Saving Amber - Zoe Dawson Page 0,69
tucked her hair behind her ear. “You are something else, aren’t you?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
He cupped her face and slipped his arms over her head, to drop to the small of her back.
She gasped.
“Yeah, you feel that, too. Don’t you? It’s like an electric shock under the skin.”
“A buzz.”
He nodded. “I wish things could be different, but, Amber, I can’t make any promises. I can’t. My life…the corps—”
“It comes first.” She looked in his eyes for the longest time, then gathered herself and said, “Thank you for being honest about that. It’s just that I really hate coming in second.”
“That’s not it, Amber.”
“It feels that way, but I trust you. I looked at the man you are, with the deep convictions you have. I’ve seen the respect in your students’ faces. I’ve seen what lengths you would go to protect them. And, what you are willing to do for me, because you thought it was the right thing. That’s the only measure I need.”
“Amber…” He didn’t have the words to express himself.
“That’s how I know if I ask you for a promise, you’ll keep it, no matter what.”
He pressed his forehead to hers. “What promise do you need from me?”
“If for some reason I don’t make it—”
“Amber, no—”
She shook him. “Please, Tristan.”
He sighed and nodded.
“If I don’t make it, would you go see my parents? Would you tell them how brave I was even if I wasn’t? How hard I fought to live? So it will give them some measure of peace? And, this is very important. My boss, Chris, he is amazing, and this is going to kill him. Tell him this isn’t his fault. That I was proud to work for him and to be part of NCIS. Tell Beau and Vin that I love them like brothers and serving with them was a privilege, even if they made me do all the grunt work because I was the probie. Could you do that for me?”
His answer was to take her mouth. Right then. No preamble, no slow lowering of his lips to hers, no choice given. Just a choice made.
He was going to make damn sure she could deliver all those messages herself.
The surprise of it kept her still, but only for a second. He mentally braced himself against the sheer softness, the warmth, the welcome she gave him. He respected her. He knew then how well and truly entangled he’d become. It had never been like this for him. Almost irrational. He relied on instinct, on rational thought. Not on emotion and his dick. Or his heart. Life wasn’t set up to be fair about those things, and he’d had enough of the unfair part of life.
Then she moaned, just a little guttural sound in the back of her throat. And her bound hands came up to slip over his head, her hands fisting in his hair as she pulled his mouth down even harder on hers. And kissed him back with every ounce of intensity she had in her.
And he knew there was no way to protect himself from this. Or from her.
He never even tried.
Chapter Fourteen
Amber was so tempted to sink into that blissful oblivion that only Tristan could provide. Escape the overwhelming worry and fear, even if only for a few moments. But in the end, even Tristan couldn’t transport her. Their kiss eased from the powerful need she was already coming to crave to something quieter and yet perhaps even more compelling in the way it nurtured something else inside her. And that something was hope.
When he lifted his head and looked into her eyes, she said, “We’re going to live.”
He nodded.
“I’m going to be drinking mai tais in that pool bar in Aruba with the cold of these mountains as nothing but a memory.”
He nodded again, then took her hand and drew her with him as he walked across the main room and through the bedroom door. The cabin was beautifully decorated with a woman’s touch. It might be rustic, but it was rustic chic. The bed looked hand carved with a detailed motif of all different types of animals, and the comfortable-looking pillows and bedding were in rust and brown tones. They were here to get a good night’s sleep, both of them aware that being as rested as possible would give them the best advantage tomorrow.
She clutched at him. The odds almost overwhelmed her again—eight armed men.
“Ah, babe. It’s going to be all right.”
“Are you just saying