Witness to Passion (Entangled Ignite) (Guarding Her Body) by Naima Simone Read Free Book Online

the remaining vestiges of her nightmare. She met his bright, steady gaze, clung to the comfort and security in it. “It was just a dream. You’re okay, baby. Breathe for me. With me. That’s it.” He lifted his other hand, cradled her face between his palms. Instinctively, she followed his deep, even inhalations, and eventually her breathing leveled. Her heartbeat no longer thundered in her ears like relentless waves crashing against a rocky shore.
    The pad of his thumb swept the skin under her eye. “Better?”
    No . “Yes.”
    “Good,” he murmured and rose from his crouch next to her.
    Alarm blared inside her, loud, harsh, violent. “No,” she rasped, her grip on his wrists tightening. “Don’t leave me. Please.”
    Yes, she was begging him to stay with her, to continue touching her. Yet, she couldn’t dredge up disgust for how weak she sounded. Not when the claws of the nightmare lurked just on the fringes of her subconscious, waiting for her to become vulnerable again. Waiting to sink its talons into her once more.
    He hesitated, but after a moment, lowered to the cushion beside her. The solid heat from his hip pressed into hers, but it wasn’t enough. Like a little girl afraid of the monsters under her bed, she scrambled onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in the crook between his throat and shoulder. She inhaled his fresh scent, took it into herself like a lucky talisman.
    “Fallon,” he murmured, tone as strained and tense as the big body beneath her.
    “Just for a little while,” she pleaded. “Please.”
    A caress so light that for a moment she almost believed her desperate mind had imagined it swept down her hair. The air stilled in her lungs. Because if she had conjured it, maybe the soft stroke would come again. And it did. A strong arm curled around her back, long fingers settling on her hip. Slowly, she exhaled. Relaxed. Burrowed into the welcoming, safe haven of his chest.
    Sighed.
    Her lashes lowered, drowsiness creeping in to tug at her. She drifted, floating on a delicious, warm current. Quiet descended over the room, the only sounds their hushed breaths.
    As she drifted back to sleep, firm lips brushed over her curls, across her forehead.
    “I have you,” a low voice rumbled. Vowed.
    Or maybe she dreamed that, too.

Chapter Five
    The weak late-morning sun struggled to beam down on Shane as he leaned against the hood of his truck outside the District A-1 station of the Boston Police Department. The breeze was surprisingly brisk for May, and several people hustled past him, hands shoved in pockets or collars jacked up around their ears as they hurried toward the front entrance of the station. A couple of officers shot him curious glances as they passed by him in the parking lot.
    Run me in . He met their gazes head-on. You’ll be doing me a favor after last night . Yeah, a little disturbing the peace charge would be the perfect excuse to avoid a repeat of the hell he’d endured the night before. Allowing the police to do his dirty work smacked of cowardice. But when a man faced down temptation that made Eve’s apple look like a Little Debbie snack, he could be forgiven for contemplating running scared.
    “Fuck me,” he growled, crossing his arms. He deserved a goddamn medal for the restraint he’d exhibited. Especially when Fallon had kissed the scars on his back. Scars he could’ve gone the rest of his existence without her ever glimpsing. A hot flash of humiliation speared him. He wasn’t ashamed of his wounds. How could he be? Not when Marcus had given his life so Shane could stand here today, damaged but alive. On reflex, Shane grazed his fingers over the three dog tags concealed beneath his shirt. Two of them belonged to him, and one to Marcus. The other half of his dead friend’s ID hung around his GDG partner Khalil’s neck.
    Still…
    He hadn’t wanted Fallon to ever see the marks. They represented a dark period when he’d been