Page 60 of Rescued Hearts
“I think she’s getting there,” was all I could say, not really knowing where she stood. I knew Tess felt something more than just attraction for me. That much was obvious; I just wasn’t sure if it was love. I hoped it was, but I was nervous about what would happen if I told her I loved her and she wasn’t there yet. But I didn’t know how much longer I could hold it in.
“Get off me, you asshole!” Beau and I turned on high alert, but relaxed when we saw Emmett prying a drunk Delilah off Whiplash.
“You’re wasted, Delilah,” he snapped, muscles straining as he lifted her in the air. “You’ll get hurt.”
She squirmed her way out of his grasp. “Yeah, well, I’m not a fucking quitter like you,” she hissed, pointing her finger in his face. He stopped short, looking like she’d slapped him. I glanced at Beau, and he looked just as confused as me.
Emmett wrenched his jaw, that stunned look gone, and slung her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing. A few Pixy Sticks fell out of her shirt. Unexpected, but not surprising, considering it was Delilah.
“Oh, look! There’s the stick up your ass, you buzzkill,” she growled.
“Wouldn’t have to be a buzzkill if you’d learn to pace yourself like a goddamn adult,” he said through clenched teeth, stormingout of the pen. She raged against him, beating against his back, but he didn’t let her go.
“You good?” Beau asked him as he walked past us.
“Yeah,” he adjusted his grip on her. “Gonna take her to get some air.” He stopped at the bar for some water before going outside. I should get some water for Tess when she comes back.
I frowned. She had been gone for a while, now that I thought about it. I straightened, looking down the hall towards the bathroom. My heart stopped, red clouding my vision when I saw a guy crowding her in a corner, Claire nowhere to be found. The music faded to nothing, drowned out by the instant rage coursing through me. My drink fell to the ground, and I bolted towards them, my body on autopilot. I bulldozed my way down the hall, shoving people out of my way. Tess buried herself further into the corner, her chin quivering when he reached out and touched her hair.
I ripped the guy away from her, pinning him to the wall by his throat with my forearm. “Get the fuck off my wife,” I growled, applying pressure.
“Shit, man, I didn’t know!” he coughed out.
I pressed down harder, and he gripped my arm, his eyes widening. “It doesn’t fucking matter. You don’t touch a woman unless she asks you to.”
“S-Sorry,” he choked.
My upper lip curled in disgust. As if he thought that single word could undo terrifying Tess. My sweet, soft, tenderhearted Tess. I wanted to kill him. I leaned in. “Don’t apologize to me, apologize to her. And you better fucking mean it.”
He turned as much as he could, looking down at Tess. “I’m sorry.” The words shook as he spoke them.
I let him go, and he wheezed before I shoved him away from her. “Now get the hell out of my sight before I change my mind.”
He stumbled away from us, holding his throat, and it wasn’t until he disappeared in the crowd that I turned to Tess. I cradled her face, looking her over. “Are you okay?” She clasped my wrists, running her shaking hands along my arms, and nodded. “Are you sure? We can go home.”
Tess looked around before she took my hand and pulled me into one of the bathrooms. “Wha—” I was silenced by her mouth, her kiss searing like a brand on my heart.
My mind lagged for a second before I fell into it, kissing her back. She shoved me up against the door, my back meeting it with a harsh thud. My fingers found their way into her hair, and I tugged on it gently the way she liked, kissing down her slender neck. Her sweet moan rang in the small space, her grip on my arms tightening.
“Levi,” she panted, looking up at me with desire-ridden eyes. I ached at the sight of her. She reached behind me, our eyes locked, and turned the lock on the door with a deafening click that sent my heart racing. She backed away from me slowly, her bottom lip between her teeth. “I want you.”
I blinked quickly, not sure I heard right. “What?”
“I want you,” she said again, bracing against the sink.
I looked around the bathroom. It was a standard dive bar bathroom: small, dingy, the walls covered in stickers and graffiti. She slid back onto the sink, her tiny skirt riding up. My mouth went dry. “Here?” My voice cracked on the word.
Tess smirked, nodding. It was a confident, sexy thing that turned my brain to mush. A side of her I’d never seen. Her legs spread wider, daring me, and I nearly dropped to my knees, but stopped myself. No matter how much I wanted it, she deserved more than a quick bathroom fuck. I took a step towards her, my legs shaking. “You deserve better than here, Tess. Let me take you home and do it right.”
She shook her head. “Don’t you get it? There is no doing it right with you because everything with you is right. Everything with you is perfect.”
Her words struck me right in the heart because I felt the same. And like a moth to a flame, I went to her.
Tess’s hair was like silk between my fingers, her body soft and pliant when I pulled her to the edge of the sink. A high-pitched moan tore from the back of her throat as our mouths met in a bruising kiss. I threw everything I had into it, and she kept up, pouring just as much into me.
She tore at my shirt, buttons popping and pinging onto the floor. I groaned as she raked her nails along my chest and down my stomach. Goosebumps pebbled along my skin in her wake, heat pooling low in my belly.
“I need…” she panted. “God, I need you so much I feel like I’m going to die,” she finished, tugging at my belt with trembling, clumsy fingers.
