“Ridley, I don’t have a phone. I don’t have a number to reach you. I don’t know where you live. There’s no way for me to contact you. I let you in, didn’t I?” She meant more than let him in her building. She’d let him into her life. She’d trusted him when she’d never trusted another human being. She’d let him inside of her.

He studied her face. The pads of his fingers came up to brush over her skin, as if wiping away tears. “You have to tell me who you’re running from, baby. I can help you.”

She shook her head. “There are some people in the world you can’t fight. He’s one of them. You’d end up dead. Everyone ends up dead. I’m not risking you. I’m not risking Malcom or David. I knew eventually I’d have to leave. It hurts, but still, I had this, I had you, and them, for a little while and I’ll never forget.”

“You’re breaking my heart. If this man is so bad, go to the police, don’t run from them. Let’s end this thing.”

She bit her lip. There was no explaining Rafe Cordeau to anyone, especially not to a man like Ridley who believed he could fix anything.

“Ridley, you have to go. I need to sleep, but before you do, would you kiss me? I haven’t had a lot of firsts and I’d rather you kiss me than someone else.” It took a lot for her to ask him. He’d been careful not to touch her inappropriately, but she’d never had a man kiss her and she wanted Ridley to. It had to be him.

“Kitten.”

He just said it in that voice, the one that went right through her skin and wrapped around her heart and squeezed. His eyes went soft and he reached for her, pulling her onto his lap. Her stomach immediately performed a series of flips. He was strong, so strong he lifted her weight casually, as if she weighed no more than a feather. His heat surrounded her. His arms. For the first time in her life, she felt safe. That was another first he’d given her.

His hands cupped her chin and tilted her head up. Her eyes met his. “Are you telling me you’ve never kissed another man?”

The way his eyes moved over her face, that male possession, that heated intensity, sent little flames of desire darting up and down her thighs.

“Never.”

She felt him go still. Inhale sharply. His eyes changed again, but she couldn’t read his expression because his mouth was on hers. Gentle. Coaxing. The butterflies fluttered. Her heart melted.

“Open for me, Kitten, let me in.” His voice was infinitely tender and his tongue teased the seam of her mouth.