Page 21 of Haven of Shadows
Another wave built, crashing into me. Isaac thrust so fast and hard that the mattress slid back and forth on the frame. The bed frame could break beneath us and I wouldn’t care as long as he didn’t stop moving inside me.
Isaac slipped out of me and rolled me onto my back, tugging the tie from my eyes so I could see him clearly above me. He was moving again before I could protest. The tendons in his neck grew tight and his shoulders tensed but he didn’t lose his pace as his own climax rode up on him fast. With a groan he buried himself deep into me, pulling my thighs to wrap around his waist.
The room was dark around us, only the glitter of sweat on Isaac’s chest and the faint glow of his green and gold eyes visible. Maybe it wasn’t the darkness of the room at all but the way my vision zeroed in on him. He was still twitching inside me and that connection felt like my only tether to reality. The heavy breaths exchanged between us matched the churning sound of waves on the bay.
The emotions in my chest turned just as tumultuous. I ran from him for a reason. There was too much room for things to go wrong, and I was trying to make my life less complicated.
Isaac dipped his finger in a bead of sweat at the base of my neck, dragging it between my breasts and down to my navel. I expected him to say something lewd, but he leaned down to kiss me ever so gently and said, “You have no idea how beautiful you are.”
He was so genuine, his expression open, and I got the impression this was the real Isaac. Underneath all that cocky ego and innuendo was a man too afraid to be soft.
Another gorgeous, unavailable man. I could see myself falling for him.
I leaned into him for a long, drawn out kiss. I finished with a soft nip to his bottom lip, smiling and whispering, “Four.”
Isaac smirked, eyes glittering with pride as he untangled from me and disappeared into the bathroom.
The cool air on my naked skin shocked some sense back into me, and I climbed quickly from the bed, finding my discarded clothes in the dark and yanking them back on.
At least an hour had passed. The sun already solidly set behind rows of colored houses, dusky purple hues coloring the world beyond the window.
I ran my hands through my hair, a frantic energy sparking in my chest and ruining my afterglow.
I couldn’t let this happen again. My heart was over-sensitive. I was grasping for something to take hold of. Something that would make me feel safe again.
That something couldn’t be Isaac.
Deep down I knew he wasn’t safe. Whatever softness I imagined he was hiding, it didn’t belong to me. It might not even be real, just my own optimistic mind creating concepts of people that they wouldn’t live up to.
I stood at the end of the bed, Isaac’s clothes draped over my arm. As soon as the bathroom door opened, I held them out to him, my expression polite but closed off.
Isaac stared at my outstretched hand, lines creasing his forehead.
“Thanks for the ride.” I let the words hang between us, leaving them for him to interpret however he wanted.
After a long beat, he accepted his clothes, sliding his legs into his briefs and tugging on his shirt. He didn’t immediately take the pants, so I carried them out of the bedroom and to the front door, holding it open expectantly.
“You’re kicking me out?” He schooled his features into one of those light-hearted smirks. It didn’t quite hide his shock. “We could still beat your new record tonight.”
I laughed, some of my nervous tension relaxing. “Four was plenty. Thanks again for the good time, but it’s getting late, and I have things to do.”
Isaac looked around the plain furnishings in the living room, then at the empty kitchen, arching one brow.
I ignored his expression, waving him over and handing him his pants. We locked eyes as he passed me, the green fading from his irises as they flashed gold. The angles of his face looked sharper in the gloaming, almost frightening in their harshness.
For some reason, that sent little spirals of thrill through my stomach, and I was tempted to take him up on the offer to beat my record.
“Goodnight, Isaac Barbeaux.”
I didn’t wait for a response before closing the door and collapsing against it, breath shaking.
Chapter 8
Challenge Accepted
Isaac
Istaredattheroofingestimate, rereading the same line half a dozen times.
