Hold Me Close (Ryker Falls #5) - Wendy Vella Page 0,51
when you’re passionate about something. I haven’t seen this side of you since you returned.”
“I’m trying to be a better person.” Maggs dug her toes into her boots to stop from backing up a step. He smelled good. Outdoorsy and sexy.
“Don’t change, Maggs. I like the feisty redhead you are. Beautiful, strong, and loyal. I’ve always admired those traits in you.” His thumb touched her lips. “You have sugar on your mouth.”
He leaned down to kiss her, and Maggs tried to hold in the low moan.
“Christ, Maggie.” His lips brushed hers once, twice, and then he took the kiss deeper.
Her arms went around his neck, and she held on, angled her head to take more. The hand that slid under her layers was warm as it touched the skin of her back. Maggs shuddered. She’d known this was where they were heading, had to have known it when each kiss and touch they’d shared had ignited them both.
“I’ve wanted you since the first day I saw you, Maggie Winter.” He whispered the words in her ear as the hand slid upward. “Wanted to touch your soft skin. Stroke, explore, and kiss you. Since you came back, that need has grown.”
Maggs wanted to purr as his hand moved to her stomach, touching her side on its way. She stiffened, realizing, but it was too late. He’d felt it.
“What the hell is that!” He hauled her clothes up and off her body before she could stop him, his eyes hot coals as he looked at the ugly scar he’d uncovered.
Chapter 22
Maggs backed away from him, fumbling for the clothes he’d just pulled off her body. Suddenly the wonderful warmth had gone, and she was cold. Icy cold.
“You were shot that day in London, weren’t you? That’s from a bullet.” He grabbed her as she tried to dive back into her shirt. Wrenching it from her hands, he held her arms out. “Fuck, Maggie, you could have died!”
“I don’t want to talk about it. Let me go, Fin.”
“Oh, hell no! You are not leaving here without telling me what happened! How could you have kept this from us?”
“Stop roaring at me.” She wrenched free. Grabbing her clothes, she did what came naturally and ran.
“Maggie!”
Finding the bathroom, she sprinted inside, slammed and locked the door behind her. Fin was soon pounding on it. Maggs backed away and began dressing.
Damn it, what the hell had she been thinking, doing that with Fin? That was the problem; she’d lost the ability to think when he’d kissed her.
“What are you going to do, camp out in my bathroom for the remainder of the day?”
Maggie ignored the deep words, hearing the anger and frustration in them even through the wood of the door, and finished dressing. She then threw cold water over her face before looking at herself in the mirror.
“You’re an idiot, Maggs.”
Everything was such a mess. She’d not told anyone what had really happened because she’d thought it was best to protect them. She’d thought she’d tell them sometime, when the panic had gone. But the problem was, it wasn’t going anywhere, and she didn’t know if it ever would completely.
“Get out here now!” Fin roared as a fist pounded on the door. “I’ll break it down if you don’t.”
Looking at her pale face, she thought about the man who stood outside the door. Did she start with him? Tell him what had happened? Especially now he’d seen the scar.
Drying her hands, Maggs pulled the band from her hair and ran her fingers through it before retying it. She then left the room. He was leaning on the wall opposite looking like a thundercloud.
“In the lounge, now.” He pointed in that direction.
She walked because she wanted to. “I can leave, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
“You could try, and I’ll call Bailey and Joe and tell them about the scars you have on your body and my thoughts as to how I believe you got them. If that doesn’t work, I’ll drive out and tell your family.”
Maggie exhaled. “I’m all right, Fin.” She said the words because she knew his anger stemmed from worry for her.
He didn’t speak, just urged her into a chair at his small dining table. He then went to the kitchen and poured two more mugs of coffee. Hers, he lowered before her with a definite snap.