Page 70 of Beneath the Burn

“They’ll turn over every stone within a ten block radius before they let us out of here.” He kissed her lips and explored her face, her neck, her shoulders with his mouth and hands. Her fingers tingled to touch him back.

“Can I put my hands on you?” she whispered when he returned to her lips.

A struggle of emotions swirled in his eyes and tightened the muscles in his cheeks. Maybe she was pushing, but pushing was what he needed.

His flawless complexion glowed beneath the loose strands of his dark brown hair. After a few thudding heart beats, his deliberation settled into smooth skin and a soft gaze. “Hold your hands up, palms facing you.”

She remembered how strong the angles of his jaw felt beneath her fingers the previous night as she held up the backs of her hands. “I touched your face last night when you were sleeping.”

He widened his eyes, but they were smiling. “Next time, I’ll be awake.” He interlaced their fingers, palms to palms and brought the backs of her hands to his chest. “Baby steps, okay?”

With all that thick brown hair curling around the tips of his ears, his dark round eyes and clear golden skin, he was way too beautiful to not be touched. She strained toward him. “Baby steps.”

He moved their hands from his shoulders to his cheeks, flinching as her knuckles stroked his velvet skin. Then he gathered her fingers at his mouth where he nuzzled and kissed each one, sending trickles of pleasure over her hands and up her arms.

What he did next, cut her breath. He let go briefly to turn her wrists, pressed her palms against his cheeks, and dropped his hands. He stared at her out of penetrating eyes, pinning her in place.

A fever bloomed beneath her fingers, and his facial muscles bunched and lolled. His breath sped up, quietly at first. Then the whoosh of air pushing through his nose carried noisily through the small space.

There was something pulling at the edges of his eyes, twitching the skin there, stretching from the corners, and spreading through his face. It settled on his mouth, twisting his lips away from his clenched teeth.

She jerked her hands back. “Jay?”

He was looking at her but he didn’t see her.

“Jay, talk to me.”

Not a blink. Not a twitch.

Dammit, she wanted wrap her arms around him. Since she couldn’t, she tried to warm her voice with the comfort of a hug. “I’m here. Please, talk to me.”

He closed his eyes and cupped his ears. One hand dropped to the front of his pants, rubbing whatever the bump was in his pocket.

Fucking hell. Holding her arms out and away, she circled her legs around his hips, hooked her boots behind his knees, and closed the gap between their bodies, trapping his hand against his pocket.

No response. He was lost in his head. Could she climb in there with him and pull him out?

She stretched her neck to reach his slacked jaw and kissed his bottom lip. “Where are we, Jay?”

He stopped breathing. He held his breath so long, she filled her lungs to shout for help—

“The shed.” he exhausted in a shuddering gasp.

Her heart slammed against her ribs. The shed? “Who’s with us?”

“Alone. So dark.” His voice sounded small, younger. He brought his arms up between them and hugged his chest, rocking.

Oh God, what memories was he hanging onto? “What are we doing in the shed?”

“Hiding.”

The childlike whisper chilled the room and coated her spine with ice.

“I’m with you, Jay. I need you. I need you to hold me.”

His eyes shot open, and his breath released in gulping waves. “Charlee.”

“I’m here.” With useless fucking arms hanging at her sides.

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