Eternal Hope (The Hope Series) (49 page)

Tess opted to wait in the car with Oliver and Grayson, and Daniel and Farley snuck inside the silent cabin. Farley shivered despite the stifling heat. She really should have been relishing it- it wouldn’t be a problem for much longer. Of all the places in the world Cliff could have taken Agatha and Kayden, he’d taken them to London. Probably the very last place Kayden would want to go, seeing as he’d killed himself the last time he was there. The thought of Kayden, of what he’d said to her the last time they were alone, made Farley feel strange. Whatever that emotion was, she was doing her best to ignore it. They would be seeing him soon enough. Their flight to England left in six hours, and they had come in hunt of warmer clothes. Summer in England apparently didn’t always equate to warm weather.

“Be quick,” Daniel said quietly, ushering her up the stairs. He was whispering, like the house would somehow overhear their plans and give away their secrets. Farley crept into the room that had once belonged to a girl called Charlie and gathered the few items of clothing she owned into her duffel bag. It was remarkably sad leaving this room, even though it wasn’t really hers. At least it had felt safe, if only for a couple of weeks. She slipped out, pulling the door shut quietly behind her. She was in the bathroom, collecting her toiletries when she sensed someone else in the room. This strange new feeling inside her, tingling all the time, seemed to explode whenever Daniel was near.

“There’s something I want you to do for me before we leave.” He snuck up behind Farley, wrapping his arms around her waist as she gave her teeth a quick brush in front of the bathroom mirror. She tensed, a stupid reaction to having him so close after everything that had happened. It was all embarrassment, and Daniel knew it. A crooked smile played over his lips. There was no way he didn’t know what he did to her. Farley leaned forward and rinsed her mouth, taking an extra second for her stupid blushing to subside. The patchy pink mottling on her cheeks was gone when she straightened up.
 

“And what would that be?”

Daniel held up a pair of silver scissors, tapping the handle against his chin. “Cut my hair.”

Farley twisted in his arms, turning to face him. “No way!”

“Why not?”

“Because…” she spluttered. “Your hair doesn’t need cutting. It’s fine the way it is.” She couldn’t bring herself to say it- that she loved his hair way too much, and there was no way she was going to be the one to hack it off.

Daniel pulled a face, looking over her shoulder at himself. “You’ve got to be kidding. It’s too long. It’s making my head all itchy.”

Farley shook her head. “
No.
”

“Okay, fine. I’ll get Tess to do it.”

“Absolutely not!” Farley cringed at the thought of what Tess would do to his hair given half a chance and the necessary tools. No. No way. He’d end up with a mohawk for sure, and then he’d have to shave it
all
off.
 

“Don’t trust her?” Daniel smirked.

“Not even close.” She scowled up at him. “Fine. I’ll do it. But just so you know, I think this is a bad idea.”

“Undoubtedly,” he agreed.

It took a few moments to drag a swivel chair from the library up the stairs and into the bathroom, and to lay out a towel to catch most of the mess. Daniel sat on the edge of the bath, watching with amusement as Farley fussed. “Have you done this before?”

“What do you think?”

He didn’t seem bothered by the fact that Farley had never, ever cut anyone’s hair, not even her own. He didn’t even seem bothered when he handed her the pair of slim silver scissors and she dropped them. He just caught them out of the air and handed them back, sitting himself down in front of her. A smile was plastered on his face when she caught him staring at her in the mirror.
 

“Come on, then.”

This wasn’t going to end well. Farley gathered a lock of hair at the back of his head and grimaced. “How short do you want it?”

“
Short
.”

 
Holding her breath, she slid the cool blades along his hair until they hovered an inch away from his head. This was it.
 
Once she started, she was going to have to finish the job, but it was either this or whatever Tess would do to him. A countdown played out in her head:
three, two…

“Wait!”

She almost sliced her finger off when she jumped. Daniel reached back and tugged his t-shirt over his head, tossing it over the side of the bath. “Okay, go.”

