Lost to You by - (book club books .TXT) 📕

no hesitation from her, just the softness of her hands as they ran up and over my shoulders and anchored at the back of my neck.

I leaned in and swept my nose along the sweetness of her jaw, and I whispered at her ear, “Be with me.”

Elizabeth swayed and rocked, and then precious girl let herself go in the security of my arms.

Her face was hidden in the crook of my neck, buried in my need and the absolute devotion I felt for her.

Her mouth pressed to my skin.

It had to be the best thing I’d ever felt.

I danced with her, lifting her from her feet and slowly spinning her around.

We stayed that way for what seemed like forever, the snow flitting down around us while Elizabeth and I said nothing, just allowed our hearts to dance together in an eternal promise.

Because I was never going to let her go.

She pulled her head away to find my face, and I placed her back on her feet. One hand remained firm around her waist, and I brushed aside the hair stuck to the side of her face with the other.

Contentment thrummed in my chest, while my need for Elizabeth only grew.

Her eyes were all alight, tender, that honeyed-amber swimming with what I felt beating steadily within my heart.

From the moment I saw her, I knew something about her was different. I’d just never imagined it would change my life.

It was Elizabeth who pushed the moment. She lifted to her toes and pressed her lips to mine. Her mouth came so cautious and slow, testing, though I felt nothing there that told me she was still unsure.

The questions between us no longer remained.

Both my hands slid to her hips, and I pulled her as close as I possibly could then wound one hand back up her spine to the base of her neck.

I kissed her slowly.

Savored her unhurriedly.

There was nothing carnal to this kiss. But still, it was enough to reignite the ache she’d left me with for so many months.

Hell, this girl had managed it with one look.

I smiled against her lips, still unable to grasp that she’d brought me this far.

I could feel her grinning, too, before she pulled back. She pressed her lips together as if savoring the remnant of our kiss. “What?”

I shook my head, gripping her tight. “Nothing. I just didn’t realize anything could make me this happy.”

She hid her face in my chest and mumbled, “Neither did I.”

I dropped a kiss to her head and hugged her a little more. She shivered again. Who knew how much time had passed since we’d been standing out in the snow without our jackets.

I stepped back and grabbed two of her fingers because I found I really didn’t want to let her go. “You should get inside. It’s freezing out here.”

She cast a quick glance behind her at her building. The single window to her apartment remained a darkened square against the gray wall.

She turned back to me. “You want to come inside?”

Did I? My body answered with a resounding Hell, yeah.

No doubt, the second we crossed her threshold it would be all over. There’d be hands and flesh and need that would no longer be denied.

No longer could anything or anyone stop this attraction that had grown, transformed, and solidified as this bond that could not be broken.

My eyes skimmed over her face. Even though she looked up at me with the same desires that spun a path through my veins and coiled in my muscles, I didn’t miss the weariness that lay as purple smudges beneath her eyes.

I shook my head. “No, not tonight.”

Disappointment creased her forehead, and I drew her to me and kissed her again. I pushed my mouth near her ear and murmured, “Of course, I want to, Elizabeth.”

I flattened myself to her so she’d know how much I really did.

“But I’m not going to. Let’s do dinner tomorrow, instead. I want that time with you, just knowing it’s you and me. Can we do that?”

She sighed and nodded against my chest before she smiled lightly up at me. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

I dropped a small kiss to her mouth plus one against her nose. “Do me a favor and go climb underneath a blanket. You’re frozen.”

She laughed. “Okay.”

She stepped back and hooked her index finger with mine. She swayed our hands between us. “I’ll miss you.”

I’d been missing her for months, and I didn’t even know it. “Me, too. I’ll see you tomorrow, though, okay?”

Finally, she dropped her hand, turned, and walked away. At the door, she paused to look at me. “It’s a date,” she told me with a soft smile.

All I could think about was the first day in that café. The smile that lit on my face was to match.

Finally, she pulled the door open and slipped inside.

I wrapped my arms over my chest in an attempt to shield myself from the cold, my attention trained upstairs. Her light flicked on. Five seconds later, Elizabeth pressed her face to the window. She smiled this wistful smile and placed both hands against the glass.

I stood there with my hands shoved in my pockets, rocking back on my heels as I stared up at her. That spot inside expanded and I loved her a little more.

No one could ever come close to this girl, the way she made me feel, what she made me see. We belonged together.

I lifted a hand in a small wave. Her fingers curled on the window, and her expression filled with that same tenderness she had looked at me with for so long. I hoped she could see the same in mine.