Star Crossed Hurricane by Wendy Knight Page A

its own free will, parted her lips, sliding across hers. She gasped and then bit him, light enough to not cause pain, but hard enough to send waves of need washing over him.
    He never wanted to let her go, never wanted to stop. That kiss lasted for seconds, or for hours, he wasn’t sure. Time ceased to exist in her arms, doing the one thing he’d dreamed about since he met her. He sank back against the wall, and she sat on his lap, her legs straddling him, and he couldn’t seem to get her close enough. It was all he could do not to tear her clothes off and rain kisses down her throat. To do things he’d sworn he’d never do with her.
    Sworn to Beckett.
    “Wait, baby. Just… wait.” He pushed her back, gently, untangling her arms from around his neck. She blinked at him, and then her brow furrowed while he did everything possible to tear his eyes from her sweet, swollen lips. He ran his knuckles over them; his body and his heart begging him to not say what had to be said. “We can’t do this.”
    She sat back, sliding onto the ground. “What do you mean? This… or us this?”
    He ran a hand over his face, praying for strength. Praying he wouldn’t shatter her heart the way his was shattering now. “ Us this.”
    She swallowed. “Because of Beckett.”
    “He’s been my best friend since I was a baby, Savannah. I can’t… it’s wrong. It would kill him.”
    “What if… what if he doesn’t know?”
    It was his turn to frown in confusion. “Doesn’t know what we’re doing now?”
    “Doesn’t know about us . We could hide it from him. From everyone,” she was talking too quickly, her cheeks reddening.
    “So we’d be sneaking around? That seems a hell of a lot worse, Buttercup.”
    “But we would be together,” she whispered. It was as if he could see her heart breaking right in front of him. The entire night flashed through his eyes — Savannah standing, bloody and bruised, in the alcove, watching her climb the tree in the middle of a lightning storm. Seeing her tumble down the stairs into the water and watching her shove the door open with the shovel. She was smart, beautiful, fearless. At the same time, broken, frightened, and sad. And that was his fault.
    “Savannah, I’d give anything, anything , to be with you. You have to understand that. But Beckett—”
    She rose to her feet so swiftly she had to catch herself on the wall to keep from toppling over. “I understand.” She spun on her heel and ducked through the door, out of sight.
    “Savannah! Wait!” He scrambled to his feet and went after her. She was halfway down the brick road by the time he got out, and running hard. “Savannah, don’t do this!”
    She skidded to a stop, her breath echoing through the underground city. But she didn’t turn to face him. Her shoulders rose and fell and her tangled hair tumbled down her back. “I need some time alone, Sawyer. You can at least give me that.”
    And what, exactly would he say to that? What could he say to that? He had no choice but to stand there and watch her disappear into the darkness. “Yeah, okay. I’ll let you have your space,” he muttered. Swearing under his breath, wondering if he was having a heart attack because his chest hurt like someone had thrown a javelin through it, he went back into the little building and collapsed on the floor. He stared at the ceiling through his fingers, wondering why, of all the girls in the universe, he had to fall in love with the one his best friend wanted more than anything.
    The universe was cruel. That’s all there was to it. Cold and cruel.
    When she didn’t come back after a half-hour, he heaved himself to his feet and went looking for her. Aaron’s phone lay silent in the dirt, still alive but still no damn signal. He shoved it in his pocket with his own useless phone and wandered down the street, cautious because she was angry, and he’d seen her go after Beckett. His little Savvy was fierce. The last thing he wanted was her