Free EMBER - Part Three (The EMBER Series, #3) by Deborah Bladon

that you have a brother."
    "I never see him anymore." He scowls. "My mother doesn't either."
    "Why not?" I push. I want a clear understanding of his family dynamic.
    He looks towards the couple who are now sitting on one of the pews a few feet away from us. "He's a pilot. He's always away. When he's in New York, he's hanging out with whoever he met the night before. He shows up during the holidays for a drink or two and then he's gone again."
    I glance past him to the clock on the wall. It's well past the time I was supposed to be at the pub. I can tame Elliott's anger tomorrow. Tonight, Dane needs me and if I'm being completely honest with myself, I need him too. After seeing Maisy, I'm shaken to my core.
    "My father died when I was a teenager so I'm all that my mother has left."
    Shock pulses through me. Although he never mentioned his dad I hadn't made the assumption that he was no longer in Dane's life. "You've never told me that."
    "I hate it." He closes his eyes on a heavy swallow. "I need him. I miss him and every day I wish I could talk to him one last time."
    I think about my own father and the deep sense of loss I would feel if I couldn't dial his number and know that he'd pick up with a cheery greeting at any time day or night. "I'm sorry you lost him."
    "My dad would have loved you, Bridget." His hand scrubs the back of his neck. "He would have fucking loved you just as much as I do."
    ***
    "C an I come home with you tonight?"
    I pause to look over at him. "You want to come back to my place?"
    He licks his lower lip as his eyes skim over my face. "It's the only place I feel like I belong anymore."
    My breath catches and the fact that I audibly gasp gives credence to everything I'm feeling.
    His lips hover next to mine as the couple who had sat in the pew, stand to take their leave. "Don't be scared, Bridget. I'm not going to push you into anything. I just want you to know what I feel."
    "You can come home with me." I hold out my hand. "You can stay all night and tomorrow we can talk about what's next."
    "I already know what's next." He places his large hand over mine, completely covering it in its embrace. "We both do."

Chapter 21
    I wake just as the morning light breaks through the slim space that separates the ill fitted curtains that cover my living room window.
    After we'd come back to my place, Dane had helped me into the shower and as he'd silently washed my hair and body, he'd stared at my face. I didn't ask him what he was thinking. I just stood quietly with my eyes locked onto his.
    He'd carried me to my bed after that and had kissed me until I was dripping wet with want and need. He'd slid his body into mine then, without any protection. I hadn't stopped him. It was an act of trust and commitment that we both wanted and since I've been taking birth control pills on and off for years now, the risk is low.
    We'd fallen asleep in each other arms until I felt his lips against my back shortly past midnight. His greedy hands fell to my breasts and as he massaged one nipple between his strong fingers, the other hand slid to my core. I'd come quickly and loudly, falling into his chest before he picked me up and carried me into the living room.
    He'd sat me on the couch then and handed me my sketchpad and a pencil.
    "Draw yourself for me, Bridget."
    They were the only words he spoke and as he sat next to me, with the light that was cast from a single lamp on the table, I'd drawn myself for the first time. 
    His breath raced over my neck as he leaned in to kiss my cheek to thank me and as I turned to him I saw a flash of something I'd never seen before in his expression. It might have been weariness from the emotional toll that the day had taken on him but as I studied his deep brown eyes, I saw a need there that only I could satisfy.
    I'd slid the sketchpad onto the sofa next to me and had crawled into his bare lap. As I sat there, with the heat of his arousal pressing into my core, I'd held his strong and