Heartbreak Lover (Broken Hearts Academy #2) - C.R. Jane Page 0,47

wondered. When did Jackson begin to make me feel safe again?

I turned my attention back to Caiden. His face was perfectly blank, and a wave of unease rolled across my skin at how easily Caiden was able to block his emotions. He was the master at it actually.

“I just wanted to thank you again. It means a lot,” I told him. More than I’m comfortable admitting.

He stared at me inscrutably, and then his face broke and I was almost washed away with the depth of his emotions. Maybe it was better that he was able to hide what he was feeling so well, because I didn’t think that I could handle seeing evidence of a love that had already destroyed me once before in my face constantly.

“I would do anything for you,” he said softly…and there was so much affection in his voice that it was literally heartbreaking.

“I don’t need you to do anything else. This was enough, Caiden.” I didn’t know whether I was reminding him that I’d forgiven him for that night two years ago, or if I was telling him that I didn’t want to see him again. Both were equally likely with how I was feeling at the moment.

He nodded, like he’d understood whatever message I was trying to convey to him better than I’d understood it myself.

“I’ll go ahead and get out of here. I desperately need some sleep,” he said with a soft laugh, standing up and brushing his still too-long hair out of his eyes.

He gave me a sad smile and then walked towards the door. He stopped suddenly and turned around, a determined look on his face. “I don’t want you to feel bad about what happened with Landry, Everly. Or think that you acted a certain way that made him do that to you.”

I stared at him numbly. It was like he could read my mind.

“It’s not anything you do, Everly. There’s just something about you that drives a man to madness. Landry would have never had his fill of you…just like I haven’t. You’re irreplaceable. A man would have to die to ever escape your lure.”

“I would turn it off if I knew how to,” I told him desperately, needing him to know that I didn’t mean to cause him this pain.

He gave me that same mournful, resigned smile once again. “I accepted my fate long ago, Everly.”

And then he left the room.

I was staring blankly at the wall, shaking when Jackson rushed back into the room. “Are you okay? What did he say? Fuck, I shouldn’t have left.”

“I don’t really know what he just said. I’m confused…about everything,” I admitted, eagerly absorbing his beautiful face, even if it was marred by dark circles like he hadn’t slept for days.

“Baby,” he sighed, closing his eyes. “I think I’ve lived five lives since I got Caiden’s text. Can you come back to my place when they release you this afternoon? I need you by me.”

“They’re releasing me this afternoon?” I said happily.

“Yeah, I just heard it from the nurse.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know it’s kind of amazing how easy it is as a Parker to get access to privileged medical information.”

He smiled cockily, the sight making my soul sing.

The atmosphere changed, his eyes transitioning from ferocious to bewildered. “You’re tearing me apart, baby,” he mumbled.

Before I could reply, he leaned in so close our breath mixed. Closing his eyes, his lips found mine, slowly at first, a gentle exploration.

“I’m not broken,” I murmured into him, and then my hands were in his hair. Pulling him from tentative to certain, he became insistent and pushed against me. Soft and firm all at once, he took his time to taste me in long licks, groaning as he did. My head didn’t hurt so much as the empty ache between my thighs. This man, with his wicked tongue and beautiful mouth, one arm propped against the top of my bed so he could arch over me while freeing his other hand to skim the outside of my breast. A featherlight touch that I felt everywhere—a pang in my heart and a tempting pulse down my entire body.

Fuck. The hospital was not the place, nor was this the time to get distracted by the sexual attraction that apparently neither of us had the strength to ignore. Slowly we broke away, my fingers trailing down his jaw, which he clenched as they raked over his cheeks. Pressing his forehead against mine, I held him close