Charmed (Second Sight) by Hazel Hunter Page B

leave.’
    She winced. Despite knowing this had been inevitable, his words suddenly captured and crystalized the moment. A familiar pain blossomed in her chest–the fear she had both nursed and tried to run from. The fear that always seemed to come between them. Deep down, she’d always known this could never work.  
    She stared at Mac’s hands.  
    But with him , she had dared to hope–and now that hope was tearing her apart.
    It was time to stop the fear .
    Time to let go.
    Slowly, Mac lowered his hands.
    But then, as though she were watching herself from outside her own body, she saw her hands fly forward and snatch his up.
    “ Don’t leave ,” she whispered.

    •••••

    “ Isabelle ,” Mac said as he tugged her forward.
    For a single, tortuous moment, he’d thought she might actually do it. But as he wound his arms around her, she clutched his back and sobbed into his chest.
    He crushed her to him and shut his eyes as his mind drew back from the brink.
    What would I have done if she hadn’t taken my hands?
    “Don’t go,” she said against his chest. He looked down at her tear-streaked face. “Don’t go,” she repeated quickly. “Don’t go. You can’t go.”  
    Her glassy eyes were haunted, almost wild.
    Quickly, he grasped her face between his hands as her arms tightened fiercely around him.
    “ Never ,” he whispered, leaning down to her, focusing on her quivering lips.
    Then he placed his lips gently on them.

    •••••

    Isabelle closed her eyes to the soft press of Mac’s lips as tears slipped down her cheeks.
    Impossible .
    That’s the only word for it.
    In the moment that she’d thought she would actually lose him, it had simply been impossible .
    Because the alternative…
    Inwardly, she cringed, the trembling in her lips moving into her core. The alternative was so unthinkable she couldn’t confront it. She wouldn’t. Instead, she willed the possibility away, forced her mind to turn from it.  
    Instead, she focused on Mac.
    On her lips, his kiss was feathery light and slow. She savored the moist, lingering cling of it and the way his lips moved along hers. Her own mouth was tentative, afraid to break the moment and return to the reality of what she’d nearly done. But it was as though Mac felt the same. He became still at times, as if moving too fast might burst the bubble. Though the masculine side of Mac was incredibly sensual, sometimes even scary, the tender side of him was overwhelming. The less he did, the more she wanted.  
    Carefully, her lips began to explore his. She slowly suckled his plump lower lip and felt his mouth respond. His lips were warm and full, his breath just a whisper across her skin. The tip of her tongue tested him, a tiny nudge of the flesh lightly grasped between her lips. Though she’d clutched his back from the start, his hands only now drifted to her neck and then down her back. He opened his mouth to her, waiting.
    Her tongue entered him, slipping between his parted lips. The sweet invasion was brief but mesmerizing and she found herself repeating it, stroking his mouth. Though his arms finally wound around her, she found her hands suddenly on his hips, then her fingers tugging up his shirt. Her heart began to race as her gloved hands fumbled with the bottom button, slipping this way and that. As his lips parted wider, her tongue found his and she tore her gloves off. Mac barely moved, except for his tongue curling with hers, but her fingers moved steadily upward, unbuttoning his shirt.
    As the last button opened and she spread his shirt wide, Isabelle ended their kiss and drew back. Her eyes took in the broad chest and lean waist. Fine hair dusted his mounded pectorals and a dark line of hair, just visible above his belt, divided the rippled tightness of his abdomen. For a moment she hesitated, not sure where to start. But, without thinking, her fingers pressed into his chest.

    •••••

    Mac watched Isabelle’s pupils dilate