My mouth fell open. I waited for him to explain, but he just trudged past me like a tired, old man. He started toward the couch before he caught sight of Skylar sleeping in the bouncer. Scooping her up, he pulled her close as he sat down with her and buried his nose in her hair.
When he finally looked up at me, the dazed expression in his eyes told me he was in shock. Without a word, I sat next to him, and the four of us huddled together, just sitting there.
***
Though I was by no means ready to let him go, I knew Julian needed lots of rest, so at some point, I reluctantly rose and carried him to the crib. Pick followed me with a still sleeping Skylar and nestled her next to Julian.
I delicately touched the scrapes on his face and once again felt the rage welling. Setting my knuckles to my mouth, I wished Tristy were well on her way to hell.
Pick caught my hand, startling me. When I looked up, the darkness in his eyes shocked me. He looked savage. Turning away, he started for the doorway, drawing me out of the nursery with him.
I had no idea what was going through his head. His son had finally been returned, yet he had to be pissed about what'd been done to Julian. On the other hand, his oldest friend had just died, even though she probably wasn't his favorite person at the moment. His head had to be all over the place.
Touching his back, I asked, "Are you okay?"
He didn't answer, just kept his back to me as he quietly shut the door so as not to disturb the children. Then he spun to me and pushed me against the wall. His mouth was on mine and his tongue was inside me before I even knew what was happening.
Heat lightning exploded out the ends of my toes. Instantly aroused, I wrapped my arms around him as he lifted me up again the wall. I tried to follow suit with my legs but he stopped me so he could grapple with my pants and shove them down, along with my underwear.
Then he grasped my bare thigh and hooked it around his hips. He sank his teeth into one of my breasts through my blouse, and I squirmed against him, wanting all my clothes out of the way so he could bite whatever he wanted.
"I need you so much right now," he panted as he opened his jeans and slid a condom on. I gaped at how hard and hungry he was.
The man was desperate, and he proved it by thrusting into me, rough and fast. The shock of his ravenous penetration made me cry out. Just as needy for him, I moved with him, arching into his next deep pump. His mouth ravished mine as he pinned me to the wall and took me without mercy.
"Yes," I said, biting his ear and clenching around him when he hit a spot that had my toes curling.
"Eva . . . " He groaned, breaking off to breathe into my mouth as his hips bucked in a ceaseless rhythm, pounding faster until I was clutching fistfuls of his hair and we were both crying out. He released into me hard, using my body to heal himself, and I was honored to alleviate his pain.
When his entire frame sagged against me and he buried his face in my neck, I knew he'd just worked through some of whatever was haunting him.
"I love you so much," he murmured, his voice slurred and sleepy.
I kissed his cheek and brushed his hair off his forehead. "I love you too."
"I don't know what I'd do right now without you."
"Well . . . " I bit my lip, wanting to make him smile. "To begin with, you probably would've had to jack off."
His lips fluttered into a half-smile as he lifted his face. "And it wouldn't have felt nearly this good."
He scooped me up into his arms and carried me toward our room. Once we were nestled under the blankets, he spooned himself behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist before setting his chin on my shoulder.
"I'm serious, Eva. Without you, I have no idea how my life would've turned out. If I hadn't had that vision of you and wanted you with every fiber of my being, I probably would've followed the same path as Tristy and gotten sucked into drugs. Or I would've done what my other friend Harvey did, and joined a gang. He was shot and killed in a drive-by when he was sixteen."
I kissed his jaw. "I'm so sorry for all your loss."
He mumbled something incoherent as if he didn't want to think about that. Then he began to pet my side. "You know how you keep saying I was your hero and I saved you when I beat up your ex and your dad? That's bullshit. You're my hero. Meeting you in those glimpses saved me. It made me want to be a good person so I could deserve you when I finally found you. And now that you're here, holding me and letting me love you when I just want to implode from the inside out . . . " He buried his face in my hair and inhaled deeply. "You don't even know what your mere presence does to me. You're my sanity."
I reached around behind me to comb his hair with my fingers. "You're mine too. There's nowhere else in the world I'd rather be."
"Don't ever leave me," he demanded in a broken voice.
I smiled, thinking my next words were the easiest promise I'd ever make. "I won't."
Chapter 28
PICK