Sea Haven 01 - Water Bound

knew what it was like to fight to carve out a space for herself. She was willing for him to do that.
    He realized he had shifted her and had one hand bunched in her hair while he devoured her mouth. He wanted to feel her skin beneath his fingertips. His body ached to touch her, to feel her warmth and softness without the thin layer of clothes between them, but he forced himself to be satisfied with her delicious mouth. With the solace she offered so freely. Her body blanketed his and she couldn’t fail to notice that he was heavily aroused, but she didn’t seem to be afraid. She seemed as lost in his kisses as he was in hers.
    “We have to stop,” he murmured. He wasn’t a saint by any stretch of the imagination and in another few minutes he’d lose all good sense.
    She pulled back instantly, sitting beside him, her eyes on his face. Her mouth was swollen from his kisses, her hair wild, and her eyes were drenched in desire. He almost dragged her back into his arms, but she was too still, like an untamed animal making up its mind whether to stay or go.
    He wasn’t giving her any reason to go.
    “I love kissing you,” he whispered, and touched her mouth. “I could kiss you forever.” She poured herself into her kiss, giving him everything she was. It was easy to want to give back.
    She was silent for a long time, just looking at him. Her smile was slow in coming, but it was heart-stopping. “Funny thing, I kind of like kissing you.”
    There was a tiny note of teasing in her voice, but mostly there was surprise, more than surprise—shock even, as if she couldn’t quite believe it herself.
    “I’ll take whatever you’ve got for a headache and let’s get going.”
    Rikki didn’t move. She continued to sit on the edge of the bed, her enormous black eyes staring straight into his. For a long moment she was very still, and then she lifted her hand and began tracing his face with the pads of her fingers as if memorizing the bone structure. His heart accelerated, began a pounding that matched the beat in his groin. He loved the way she brought his body to life—the hard, fast need that slammed into him like a well-timed punch. Every nerve ending leapt to life and his blood ignited like rocket fuel, when normally there was ice water in his veins.
    “Lev, I’ll see this through with you.”
    His gut tightened. She read him so much better than he thought possible. Or maybe she was as much in his head as he was in hers—and that could be dangerous for both of them. He had things in his head people would kill for.
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    He couldn’t stop himself from touching her, stroking caresses over her arm as she mapped his face. “And if the things I’ve done are worse than what this stalker has done to you? What then, Rikki?”
    Her eyes never wavered. “Then you make up your mind that you’re a different person and start again.”
    “Just like that? You could accept me even knowing I’ve hurt others?”
    His throat nearly closed on him, cutting off his air. “Maybe someone like you?”
    “I know what it’s like to battle every day of my life just for acceptance, just to survive,” she said softly. “You’re safe here, Lev. You can be who you really are.”
    “What if I don’t know who that is?”
    She smiled, her expression so tender he felt nearly paralyzed. “Then you have plenty of time and a safe place to find out.” Abruptly she dropped her hand from his face. “I’ll find the aspirin.”
    He caught her hand and held her captive. When she turned back toward him, he felt the jolt through his entire body from the impact of her eyes. She saw him. That was her gift. She saw inside of him and the rest of it didn’t matter. She was wholly focused on him, an intense connection that he knew he’d never have with another human being.
    “What is it?” Again her voice was incredibly gentle.
    “I need to kiss you again.” Because he was drowning. He’d lost his footing and he’d sunk hard and fast. He desperately needed an anchor. She was turning him inside out and he wasn’t doing a thing to stop it.
    Rikki didn’t ask questions nor did she hesitate. She slid her hands up his chest and lowered her head toward his. He saw her eyes go liquid and fire with passion, all that cool water flashed so hot that he imagined steam rising around them. He closed his own eyes and just let her sweep him away, take him to paradise.
    He hadn’t imagined a world of feeling, of passion. He hadn’t known he