Free Security Blanket by Delores Fossen Page A

sleeping peacefully in the crib in the sitting room.
    Lucky leaned down, gave Noah a light kiss on the cheek and turned to go back to the bedroom, but another sound stopped him. Marin came out of the bathroom. Toweling her damp hair, she was dressed in a turquoise-blue robe that was nearly the same color as her eyes.
    She didn’t look so pale now, probably because the hot steamy shower had given her skin a pinkish flush. She’d changed the bandage on her forehead, replacing it was a Band-Aid that covered the stitches. It was less noticeable, even though it still exposed the bruise left from the impact.
    “Everything okay?” she asked in a whisper.
    He nodded. “Just making sure he’s all right.”
    Marin walked closer, close enough for him to catch her scent. Lucky hadn’t remembered strawberry shampoo ever smelling that good.
    “It’s probably best that you try to distance yourself from him,” she said, her voice still soft. “Since you’ll only be around him a couple more days, I don’t want him to get too attached.”
    Lucky thought it might be too late for that. For both of them. But Marin was right. Noah wasn’t his to claim, even though his feelings for Noah were the most real thing he’d felt since his sister’s death. Noah was young and wouldn’t remember him, but Lucky would certainly remember the little boy.
    “The same applies to us,” Marin added, scratching her eyebrow. She shifted her position and adjusted the sash on her robe. “That kiss in the closet shouldn’t have happened.”
    He had to agree with that, even though saying it to himself didn’t make the sensations go away.
    “I want to kiss you again,” he admitted.
    Her shoulders snapped back. “But you won’t,” she insisted, sounding about as convinced as Lucky felt. “We need to keep our hands off each other.”
    “It’s not my hands you should be worried about,” he mumbled, causing her to laugh.
    “Tell you what, if the kissing urge hits us again,” she said, “let’s make ourselves count to ten. That might give us just enough time to realize what a huge mistake we’d be making.”
    Right.
    The side of her bathrobe slipped a little, easing off her shoulder. Her bare shoulder. And he got just a glimpse of the top of her right breast and her nipple.
    “Oh, man. You’re not wearing anything beneath that bathrobe?”
    She jerked the sides together to close the gap. “I came out to check on Noah. Then, I was going to get dressed.”
    “So you’re naked?”
    Why couldn’t he just let this subject drop? Because he was suddenly aroused beyond belief.
    So, he did something totally stupid. He reached out, caught on to her shoulders.
    And yeah, he kissed her again, all the while convincing himself that if he stopped, she’d give into the emotion caused by the danger and the adrenaline. She’d get worried and depressed again. He also tried to convince himself that he wasn’t enjoying it, that it was therapeutic.
    A bald-faced lie.
    He was enjoying the heck out of it. The feel of her mouth against his. The way she fit in his arms. The hot-as-sin scent of hers stirring around him. Yes, he was enjoying it.
    And he wasn’t the only one.
    Marin moaned in pure pleasure. That’s when he knew he had to stop. With Noah only a couple of inches away, this couldn’t continue.
    He pulled away from her, ran his tongue over his bottom lip and wasn’t surprised when he tasted her there. It was a taste that might be permanently etched into his brain.
    “We shouldn’t have done that, either,” she grumbled. “With all the emotional baggage that each of us has, it wouldn’t work between us. Every time you look at me, you’ll see my brother, the man you blame for your sister’s death.”
    “You’re right,” he said. Except it was partly a lie. Marin would always be Dexter’s sister, but she was also her own woman.
    And he was attracted to her.
    Still, Marin was correct. They shouldn’t be kissing. Maybe if he said it enough