Page 49 of Redemption

Damn it!

Nerves ate at her insides. She couldn’t get a handle on what was up and down, right and left—flirting or not. They were twined together in a bed! He wasn’t wearing a shirt, but he hadn’t made a move, not so much a step past an innocent hug, when all she wanted was for Ryder to hug her, hold her, kiss her, and make her moan into whatever came next.

Ifanything came next. Could she even go there?

No.

Victoria was jacked in the head.Damn Ivan all over again.

That was why Ryder wouldn’t make a move. He was there to help her, protect her. He didn’t see her like that. The man was simply on duty to keep her safe and sound. All she had to do was tell him if she wanted to get up or not. Such a simple question.“I—”

But she couldn’t answer one way or another, didn’t trust herself not to ruin everything. She wanted to be here, and it didn’t make any sense. If she’d been violated, she shouldn’t want anything to do with a man, right? What was wrong with her?

Victoria twisted from him, focusing on the framed row of pictures on the wall next to the bed and decided not to answer his question. “Did you have any more nightmares?”

“No.”

“Good.” She drew in a shallow breath as tears pricked her eyes.Such a wimp.She couldn’t look at him. All she had to do was say she wanted to stay where she was. “Are you ready to get up?”

“I’ll answer if you stop staring at the wall.”

Was she that transparent? “I’m not.”

“Should we start lying to each other?”

Stinging pricks of tears burned her eyes, and she blinked back the stupid reaction. “No.”

Silently, he nodded, letting his hands drift over her side, a hushed request for her to break away from the hard stare at the wall. She faced him, shifting against the soft pillows and the thick weight of his muscled bicep. “You?”

“Me neither, love.” His eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to get up.”

“You don’t?” she whispered.

“Not if you want to stay with me for a little while longer.”

Her heart climbed into her throat. What did he mean? What was he asking of her? Or the better question, what did she want?

She wantedhim. She liked him. He made her feel safe. There was no denying how attractive he was. And sweet. Caring. Nice. But not that nice. He’d already explained he was a contract killer. As jobs went, that maybe disqualified him from nice at all. But he was nice to her—and she liked that a whole lot. Respected it too.

Ryder inched away. “No worries if you want to get up and run down to Mia’s cooking. I don’t blame you. Once you have a Mia muffin, you’ll appreciate what I’m saying.”

“No.”

“Then what is it that you want, Victoria?”

Come on.She wanted them to stay exactly like this. Couldn’t he read her mind? With his arms around her…

“Tell me,” he urged.

A hug. A kiss? Yes. A kiss.Her cheeks flushed. No—her entire body did. Even her pussy clenched at the thought. But she couldn’t tell him, and instead, leaned close, absolutely terrified to admit that she wanted his lips on hers. Wordlessly, she burrowed against his side.

“I want that too.” His sun-kissed arms that she’d had no problems clinging to in the dead of night wrapped around her back, folding her close to his bare chest.

She took what felt like the first sigh in a decade, relaxing as if he had lifted that burden of decision-making from her shoulders.That wasn’t so hard.He wanted her here, and not to fuck and be used, like Ivan, not to be a burden like she feared she was. She needed to trust her thoughts. How she felt… how they felt because, tame as this was, it was about as good and sexy as she could handle.

Even relaxed and lying back, his muscles were taut and distinct. Her fingers toyed with the light smattering of chest hair that covered his pecs, and she studied the rise and fall of his breathing. “Staying here was a good idea.”

“Agree.” One hand carefully stroked her side, his finger scratching over the pajama shirt.

---