Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77120 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77120 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Safer than out there,” I reply.
“You’re sure?” She glances around the barn as if she expects lightning to strike inside the walls.
I nod. “The barn is grounded. We’re safe.”
Tabitha continues to rub her arms as if she’s chilly. She can’t be cold. It’s warm in the barn.
So she’s either nervous or scared. Or both.
“You okay?” I ask.
She nods. “For some reason, out here, it feels like we’re closer to the storm than when I’m in Boulder.”
“We are,” I say. “Everything is more raw in the country.”
She glances at me. Her eyes glisten with flecks of gold.
I could easily be mesmerized by them.
By her.
We stand there, looking at each other. The lack of conversation doesn’t bother me. If anything, it feels right. Just her company is comforting in a way I haven’t felt in months.
In the silence, I’m reminded of all the reasons why I need to stay away from her.
Until another crackle of thunder jolts us both out of our thoughts.
She gasps, taking a quick step back and bumping into Duchess’s stall. The mare whinnies softly.
“Sorry, girl,” Tabitha murmurs, reaching out to stroke Duchess’s nose.
The horse nudges her hand gently before settling back down to chew the hay in the corner of her stall.
My heart thumps. Tabitha looks so small standing next to Duchess. Her hair is slightly disheveled from the wind that has managed to slip into the barn, making her look more beautiful than ever.
“You sure you’re okay?” I ask again. My voice comes out rougher than I mean it to.
She offers me a shaky smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
A surge of protectiveness ripples through me. I cross the few steps between us and stop just close enough that I can see the spray of freckles across her nose.
And this time…
This time I don’t stop myself.
I take her face in my hands, lean down, and kiss her.
Seven
Tabitha
His lips are warm and firm against mine, his hands gently cradling my face. I’m too surprised to move, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest as I register what’s happening.
Henry is kissing me.
Henry is kissing me.
Henry is kissing me.
I tentatively return the kiss. He tightens his hold as I part my lips. A soft sigh escapes him, the sound vibrating through me and making my knees weak.
Henry is kissing me.
I’m kissing Henry.
Until another crack of thunder makes us pull apart. Our breaths are ragged and uneven, our faces only inches apart. His blue eyes are smoke-filled, his pupils dilated. The intensity of his gaze…
God…
“Tabitha,” he breathes out.
The kiss…
I want more of the kiss.
His kiss…
His lips touch mine again, and this time it’s not gentle.
No.
It’s wild and free and full of lust and tongue.
Until it’s not.
He pulls away abruptly, leaving me with my lips parted, my tongue out.
I clasp my hand over my mouth and gasp.
“Fuck,” is all he says.
I swallow. “Uh…what?”
He blinks. “That shouldn’t have happened.”
Interesting choice of words on his part. Not “I shouldn’t have kissed you.” Not “I’m sorry it happened.”
That shouldn’t have happened.
I’m not sure how to respond.
Until the perfect words come to me.
“Well, it did,” I say, hands on my hips.
It’s not like me to be so defiant, but the kiss was…
Man, the kiss was good. Maybe the best kiss I’ve ever had.
“It shouldn’t have,” he says again.
“Well, it did,” I say again.
He stares at me then, his gaze intense. His blue eyes are the color of the noon sky on a summer day in Boulder. His hair the color of wheat.
But his gorgeous granite jawline is tense.
“Are you sorry?” I finally ask.
He doesn’t respond.
Good.
He’s not sorry.
Neither am I.
Crack!
Another lightning bolt and thunderclap in unison.
This storm isn’t ending anytime soon.
And I can’t bring myself to feel bad about that either.
“Fuck,” he says again.
“Fuck what?” I raise my eyebrows at him.
He glares at me, his jawline going even more rigid. “Fuck you, Tabitha. Fuck you.”
I gasp and step backward. He’s angry. Really angry, and I don’t have the slightest idea why.
I draw in a deep breath. “Well…fuck you too!”
He steps toward me, grabs me, and leans down to my ear. “That’s exactly what I want to do,” he whispers. “I want to fuck you, Tabitha.”
My body goes cold.
Both in a good way and a bad way.
Then hot.
How do you feel hot and cold at the same time?
It’s a little stifling in the barn, although it’s raining outside, the water pelting on the roof in a discordant rhythm.
My body is humming with desire, and all I want is more kisses. And more…
More of what he wants.
Part of me wants to say, “Yes, take me right here. I’m yours. I’m willing to do whatever I need and whatever you need.”
But the other part of me knows this isn’t a good idea.
Henry is still dealing with the fallout from Ralph’s death, and Angie has told me he’s having a hard time coming to terms with it.