"I still feel guilty."
"I understand." I don't think that ever goes away. Clearing my throat, I finish her wrist. I've never met anyone who wears their emotions on their sleeves like she does. I'm not sure what to say to help or even if I can.
I release her hand.
"You feel this way about Mikael, don't you?" she asks.
"Yeah, I do." We're at eye level with me kneeling in front of her. Meeting her brown-green gaze, I try not to think about how close her body is. The tension is between us again, almost unbearable when we're alone in the emotionally charged environment that follows us wherever we go. My fingers are twitching with the need to touch her, my body heated from the inside out.
We simply gaze at each other for a long time.
"Do you ever wish we could have a normal conversation?" she asks out of the blue. "Like other people do?"
I snort. "I hadn't thought about it that way, but yeah."
"Do you think it's possible?"
"I don't know, Katya."
She nods and wipes her cheeks.
I hate seeing her sad.
The protective instinct I don't want to feel is only getting stronger, compelling me to act when I'd rather walk away. Rarely do I do anything without a great deal of planning or control, but something about this woman touches the primal side of me that doesn't feel constrained by deliberate thought.
I cup her cheeks with my hands and kiss her. I'm expecting her to freeze, to react negatively somehow.
Instead, she responds with the same unbridled passion she did last night. I shift to lean against the bed between her thighs, and her arms go around my neck. Her kisses are hot and deep, driven by emotion that makes my blood race and my adrenaline spike. Any thought of restraint melts under her fire, replaced by the need to feel her soft skin against mine and her body beneath me, to wear her scent and taste every inch of her body.
Just when I start to think we're in some serious trouble, she breaks off the kiss and hugs me hard. Her breathing is rough in my ear, her large breasts pressed to my chest and her natural scent covered by shower smells.
My arms go around her, and I squeeze her into me, my resistance surprisingly low, even considering what I know about the risks of getting involved with her. I'm not usually one for hugs, but from her, I'm starting to enjoy them. Her knees part and I pull her more solidly into my body, recalling too well how we fit together as if made for one another.