The next excerpt from 1 of the 7 new adult romances in the BEGINNINGS First-in-Series boxed set is Breakaway by Catherine Gayle, a passionate story with heart.
With his left hand, he tipped up my chin. Only one of his fingers touched my face, just enough contact to get me to raise my eyes and look into his. The bruising from his fight last week was almost gone, just a small yellowed mark now. He was looking at me with such concern, but with something else too. I swallowed again, so very tempted to turn my head toward his hand, to rub against it like a cat searching for more contact, to urge him on to caressing my cheek.
All the contradictory needs and emotions racing through me left me shaking, terrified.
“Is it what?” he repeated.
I licked my lips but immediately wished I hadn’t. His eyes followed the path of my tongue and stayed on my mouth.
I closed my eyes and blurted it out. “Is it all right if I leave the door open tonight?”
He was quiet, so quiet for so long, I wanted nothing more than to dig a hole in the sand somewhere and bury my head in it.
Just when I was going to open my eyes again and give in to the desire to close the door between us, I felt his lips on my forehead. So soft. Gentle. Terrifyingly sweet. His five-o’clock shadow scratched my skin, a stark contrast to the tenderness of his lips pressing lightly against me.
I gasped at the contact and grabbed the first thing I could reach with my free hand to support myself.
It was his biceps.
He tensed beneath me, his hand holding mine firm and sturdy. Steadying. Calming. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
I shook my head. “Don’t.” It was just a whisper.
“I won’t do it again. I’m sorry, Dana, I wasn’t thinking.”
“No.” I needed him to understand, but I wasn’t sure I could speak enough to explain. My thoughts were racing, too fast to grab hold of them. I swallowed, reached for words in my mind like a hand groping in the dark. “Don’t apologize.”
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