Page 61 of Dark Encounter
Every cell in my body screamed in protest as I got up and turned to walk back down to the first floor. I loved him. I needed toseethat he was okay. Even if he ignored me completely, at least I would know that he was alive and well, that his father hadn't shot off one of his arms or something.
The nightmares I'd entertained over the last two weeks were enough to suffocate most people.
"Just go. Walk by, check him out and speak if he speaks." I turned and walked slowly up the stairs, wishing like hell I had a few books in my hands. It would have felt better to at least look busy.
I scanned the third floor, not finding him anywhere. My heart fell as I walked through the last bookshelf on the floor and paused at the edge. He stood by the window, a book in his hands, but his eyes lifted toward the sun. His jeans hugged his waist and outlined his perfect ass so beautifully. The thick muscles of his arms and shoulders pressed against the thin blue t-shirt he wore, and his hair was dark and disheveled, as if someone had just run their fingers through it.
A soft cry left my lips, and I turned to walk back toward the stairs. I didn't want him to see me.
"Grace." His voice stopped me in my tracks, but I didn't turn. I couldn't. Him seeing me crumble was too much. It wasn't fair to either of us that his father stepped in between us, but it was for the best. He was in lust, and I was in love, and no matter how I put the puzzle pieces together, I was in danger. "Turn around, kitten."
"No," I whispered and walked toward the stairs, forcing myself to jog down toward the first floor. Fuck me for coming up to the library on my day off. I didn't stop running until I was out of the building and standing at the light, waiting to cross the street. I made it to the other side when a strong hand wrapped around my upper arm and pulled me back.
"You've forgotten how to listen." His voice caused my body to tingle.
I turned and pulled my arm from him. "Leave me alone. Touch me again, and I'll scream. I swear to God I will." Pushing him away was my only option. He flinched when I did, which left me worried, but I held my tongue.
"I like the way you scream." His eyes moved across me as he licked at the side of his mouth and glanced around. "I never was very good with rules. You?"
He turned his steely gaze back to me, and I reached out and touched his chest softly. "Please don't do this. Your father scared the shit out of me."
"And if it had been anyone but my father," he moved closer, his hand moving over my hip and resting on the top of my ass, "I would have killed him for getting anywhere near you."
"Erik." I gripped his t-shirt as a million emotions raced through me. "We can't be anything. Not even friends."
"I understand that." He squeezed my rear and moved back as my hand dropped. "Doesn't mean that I don't want to try."
"I don't." I wrapped my arms around myself.
"Is your event tonight?" He glanced back at the library and then toward me. "You need a date?"
I laughed. "Yes, the event is tonight, and no. The last thing I would want is for your Dad to find out that you went against him. I don't know much about him, but I've imagined you beaten and bloody for the last few weeks. Nothing hurts me worse than to think you're hurt."
"Because you love me." He reached out and touched the side of my face, his expression softening.
"Yes. You know that I love you." I cupped his hand and turned my face a little, kissing the soft flesh of his palm. A dark bruise above his wrist caught my attention and my heart almost stopped. “What is this?”
He ignored me. "Then maybe we run." He slipped his hand into my hair. "After your event tonight. We get the fuck outta here."
"What?" I took a shaky breath as the world seemed a little bit brighter. "You can't do that. You're all your father has left."
"I know, and it's suffocating." He glanced around, and I noticed another bruise on his throat. "I need to take care of a few things this afternoon, but if I show up tonight, will you go with me?"
"Where?" My stomach sickened. He’d been beaten? Over me. Was he serious about leaving? Would he really give up everything for me? For us?
"I don't care where." He moved closer, leaning down and brushing his lips against mine. "Wear something horribly tacky tonight, so I can smile. It's been a long two weeks without you."
I laughed and lifted to my toes, wrapping my arms around him as carefully as I could. I’d ask more later or leave it alone. He was raised in a different world. "And you're not scared of what might happen?"
"Yes, kitten. I'm terrified, but I've never felt more alive than I do when I'm with you. I'm not willing to give that up. Not now. Not ever." He kissed me again, pressing his tongue deep into my mouth and running his hands up and down my back slowly, methodically.
I whined when he pulled back. "I don't want you to go. Things change when you're away."
"Not this time." He tucked his hands into his pockets and turned to walk back across the street, pausing to glance back. "Grace."
"What?" I tried to memorize the moment. The way the sunlight touched his hair, the softness of his voice, the taste of him still lingering on my lips.
"If we stay here and I continue to do what I do," he glanced around, “be who I am... and I could get my father to understand that you and I are a forever thing, would you support that? Support me?"
