her mind and silence her worries. She chose him. It made all the difference in the world. She stopped next to his car. “Take me home, Teague.”
“With pleasure.” He held the door open for her and moved quickly around to slide into the driver’s seat. There was no need for words—especially when she didn’t trust herself not to say something she couldn’t take back the second she opened her mouth—but she slid her hand back into his.
The trip passed far too quickly and not quickly enough. There was so much left unsaid between them, even beyond her confession that she never quite managed to actually confess. He turned the car off. “It will be okay, angel.”
It was a false comfort, and they both knew it. She gripped his hand too tightly, but she couldn’t make herself loosen her hold on him. “I’m afraid.” Those words cost her, but she fought to get the rest out. “This isn’t over, Teague. I feel like it’s just getting started.” All my fault.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
It wasn’t lost on her that he’d just lost a brother and he was comforting her. God, this was pathetic. She had to get herself together. She was better than this. She had to be. “It’s not just me that I’m worried about.”
“I know. We’ll put a stop to this. I promise.”
Words. They were just words. They shouldn’t have the ability to calm her when she knew that he had as little control over this situation as she did. No matter what happened tomorrow, they had tonight. It would be enough. It had to be. She tried for a smile, but it felt broken on her face. “Are you going to carry me over the threshold?”
“Of course.”
The trip up to his apartment door was a blur. Now that they were so close to being able to shut the door between themselves and the rest of the world, she moved more quickly, needing to surround herself with him. Teague swept her into his arms and opened the door in one smooth move. He kicked it shut as soon as they were through, leaving them bathed in the shadows of his apartment.
And then he just stood there, looking at her like she was the most precious thing in the world to him. “I’m going to be the best damn husband to you that I can be, angel. I can’t promise you much else with all the bullshit going on, but I can promise you that.”
He meant every word. Teague wouldn’t hesitate to put himself between her and the rest of the world. She fisted her hand in the front of his shirt, her heart beating too hard. I love this man. As if just waiting for her mind to come to terms with the realization, the feeling swelled inside her, filling her completely, making it hard to breathe.
I love him.
She couldn’t say the words aloud. Not yet. But she could show him.
So she kissed him, slipping her tongue between his lips the second he opened for her. He didn’t miss a step on his way to the bedroom, until he stopped next to the bed and let her body slide against his as he set her on her feet. He tangled his hands in her hair and tipped her head back, taking control of the kiss, gentling it to the barest brushing of their lips, as if he fully intended to take his time.
As if she was priceless.
She shivered. She wasn’t priceless. She wasn’t…He nipped her bottom lip, effectively bringing her back to the present. “Stay with me, angel.”
“Always.” A promise she couldn’t make, but this was the day for them. She unbuttoned his shirt, going slowly, relishing the way his chest felt beneath her fingers. The bruises looked better today. He was healing. He’d be okay. Thank God. All too soon she was at the waistband of his slacks.
His hands caught hers. “Not yet.”
She didn’t get a chance to argue, because he bent to unzip the side of her dress and then pulled it off, leaving her in only a pair of white panties. Teague’s breath hissed out. “A month or a hundred years, I’ll never get tired of seeing you like this.” He traced a finger down her sternum, the look in his eyes stealing her breath. “Angel, I don’t deserve you.”
It was she who didn’t deserve him. She opened her mouth to tell him as much, but he hooked his finger in the top of