Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 63608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
He stares at me, breath shallow, as if he never considered that angle. Then, softly: “Maybe.”
I shift closer and lay my hand lightly on his knee.
The effect is immediate.
His muscles tense.
His breath stops.
His eyes lift to mine with a hunger that steals air from my lungs.
“Kelly,” he whispers, warning in his tone.
“I’m not confused,” I state, softer. “Not about this.”
“You don’t remember,” he says.
“But I feel,” I whisper. “I feel things I don’t understand. And every memory that’s come back so far? Every one of them has you in it.”
He squeezes his eyes shut like the weight of my words is too much.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he murmurs. “I did that once. I’m not doin’ it again.”
“You’re not hurting me.”
“I might,” he counters.
“Then show me,” I beg. “Show me what we were. Don’t tell me, show me.”
His eyes snap open.
“Kelly.”
My heart thunders.
“Show me,” I repeat, breath trembling. “Help me remember you.”
For a terrifying moment, I think he’s going to stand, walk away, shove down everything between us again.
But instead, he reaches up, hesitates for half a second— And then cups my cheek with both hands.
Gentle.
Intentional.
My breath catches.
Ledger leans in just enough that I feel the whisper of his breath against my lips. Not touching. Not kissing. Just close enough that my world narrows to the heat of him.
“Kelly,” he whispers, voice breaking, “if I touch you the way I want to I won’t stop.”
“Maybe I don’t want you to stop.”
He groans low, raw, tortured and pulls me even closer.
But he doesn’t kiss me.
His forehead presses to mine, his hands sliding to cradle my jaw like I’m something he’s terrified of losing.
“Tell me what you feel right now,” he murmurs.
I swallow. “Warm.”
His thumbs stroke my cheeks.
“What else?”
“Safe,” I breathe.
He inhales sharply.
“And?” he pushes, voice rough.
I look into his eyes, and something inside me clicks into place a memory slamming into me so hard I gasp.
A doorway. Dim light. His arms around me. My hands gripping the front of his shirt. My voice whispering, Don’t fall in love with me.
And his answering whisper rough, painful, true, “Too late, sunshine.”
The memory hits like lightning.
My breath shatters.
His eyes widen. “What just happened?”
“I,” Tears blur my vision. “I remember.”
“What?” he demands.
“You,” I choke out. “Holding me. Kissing me. Me telling you not to fall in love and you,” I pause.
He’s frozen.
“You said it was too late,” I whisper.
Ledger looks like I just punched the air from his lungs. “You didn’t push me away. I begged you not to fall in love with me. Over and over, I put the wall up between us. Even though I had already fallen for you.”
For a full five seconds, he says nothing. Then he drags me into him, not gentle now, not hesitant, but desperate, arms wrapping around my back, pulling me into his chest like he’s reclaiming something that was stolen.
My breath leaves me in a rush.
He buries his face in my neck for one long, shuddering moment. I grip his shirt in both hands, anchoring myself to him. When he finally pulls back, his eyes are wet, jaw clenched hard.
“Kelly,” he whispers, “you remembered me.”
“Yes,” I breathe, cupping his cheek. “I did. I do.”
Lightning flashes again, illuminating his expression, this mix of relief, fear, hunger, and something deeper. Something I’m not ready to name but feel down to my bones.
Then his phone buzzes violently. The sound rips the moment apart.
Ledger stands instantly, every inch of him shifting from vulnerable man to lethal protector. “What?” he snaps into the phone. “Talk.”
Silence. Then a sharp curse.
He turns to me, eyes blazing.
“They’re close,” he explains. “Closer than before.”
My pulse leaps. “Here?”
“Close enough that we don’t stay here.”
He grabs my hand not roughly, but firmly and pulls me to my feet.
“Riot.”
“We’re movin’ again,” he growls. “Now.”
I grab my bag as thunder cracks overhead.
He pulls me toward the door.
Then stops.
Turns.
Cups my face again.
“Kelly,” he whispers, voice shaking, “you remembered me. Don’t lose that. Hold on to it.”
“I will,” I breathe. “I promise.”
He nods once then pulls me into the storm with him.
And right then, in the rain and darkness, with danger closing in from all sides…I realize something terrifying, it’s not just my memories returning.
It’s my feelings.
And they’re coming back for him.
Hard.
Fast.
All at once.
Seventeen
Ledger
If they want a war, they picked the wrong man to provoke.
* * *
Rain slams sideways across the windshield as I tear down the country road, wipers barely keeping up. The storm is coming in thick, fast sheets, lightning flashing across the sky like camera flashes in rapid succession.
Kelly’s hand is gripping the seat beside her, knuckles white. She’s trying to look calm, but I can feel her fear pumping through the cramped space of the truck like a living thing.
She remembered me. She remembered us. And the universe decided to answer that with another threat.
Figures.
“Riot?” Her voice cracks just slightly.