This is a sample from Eternity. Coming August 15th from Soulmate Publishing.
Damn, he woke her. After only a few hours of sleep, she was sitting up, her head tilted back to catch the whiffs of air generated from the ceiling fan. She pulled the collar of the robe from her damp neck.
He closed his laptop, retrieved a bottle of water from the kitchen and handed it to her. Perched on the edge of her coffee table, he waited while she rubbed the bottle across her sweaty brow and gave a throaty sigh before twisting the cap. Completely unaware of the sensual picture she presented, Stella tossed her head back, tipped the bottle to her lips and gulped until she drained it.
“How long have I been asleep?” She licked the moisture from her lips.
He ignored the lengthening poke of his cock. “A few hours. We need to talk.” Elbows on his knees, he leaned closer to her.
She paused, her eyes shifted around the room. “If not the most dreaded sentence in the world, it must be in the top five.” She took a deep fortifying breath and squared her shoulders. “Go ahead.”
She thinks I’m leaving her. He studied her until she squirmed uncomfortably under the glare. It galled to be lumped together with everyone else that hurt, left, and disappointed her.
“I believe you’re correct about the killings.”
Her eyebrows shot into her hairline. “You do?”
He nearly laughed. “Surprising, huh? Well you made a convincing argument and I’d be foolish to ignore the possibility.”
“So, you’re leaving now,” she stated flatly.
Every muscle rigid, he sat back. “Do you have a death wish? “Cause if there’s someone targeting me, they’re using you to do it.”
Stella nodded solemnly while her fingers twisted in her robe. She chewed the corner of her mouth before she mumbled, “When do you leave?”
His thumb swept across her full bottom lip. When her cheek turned into his palm, his heart caved.
“I’m not leaving, Stella. I will never leave you. I said I would protect you. And I will.” He leaned closer. “With my last breath.”
Wonderfully descriptive and sweetly sensual. I so felt for her, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Glad it didn’t. 🙂
It’s true. “We need to talk” is usually a sentence you want to avoid hearing. Your scene shows that he’s attuned to her moods –“She thinks I’m leaving her.” I like these characters.
Thanks Sandra. These two characters are like family to me.
Great scene. The dialogue is wonderful and love the undercurrent of sexual tension