. Pepper didn’t show up in the student government fridge by accident?”

“Tommy let me think he did that.” My knuckles stroked across her cheek, not wanting to stop touching her.

“Your VP and the rest of the guys in our school would have said anything to earn their sexy class president’s favor.” My fingers combed through her hair as I studied every freckle across her delicate features. The warmth of her mouth on the scruff of my chin drew a shuddered breath from me. And all I could think was that I would have shaved if I had thought there had been a chance in hell for this to happen.

Our eyes locked. I waited for her to reconsider her actions and realize she had made a mistake. Her hand rested on my chest, her pupils flared before her lips pressed against my thrumming heartbeat below my jaw. I clutched her hair harder. When her tongue flicked my heated skin, I couldn’t stop the moan she evoked.

I don’t know who first drew who to the other, but we were a tangle, scrambling for each other as our mouths crashed together. Tongues entwined, I tried to memorize the feel of her while I drank in her etheric taste. As the world fell away, there was nothing but this moment. Angling her head, our kiss deepened. There was no distinguishing between her and me, where one ended and the other began.

Yet I needed her impossibly closer. She was kerosene on the smoldering fire I had been carrying for her. My hands slid down her back, curving around her firm ass, and pulled her to me until there could be no question in her mind about how aroused she made me. Her legs wrapped around my waist, our pants did little to prevent my erection from nestling in her warmth. Her responding purr, vibrating through me, had us grinding and panting until she reached around my neck.

Her touch on my scars was like being dipped in a frozen lake. The separation was instant, even though I didn’t realize I had taken a step back.

“What happened?” She asked, crossing her legs and pulling at her disarrayed pajamas in an attempt to cover as much of her skin as possible. Her lips were kiss-swollen, and her hair was tousled from my fingers raking through it. The flush on her cheeks and chest made her look sunburned.

The primal male in me was pounding his chest and demanding more. The broken part of me cried for retreat. The rest of me argued for a compromise.

“Nothing. I just thought that we should slow things down. Maybe let me take you to dinner first.”

“I didn’t think that’s how booty calls worked.”

“Why would you think that’s what this is?”

“Because it’s the middle of the night.”

“As I told you, I couldn’t sleep. You’re the only person I know that’s up at this hour.”

“Oh, so I was a convenience. Ok, but that doesn’t make this seem any less of a booty call.”

“I hadn’t even planned to come by. I never do. But my feet seem to know the way without consulting me. I would never presume or demand anything from you. I know I’m beyond broken, and no one wants to deal with that shit.”

“Aren’t we all messed up somehow? I work so much, no one wants to deal with that either.”

“Maybe two damaged souls could hang out and see how things evolve with no expectations?”

“No.”

“Oh. I guess I should go.”

“Stop. I’m good with whatever pace you need. But more of those molten kisses have to be part of the deal.” She grabbed me by my shirt, pulling me close and wrapping her legs around me again.

“I thought that went without saying. Let me clear your mind of any concerns.” With my hands cupping her jaw, I seized her lips with mine.

Chapter 5

IT WAS EARLY MORNING when I walked into the old warehouse. The cavernous space’s bare walls and a concrete floor had been transformed into a photography studio for the Firehouse99 annual calendar. It was a fundraiser for a charity ABS had created to support the families of the firefighters who had fallen. I was pleased to be a part of something so important that would also benefit Wes.