Page 71 of Unravel Me

I know he can’t sleep if he rolls over and finds me not there.

I know he likes his coffee bitter and black, and that when he’s restless after dinner he goes to his workshop, working in silence. I know he doesn’t talk about his feelings with anyone, except maybe me.

“I want you to come home with me in a few weeks. I want you to meet my family.”

It takes a moment, but he shifts against the counter he leans on, taking a step closer to me.

“What? Why?” He narrows his tired eyes at me.

“Because I’m not ashamed of you. I love you. I thought I could protect what we have by keeping it a secret, but if it means losing you…” I can’t even finish the sentence.

His lips pull up, a crooked smirk on his tired face. I place my hand on his jaw, his stubble rubs against my palm, and I pull him closer until it’s only inches between us.

“I can’t promise you it will be perfect, but I’m not going to hide us anymore.”

I place my head on his strong chest as he wraps his arms around me.

“So…will you be my date to the most over the top Labor Day party you’ve ever seen?” I ask as he nuzzles his face into my messy bed head and kisses my temple, his hands winding slowly around me.

“You can count on it, baby.”

Relief floods me. There’s no hint of anger or hurt in his voice anymore. I could never count on anyone before, not really, besides Penny. But nothing Rhett has done, or failed to do has led me to believe he doesn’t mean it with his whole heart. I can count on him.

I kiss him, finding myself desperate for his touch after this sleepless night. Rhett pulls away, but I grab his head, lacing my fingers in his hair and bring him back to me. He doesn’t resist, parting my lips with his tongue.

Melting under his touch, my fears get pushed down, just for a moment. Slipping my hands under his shirt, needing to feel his skin, he responds, dipping his hand into the band of my shorts.

“Rhett…” I moaned, having so much more to tell him, so many things I needed to warn him about, but I couldn’t think, not while he was stroking me in my most sensitive spot. Not while his lips and tongue kissed, nipped, and swirled around my neck.

Rhett drove his knee between my legs, and when he removed his hand, I instantly felt empty, desperate for him to touch me. The dim light of the kitchen is comforting, the man before me is my safety, and the words are out there.

I don’t want to go to New York.

He drops to his knees, his head between my legs as my head lolls back, hands gripping the counter behind me.

He drives me to the point of panting, biting my lip, moaning his name until I shudder on his tongue. Without talking, Rhett carries me to the bedroom, to finish what he started, and when we are both exhausted, satisfied, naked against each other, he falls into a deep, peaceful slumber.

But the relief that flooded me just an hour ago has quickly faded and I find sleep impossible again, no matter how much I beg and trick my body into it. No matter how many times I run through every scenario, telling myself it will all be fine.

I never had to protect anyone but myself against my family, and even then, my only solution was satisfying them in a way that only hurt myself. But I'm not that person anymore, and I don’t know what layer of protection I have other than a man who doesn’t understand the true weight of the society I was raised in.

I can’t shake the feeling that I am leading him into a den of snakes.

Chapter thirty-nine

Audrey

Rhett stirs next to me, and a smile pulls on my lips as I watch his long eyelashes flutter awake as we cozy in under the white duvet. Sun shines in, and even though I didn’t sleep much, I’m happy to wake up next to this man.

“I can’t believe you’re up before me,” he grumbles, pulling the pillow under his chest to prop himself up. I graze my eyes across his bare torso, back to his eyes that are all on me.

“I woke up and couldn’t go back to bed.” I shrug.

“Desperate for more of this?” He teases and I roll my eyes hard, even though I wouldn’t deny him if he decided to repeat last night’s activities.

“Actually, I have been busy. I bought our plane tickets and made reservations at a hotel.” I pause, tightening the messy bun on top of my head. Rhett’s eyes go wide with confusion. “Oh shoot, do you not remember agreeing to come with me?”

He sits up, puffs out his cheeks and runs a hand through his messy hair before speaking. “Of course, I remember…but wouldn’t we just stay with your parents? And last minute flights and hotels are usually pretty expensive, I thought? I didn’t expect you to buy anything for me, Audrey.”