Craig’s heart had started to pound as soon as she mentioned her aunt and the abuse she’d caused them. A fierce wave of protectiveness rushed over him and he found himself mentally promising not to let anything happen to this woman.
His feelings for her were growing intense too fast. He knew that. But it was also a fucking rush, a thrill he hadn’t expected from life.
“Do you still live with your sister?” He managed to speak normally despite the deep thoughts and emotions he was experiencing.
“Yeah. We actually live in Morningside. We moved there three months ago when the business picked up. It’s a nice flat.”
“Why don’t I walk you to it?”
Rain bit her lip in thought and Craig wanted to bite it for her instead. “Just walking me to my flat?”
“No funny business.” He reiterated his promise from a few weeks ago.
“Okay.”
They were passing a bakery in Bruntsfield when Rain made a moaning noise that caused his blood to heat.
“Oh, I love this place.” She gestured to the bakery window. “They have these delicious little cupcakes but they’re so expensive. I treat myself to a box every few months.”
She went to pass the place but Craig wrapped his hand around her waist and tugged her gently toward the shop door.
“What are you doing?”
He didn’t answer. Instead he led her inside, smiling at the girl behind the counter before dropping his gaze to the cakes. He spotted the cupcakes. According to the signs there were chocolate and caramel, pecan and maple, raspberry ripple, lemon drizzle, and vanilla and strawberry.
“What are your favorites?” he said.
Rain stared at him wide-eyed. “You can’t buy me cupcakes.”
“Why not?”
She opened her mouth to answer and seemed to realize there was no reasonable answer. She finally settled on, “You just can’t.”
He grunted in amusement. “You can tell me your favorite or I’ll choose for you.”
“If I remember correctly her favorites are chocolate and caramel and raspberry ripple,” the girl behind the counter offered with a giggle.
Craig grinned at her and she blushed. “Thank you. We’ll have three of each.”
“Three of . . .” Rain grabbed his hand. “You don’t have to do that.”
He looked down at where she held him and smiled before squeezing her hand. “I know I don’t.” He paid the girl and took the box of cupcakes before handing them to Rain.
She stared at the box as if it were precious gold. Tentatively she took it and then looked up at him with a warmth in her gaze that made him feel ten feet fall. “I’ll share with you.”
Tenderness mingled with desire soared through him. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Rain was quiet when they left the bakery and Craig worried she was taking the gesture and overanalyzing it in her head. He was just about to voice his concerns when she gestured across the street and said, “The library. Gosh, I haven’t been to the library in years. I miss it.”
He was bemused by the somewhat random comment. “Aye? Well I haven’t been in a library ever. School library when forced but not a public library.”
Her eyes grew round with astonishment as she stopped in the middle of the pavement. “You’ve never been in a library?”
“Never.”
“Well we’re going in, then.”
“It’s okay. I’ve never been that inclined to go in.”
“But you’re missing out.” She started hurrying toward the crossing and Craig had no choice but to follow her across the street to the library. “When I was a kid and things were really bad I’d go the library,” she said, and he felt that pang in his chest again picturing her as this lonely wee girl searching for solace somewhere. “It was just a building, but inside was magic.”
They stopped and stared at the library entrance.
“I could be a kid in America who was part of this amazing babysitters club, or I could be the Count of Monte Cristo seeking revenge. I could be a pirate in the Mediterranean or Wendy in Neverland or Lucy in Narnia. I could be anyone but who I was. And back then I needed it.”
“Rain,” he said, the word sounding hoarse because there was a large lump of emotion in his throat caused by her retrospection.
She seemed to shake herself, throwing him an offbeat smile. “I don’t need the place so much anymore, but I’m taking you in here just so you can smell it.”
Her playfulness relaxed him. “The smell?”
“The smell.” She strode forward, the automatic door opening for them, and they wandered into the library.
“I just smell new carpet,” he said as they wandered into the main reception where you could check your books out by yourself with the self-serve machines or at the counter, where a librarian gave them a cheery smile.
“It does smell like new carpet,” Rain said, wrinkling her nose in disappointment . . . and then just as quickly as it appeared the disappointment melted into an “Aha!” expression. “This way.”
He followed her past aisles of stacks, through the DVD library, and into the very back of the building into the reference section.
A smell of mustiness hit them as soon as she began walking down the stacks. It was darker here.
“I thought the books in this section might be older and less used. They’ve got that wonderful musty smell.” She stopped, turning to face him in the small space.
He immediately became aware of the fact that they were alone and her body was mere inches from him.
“What do you think?” she said.
“I think it smells a little nasty,” he admitted with a chuckle.
Rain giggled and looked around them. “I guess the smell can only be charming if it triggers pleasant memories.”
Lust rushed through his whole body. Lust, need, and an overwhelming surge of tenderness for this woman. “I guess,” Craig said, as he reached for her box of cupcakes, and ignored her questioning gaze. “That means . . .” He placed the box out of the way on one of the shelves. “I should make a pleasant memory here, then.”
Rain
Without warning Craig’s lips came down on mine in a hard, greedy kiss that demanded a reaction. We teetered back against the wall.
The heat and strength of him overwhelmed me as his large hand gripped the back of my neck and his other slid around my hip, pressing our bodies as close together as possible. I wrapped my arms around him, my hands digging into his back, my legs trembling with adrenaline and need as he caught hold of his desperation and gentled the kiss. His tongue teased my own, making me shiver with delight. The smell of him, the taste of coffee on his tongue, the feel of his warm hands gripping me tight . . . it sent a bolt of lust straight between my legs and I wobbled in my high heels.
Craig’s hand tightened around my neck and he groaned, the vibration of it surging through me, skimming down my body and teasing my nipples. His kiss grew harder again, more demanding. My nails dug into his back in reaction as he tried to destroy any semblance of control I had left.
He succeeded.
The feel of his erection digging into my belly sent me spinning off the edge of the earth. Arousal was sizzling throughout my blood, suffusing my skin until I was flushing like mad. The need grew hungrier as Craig’s hand slid up my waist. His thumb caressed the curve of my breast and I sagged deeper into his hold. He broke the kiss, pulling back only an inch to gaze into my eyes. His own were filled with so much heat and need I felt a surge of power rush through me. I’d never felt that way before. It was intoxicating.