Free Darker the Release by Claire Kent Page B

I’ve never said it before. It’s never been true before.”
    She was crying for real now, helpless to stop it. She couldn’t seem to let him go. And she heard herself saying, sobbing, “I love you too. I love you too.”
    It couldn’t be true. Not fully.
    But the part of herself she was still holding back was so small that it barely even counted. Everything else seemed to be poured out to this man, who was somehow everything she’d ever needed and wanted, who had somehow turned her inside out, who was giving himself to her in a way she’d never experienced before.
    She wanted to give herself to him too—for however long she was allowed.
    She could feel the emotion shuddering through him, and he held her in a hard embrace until her crying and shaking finally stopped, until she could relax, feel safe, sheltered by his strength.
    This was the way she wanted to be with him. The way she’d always wanted to be with a man but had never believed was possible.
    It probably wasn’t possible now either, but at the moment it felt like it might be.
    He was stroking her hair and back, soothing her tension until it had dissipated and her body had melted against his.
    Then he pulled back and met her eyes again.
    Caleb smiled—an intimate little smile that belonged to her alone. Then he leaned forward, pushing her back until she was reclining on the bed. Moving over her, he brushed her lips with his. “I’m glad,” he murmured. Then he sank into a deep kiss—one slower, softer, more generous, more tender than anything she’d ever experienced before.
    It was beautiful. And terrifying. And the best thing she’d ever felt in her life.
    She had to tear her mouth away when the panic started to close in on her, when she stopped being able to breathe.
    Caleb looked like he might want to take it farther, but she suddenly knew if she let him make love to her right now, she would lose the last of her defenses.
    And her father still mattered to her. The truth still mattered to her. She wasn’t going to sacrifice everything, not even for the way she was feeling right now.
    “Our waffles are getting cold,” she managed to say with a teasing smile.
    He blinked like he had come back from an intoxicated high. But he gave her a dry half-smile in response. “Right. Breakfast. How could I have forgotten?”
    —
    Kelly was exhausted all day after the long night and emotional upheaval that morning, so she ended up taking a nap after going to the park with Caleb and Ralph in the morning.
    She woke up without a clear sense of time, pulling the throw blanket she was using up over her shoulders. She felt content, comfortable, and kind of fuzzy—like she used to when she’d woken up late on Saturday mornings in high school, with nothing but a lazy morning waiting for her.
    She didn’t hear the news, however, which the Watsons had always blared on Saturday mornings, and the ceiling was totally wrong.
    Kelly stretched out her arms and legs, feeling relaxed and satisfied and toasty.
    Remembered the Watsons were dead.
    Then remembered her father was dead.
    Then she remembered Caleb. And everything that had happened last night and then this morning.
    She still felt warm but not quite so content.
    It was the bitterest kind of irony. That Caleb Marshall had fallen in love—with her, with the woman who had set out not so long ago to bring him down.
    She reminded herself that Jack was thinking now that Caleb likely wasn’t even guilty. She just had to wait another week or two until Jack’s guys could get into the storage room in Vendella’s headquarters and get the final evidence they needed.
    Then she could be done. Then she would know the truth.
    Then she would have to leave Caleb for good.
    The idea of it hurt so much she turned over on her side and curled into a ball. And it hurt almost as much to imagine how Caleb himself would feel when he found out the truth.
    Maybe he wouldn’t have to know. Maybe, if she found out he wasn’t guilty, she