Sacrifice Read Online Free

put you to bed about an hour ago. I
wouldn’t have come back again except I heard you scream.” He lifted his gaze,
concern furrowing his brow. “Did you have a nightmare?”
    Hallie
nodded, surprised to realize she actually felt safer with him near, and undeniably
touched knowing he’d been watching over her.
    He
grimaced. “Well I guess there’s no need to ask who caused it.”
    She
saw the self loathing in his eyes again and it hurt her to know what he’d gone
through—was still going through—must be terrifying for him. The fear and
repulsion she’d shown him were all he could expect from others now as well. Hallie
reached out and grabbed hold of his thumb in a gesture of comfort.
    “It’s
not your fault. You tried to protect me and I was too stubborn to let you.” She
tugged on his hand and forced him to sit on the bed beside her. “It was a
shock, that’s all.”
    “For
you and me both.” A slight smile curved his lips. It was the first she’d seen
in weeks.
    “You
poor, poor man.” Her voice trembled and the tears that had been building
overwhelmed her. Ethan looked so scared and alone. He had no-one to turn to.
    “Hey…hey,
I’m okay, sweetheart. Don’t cry for me. I’m not worth it.”
    He
pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her, crushing the side of
her body to his chest before she had a chance to be scared. For all his bravery,
Hallie could sense the agony in him and a need for comfort, and she didn’t want
to pull away, despite the cold touch of his skin. It seemed only natural to
turn her body fully against him and hug him too, but again he tried to move away,
so she clasped her hands behind his neck and hung on tighter.
    She
wasn’t aware of the exact moment her touch turned from simple comfort to a caress,
but suddenly she was holding him a little closer and letting her hands wander a
little further. The desire that left her weak hours earlier roared back to life
and she lifted her gaze to his.
    “Ethan?”
Was he feeling the insane heat between them? Did he know what he was doing to
her and how much she wanted him?
    He
averted his gaze to the window. “You need to sleep.”
    ‘That’s
not what I need…” She left the sentence hanging, hoping he’d read between the
lines and react the way she wanted him to. The tension of his jaw drew her
attention and she couldn’t resist the urge to run her tongue over it.
    Ethan
groaned and leaned away. “Hallie, I don’t know yet where my limits are,” he
warned, his gaze locked on her mouth.
    “You
won’t hurt me,” she whispered, angling her body closer to his and brushing her
lips against his mouth. “You’ve had plenty of opportunity to do me harm, even
tonight while you watched me sleep.”
    “But
you don’t know how intensely I feel things now.” He gazed at her again and the
midnight blue of his eyes seemed to darken with each spell-binding moment. “The
hunger I have for you scares me.”
    “It
scares me too but not in the way you think.” Hallie grasped his face between
her hands so his gaze would stay focused on hers. “I’m scared because knowing
what you are doesn’t lessen my desire for you.”
    “But
what if it’s not me you want? What if you are just reacting to some inbuilt
lure, designed to trap you so I can prey on you?”
    Hallie
smiled. “ Are you going to prey on
me?” Ethan looked like he wanted something from her but she didn’t think for
one second it was her blood.
    “No,
but that doesn’t change the fact that your reaction to me might be beyond your
control.”
    “Would
it help you to know I think I fell a little bit in love with you the first time
I saw you?” Ethan seemed about to argue with her so she put her hand against
his lips to silence him. “It’s you who didn’t want me, remember?”
    He
groaned and shook his head. “It may have looked that way but I couldn’t afford
to act on how I felt. My getting involved with you could have put you in harm’s
way and I