Free Bennett (Bourbon & Blood #1) by Seraphina Donavan

very much a part of who he was, there were new layers to him that she didn’t know, didn’t quite understand. “ Did you see them? ”
    “ No. The windows were tinted well beyond legal and the tags were so covered in mud they were impossible to read. Oddly enough, the rest of the vehicle was spotless. ”
    Mia walked toward the spring house, her steps slow and even a little timid. She was walking straight into her past, but she wasn ’ t certain yet if it was wise. Regardless, it was inevitable. “ Is it safe inside? ”
    “ Safer than it was when we used to come here, ” he answered.
    She smiled at that as she reached for the padlock on the door. “ Is this your doing? ”
    She heard his footsteps behind her, felt the weight of his presence. His arm brushed against her as he reached past her and unlocked the door. A shiver moved through her.
    “ Yes, ” he admitted. Grudgingly, he added, “ I don ’ t like sharing this place with other people. ”
    “ Even me? ” she asked.
    “ You ’ re the reason I don ’ t want to share it. Coming here, ” he paused for a second, his gaze sweeping over the building, “ it ’ s like church. Sacred. ”
    The little bit of hardness that had remained inside her, the shell she ’ d cultivated to protect that wounded part of her, shattered like glass. “ I ’ m so sorry, Bennett. ”
    “ For what? ”
    She turned to him, her eyes filled with tears. “ For hurting you. For not being brave enough to fight for what I wanted. For letting every day of the last ten years pass without reaching out for you. ”
    *~*~*
    Bennett sucked in a breath. Those words cut into him, slicing right to the bone. They hurt, but it was a release at the same time. For years, he ’ d wondered if she had regrets, if she ever questioned the fateful decision she ’ d made that night. There were other answers he needed from her, but for the moment, that was enough.
    “ And now? Are you willing to fight now? ”
    “ I can ’ t, ” she answered. “ I have reasons for the choice I made, Bennett. Those reasons still stand. ”
    His fists clenched at his sides. It was either that or punch the damn wall. “ So why climb into my truck? Why come out here with me? I could have told you everything I needed to standing right there in front of the distillery. ”
    She stepped through the door and into the darkened interior of the spring house. Her words floated back to him with a slight echo. “ Because I ’ m selfish. I wanted to be alone with you … away from prying eyes, away from all the reminders of why this is a terrible idea. Because I wanted to give myself an opportunity to give in to temptation. ”
    Bennett walked in behind her and closed the door. The spring still flowed through, the sound of the water moving over the rocks and boards was strangely peaceful. The mountain of obstacles separating them was still there, an elephant in the room that, for the moment at least, he would happily ignore. Instead, he focused on one part of her confession alone. “ I tempt you? ”
    She glanced over her shoulder at him, her dark hair falling into her face. He reached out and tucked it behind her ear. It was a gesture he ’ d made hundreds of times, muscle memory. But it was Mia, and nothing was ever simple. Even that relatively innocent touch was like a match to tinder.
    He reached for her, pulling her close. She didn ’ t fight, didn ’ t resist, she just melted into him. The softness of her body settled against the hardness of his own
    Bennett closed his eyes and let the heat and spark of that sink into him. Her arms wrapped around him and he buried his hands in the thick fall of her hair. A gentle tug and she tipped her head back until their eyes met.
    “ I can ’ t promise you tomorrow, Bennett. ”
    “ I didn ’ t ask you to, ” he said, his voice tinged with desire and anger. She frustrated him. She infuriated him. And for better or worse, she had put her mark on him a long time