You're My Home (completed)

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Rachel found it hard to be cold with Collin's hands trailing her back, her face, her neck, her hair. His hands and his warmth seemed to be everywhere at once. For all she knew, they were. In this moment, time was infinite. She was aware of every inch of her warrior angel as he gripped her hair into his fists, forcing the messy bun to unravel. His kisses had turned from tender to passionate, and Rachel's mouth struggled to keep up with his.

His hunger for her burned in his eyes, when she forced him to look at her. She wanted to see it for herself. She wanted to be wanted. Collin breathed heavily, unable to keep his gaze latched to hers. He kept looking back at her mouth. He tried to lean in again, but Rachel held his jaw, forcing him back. They both struggled to catch their breath.

Rachel didn't want to talk, but she needed to ask. "Why me? Why do you like me?"

Collin's brow tightened. "I more than like you."

His lips reached hers, but Rachel couldn't engage as well as before. Collin attempted to pull her back into the previous mood, but he felt her resistance and grudgingly gave her the space she needed.

"What's wrong?" he asked, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs.

What was wrong was that Rachel now knew Collin was in love with her, or at least that's what she assumed by what he'd said. What was even more wrong was that she loved him, too. She loved him more than any of her past boyfriends, the stupid guys that broke her heart. It was wrong because it was love she was feeling. He had smashed down her protective walls to rubble, and she was vulnerable.

Rachel needed clarification. If her question pushed him away—well, maybe that was a good thing. She swallowed her fear and asked, "Are you in love with me?"

Collin studied her face. Rachel knew her heavy eyeliner and mascara must be running, but right now it didn't matter. She shoved her insecurity behind and braced herself for Collin's rejection.

"I am," he said.

Rachel forgot her fears as her heart leaped and her stomach dropped. Surely she'd misheard him.

"I always have," he continued. "That's why I'm here. That's why I got the chance to be with you."

She blinked, her lashes damp from rain water and tears. His hands still held her face. Rachel was terrified of how this might end, terrified of losing him one day. She wanted to forget again. She wanted to get lost in that place where time didn't exist. She took hold of his neck and pulled him in. This time, she matched his hungry kisses with the same fervent hunger.

A moment later, she giggled against his lips. With laughter in her voice she said, "Are we seriously kissing in the rain?"

It was such a cliché, but what wasn't anymore? He seemed to understand and shared her humor.

"Let's get out of here." Collin took her hand and they ran for the truck.

Rachel was still smiling when Collin opened the passenger door for her. She'd forgotten he was a man with manners.

When he climbed in the driver's seat, she asked, "Are you driving?"

He gave her a look that said something like, "I've been alive for thousands of years. I know how to drive."

Rachel didn't pay much attention to where he was taking her. He was just too breathtaking not to admire. With his fingers intertwined with hers and the road stretching before them, she admired him for a long while.