Page 93 of Shadows of You

I scoffed. “Doubt the rest of the world sees it that way.”

The pads of her fingertips pressed into the back of my hand. “Don’t. You’re an amazing man. I see it every day. You have a gentleness in you unlike anything I’ve seen before. You just hide it under layers of scowls and glares.”

“Tender Heart…”

“I see you, Roan. The way you are with Cady. With the animals. With me. And I have a feeling the incredible things I’ve witnessed are just the tip of the iceberg.”

I turned, taking her in fully for the first time since she’d walked outside. Her beauty was staggering, but it was so much more than skin-deep. She could soothe a ravaged soul with her presence alone.

Aspen moved then, closing the distance and pressing her mouth to mine. The shock of the contact had my lips parting and my tongue moving of its own volition. No matter how dangerous I knew it was, the need for her was too great. Her taste exploded in my mouth, heaven and hell all wrapped into one. But I knew I’d happily go down in the flames.

28

ASPEN

Roan was everywhere—hishands tangled in my hair, his heat surrounding me. His taste took me under.

He pulled back, eyes wild. “Aspen,” he croaked.

“Don’t,” I whispered. “Please, don’t take it back.” I didn’t think I could handle it if he stole this kiss from me.

“Never.” The single word was a guttural oath. His hands framed my face. “I’m not any good at this kind of thing. People. Emotions.”

I looked up into those blue depths. “Seems like you’re doing a pretty good job to me.”

I wanted him to laugh, forget he’d pulled away, and lose himself in me again. Instead, he searched. Those eyes of his probed and tested. “I don’t want to hurt you. I wouldn’t mean to, but I could.”

My hands fisted in his shirt. “Yes, you’ll hurt me. Just like I’ll hurt you. But if we care about each other, we’ll mend it. We’ll learn to do better the next time.”

A muscle in his cheek fluttered like crazy. As if a silent war raged within him that I would never get to see.

I pressed a hand against his chest, over his heart. “No one has ever made me feel as safe as you.”

Roan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. His hand trailed down, his thumb tracing the column of my neck. “Sometimes, I think you hypnotized me. Can’t stop thinking about you. Even when I should be thinking about anything else.”

Heat flared, hope rising along with it.

“I used to watch you.”

My brows pulled together at that.

Roan flicked his chin toward the mountainside covered in trees. “My cabin’s up that way. Looks out over this farm. Even before I met you, I’d sit on my balcony and watch the red-haired woman with her daughter. Always so happy. So patient. So full oflife. I thought you couldn’t be real.”

His thumb trailed lower, then he pressed a hand over my heart. “But here you are, this living, breathing thing. A walking temptation.”

“Give in,” I whispered.

Roan’s eyes sparked. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“Then show me.”

He moved so fast I didn’t see it coming. One second, I was on the porch swing. The next, I was in Roan’s arms. My legs went around his waist on instinct as he strode into the house.

The door slammed behind us, and Chauncey lifted his head from his dog bed in question.

“Lock,” I breathed.

Roan took one step backward, flipping the top deadbolt, and then he was moving again. His long strides ate up the space. He didn’t kiss me as he moved, but his gaze was like a physical caress, stroking and teasing.

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