“Then what happened?”
“Then the animal was gone, and there was warmth. I felt safe. When I opened my eyes it was hard to see, my vision was blurred.”
“There was blood all over you,” he murmured, rocking me gently.
I nodded. That must have been the wetness I’d felt. “But then I saw you. You were holding me. You took me to the hospital.”
“I hated leaving you like that. I couldn’t stay; they would have asked too many questions.” I felt his arms shaking. He sounded sick.
“I didn’t want you to leave me.”
He groaned. “That’s why you fought with the nurses? That’s why you started screaming?”
I nodded.
His eyes were far away. “I thought you were scared of me. I thought you were in pain.” His eyes cleared and he looked down. “You weren’t afraid?”
“Not of you.” Never of him.
He kissed me hard, grabbing my face and pressing his lips against mine with a fierce desperation that stole my breath. When he pulled back I said, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“That you were the one who saved me.”
“I was the one that lead China to you in the first place. I didn’t save you.”
It was the very same thought I’d had too. Then I had this dream and it changed things forme – for us. “You never wanted to hurt me.”
“No.”
“What are you doing here tonight, Sam?” I sat back. I wanted to see his face.
“I’m always here. I told you I would watch over you.”
“You’ve been here every night for two weeks?”
He nodded. “Except when I am out looking for China.”
“Where?”
“In the loft in the barn.”
“You ignore me at school. You don’t even look at me.”
“You told me to leave you alone.”
“But you still watch over me.”
“I’ve never stopped loving you, Heven.”
A thrill went through me. It wasn’t too late! “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you more.”
I laughed.
“Can you forgive me?”
I didn’t have to think it over. “Yes.”
He hugged me, and I fell over backward, laughing. When I looked up, his eyes flashed gold. Slowly, he reached out and brushed a hand through my hair and traced his fingers along the raised, ugly scars on my face. “You’re the only one who’s ever touched them,” I confided, my lashes dropping.
“I never wanted you to get hurt. If I had known…”
I put my hand over his lips, “Shhh. It doesn’t matter anymore. If I didn’t have these scars I never would have met you.”
With both hands pressed against the mattress on either side of my head, he leaned down to kiss me. I opened my mouth wider to accept more and wrapped my arms around his waist. His body pressed fully against mine; the feeling was so delicious I shivered. Sam took this as a sign that I was cold and reached down to pull the blankets over us. Then there was nothing but him. Soon, I was breathing hard and straining against him for more…
“Sam.”
His response was to rake his teeth over my earlobe and growl low.
Was I ready to give him everything I had? I wanted to – oh God, I wanted to. I loved him so much I could barely breathe.
“We should slow down,” he said, putting a few inches between us.
We absolutely should. “I don’t want to.”
He kissed me again, his hand sliding up beneath my tank to cup my breast. I wasn’t wearing a bra, and I gasped at the contact. His hand stilled, and he looked into my eyes. I pushed my chest against him harder and he groaned, his eyes sliding closed.
“You’re so soft,” he whispered, before sitting up to straddle me.
I opened my eyes. “Sam?”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes. Aren’t you?” Insecurities came flooding into my head.
“I don’t want to rush you; I can wait. I love you so much.”
Is this why he was hesitating? The night of the ball I was ready to hand him my heart with the three words I knew he wanted to hear. But that night turned out much differently than I’d planned. Nothing was going to stop me from giving him those words right now. “Sam, I…”
He stiffened and looked toward the window.
“What?”
“Your Grandma’s home.”
Already? I looked over at the alarm clock and winced. It was much later than I thought. He jumped off me, landing silently on the floor. I sat up in protest; I didn’t want him to go. Grandma’s footsteps on the stairs had me looking toward my bedroom door.
“Go to sleep,” he whispered, then jumped out the window.
I flopped back on the pillows and closed my eyes as she opened the bedroom door. Light from the hall filtered in, and I concentrated on keeping my breathing even and slow. She stood there a moment, then the door closed, and she moved down the hall. I breathed a sigh of relief and rolled over toward the window to watch the curtains floating in the breeze. I wondered if he would come back. I wondered what we would be doing if Gran hadn’t come home. Would this have been the night I lost my virginity? Would I have gone through with it? Yes. I would have said those three words that Sam wanted to hear so badly, and he would have made love to me.
His blond head poked in the window, “Is she gone?”
I giggled. “Yes.”
“I thought she’d never go to bed.” As he walked toward the bed, I admired the way he moved with such grace, and I thought of how hard his body had felt pressed against mine. I was disappointed when he crouched down beside the bed instead of climbing in.
“You okay?” he reached out and threaded his fingers through mine.
I nodded. “I’m glad you came back.”
“Yeah?” His smile was quick and my heart sped up at the sight. “Want me to hang out awhile?”
I tugged his hand and pulled the covers back in invitation. He slid between the sheets, and I threw an arm and leg over him then rested my cheek against his chest. “Can you stay?”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Yeah.”
I yawned as my eyes slid closed. He was comfortable, and I felt safer than ever before. When I opened my eyes again Sam was slipping out from beneath me. I made a sound of protest and clutched at him. He leaned in close and whispered, “The sun is coming up. I have to go.”