Page 55 of Catch My Fall
“What? Babysitting an emotionally damaged girl with a cargo plane’s worth of baggage?”
“No.” I take her hands in both of mine. “Protecting a woman who has endured too much trauma than she ever should’ve had to and come out the other side of it, still living, still fighting.”
I go to tell her she’s one of the bravest people I’ve ever met, but a huge clap of thunder rumbles overhead, cutting me off, as lightning splits the sky.
She screams, leaping out of her chair so fast that it topples over behind her.
Don’t ask me why I do it, but I reach for her and pull her down into my lap. “It’s just a little thunder,” I reassure her.
She breathes out a long, shaky breath and her entire body seems to deflate as her eyes rest on her hands. She fidgets with the hem of her shirt. “I’m tired of this.”
“Of what?”
“Being scared and jumpy all the time,” she clarifies, flicking her gaze up to me. “I want to go back to being the girl you kissed on my birthday.”
My mind returns to that night, my dick twitching with the memory of her mouth on mine. “You are.”
“No, I’m not. The old Sierra was fearless, and funny. Carefree. She loved life. Now I’m… broken. Miserable. A shell of who I was. The old Sierra is long gone.”
“She’s still there.”
Her chin trembles as her eyes lift to mine. “Is she? I can’t find her.”
There’s another loud clap of thunder and Sierra flinches.
“I say this for no other reason than because every word is the truth. You are so strong. Look at everything you’ve been through and you’re still here. Never mistake your fears for weakness, they are a reminder of your strength and your bravery.”
“I don’t feel very brave,” she says.
A tear tracks down her cheek and I reach up to swipe it away with my thumb. “You are still that same girl I kissed on your birthday, and you’re still as beautiful as the day I first met you. I’m in awe of you, Sierra. You… You’re incredible.”
Before my mind registers, she’s pressing her lips to mine. It’s soft and gentle and hesitant, unsure.
Not wanting to spook her, I let her take the lead as her fingers reach up to brush against my cheek before cupping my face, deepening the kiss.
I kiss her back, gripping the nape of her neck as my tongue teases the seam of her lips. She opens for me and her tongue darts out to meet mine.
I shouldn’t be entertaining this. I’m wading in dangerous waters with no life vest, and I must have a death wish because there’s nothing that can stop me from drowning in her kiss.
I can’t fight it. It feels so right.
I reach down for her hip, while my other remains at the back of her neck as I tug her closer, her denim-covered pussy rubbing against the erection that strains against my jeans.
She moans into my mouth, free falling into the kiss as hard as I have.
Sierra’s desperation to rid herself of the memories and fears that plague her fuel me forward. I’m the only one who’s touch doesn’t seems have fear coiling through her veins, so if I can be the one to quell them, then I’ll be that guy for her, even if I’m taking a nosedive into hell for touching her.
“Alec,” she moans against my lips, her fingers threading through my hair as I continue to move her over me, my fingers sinking into the flesh of her ass.
There’s another sharp clap of thunder that startles her and we break apart, staring at each other breathlessly.
“So what was that if not brave?” I smirk, running my thumb along her swollen lower lip, peering up into those beautiful hazel eyes that have held me captive since the first time I saw them.
“I guess there’s still some of the old Sierra in here somewhere after all.” A coy smile creeps up into her mouth.
I’ve never been in denial of my feelings for Sierra, they were never in question, but I resisted from acting on them out of my deep respect and friendship for her brothers, but I can’t deny myself from touching her any longer.
I need her just as much as I think she needs me.