For a moment she considered strangling him for making her jump with a pair of sharp scissors in her hand, but she was too distracted by the fact that he was shirtless again. When had she turned into this ridiculous version of herself, all speechless over a guy who looked good without a shirt?
Really, really, really good.
She swallowed and focused on the back of his head. When the first lock of his hair fell, her stomach twisted. Daniel remained utterly motionless as she stepped around him, trying to work out which bits to cut short and which bits she should leave. To his credit, she was at least mid-way through what she figured she'd chop off before he started looking a little anxious. He couldn’t really be blamed. It looked like he’d gotten into a fight with Edward Scissorhands. And lost.
 
She spun him around in the chair to face her, gingerly leaning in trim more off the top of his head. He tensed.

“Uh…”

“What?” she asked nervously, jumping back.

“I think it’s short enough on top. Why don’t you… here…” He ruffled his fingers through his hair so that twists of loose black curls drifted down to land on his shoulders. “I’m gonna buzz the sides. Then it’ll be perfect.”

Buzz the sides? The look on Farley’s face must have been telling.

“Not too short, I swear.” He laughed when she put down the scissors and brushed off his shoulders. “Come here.” He hooked his fingers through the belt loops of her jeans and tugged her forward so she had to stand with a leg either side of his. It was obvious what he wanted when he tilted his face up to her, the smallest suggestion of a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. For once,
she
was the one who got to tease
him
.

“Can I help you?” she said coyly, raising an eyebrow.

“You can do more than that.” His tone implied…she didn’t know what it implied but it sounded good. Farley fought with a smile, enjoying her moment of temporary power over him as he blinked up with those stark black lashes.

“Care to explain?”

He lowered his gaze so that he was staring at her stomach. He didn’t speak, just gently slid his hand up underneath the hem of her lacy shirt. When his fingertips met the sensitive skin just above the waistband of her jeans, her heart started to pound. Compared to what he was doing right now, it was almost as if he’d never touched her before. It just didn’t compare. Because no matter how bad she might want him to sometimes, he always had his hands under control, yet right now…

He looked up at her thoughtfully, as if gauging how she felt about what he was doing. The smile she’d been forcing down five seconds ago seemed to have abandoned her, and now all she could do was look back at him and try not to think about how her cheeks were on fire, along with every other part of her body. He nodded once, almost to himself, and reached up carefully with his other hand, catching hold of her shirt. The last thing Farley expected him to do was lift it up, or to gently lean forward and press his lips to her bare skin.

No guy had ever kissed her anywhere apart from on the mouth, and even the guys that had done that were few and far between. Daniel’s lips on her body were like scorching hot brands, marking her as his forever. Her breath caught in her throat, sounding ragged and embarrassingly uneven. He tipped his head back, still so close to her body, and his eyes locked onto hers. So, so green. Beautiful.

“You can save me,” he whispered.

Confusion clouded Farley’s mind, rivalling the way it was already scrambled from what he was doing. “What do you mean?”

“From this…you can save me from feeling like this. You can tell me not to…” But even as he said it he kissed her again, this time on her side, just above her hipbone. Farley raised her eyes to the ceiling, dragging in a deep breath. He was literally trying to make her explode.

“I didn’t…I didn’t realize you needed saving,” she stuttered. “If anything, I’m the one that usually needs the rescue.”

He laughed softly as he grazed her skin with his lips. “Never doubt it, Farley. It’s pretty much guaranteed. If we’re in a room together, this is what I’m thinking about. Always.”

“But…” She wanted to remind him of how he’d refused to come and sleep in the same bed with her for three weeks, of how he always pulled back when things got heated between them, but she couldn’t. Daniel’s hands tightened over her hips, drawing her closer. He bent over a little and tugged at the button on her jeans with his teeth. That was it. She couldn’t take it anymore. She stepped forward and shoved him back, sitting down so that she was straddling him on the chair. At the same time, Daniel inched forward and grabbed her legs, pulling them up so she could wrap them around him. It was a frantic, hurried move- one that had her breath forcing its way out in short, sharp bursts. He thrust his hands up under the back of her shirt, skimming cautiously over the back of her bra strap. For a moment Farley thought he was going to undo it. She froze, her whole body waiting. What was he going to do? He must have felt the tension in her, because his hands skirted back down to rest at the small of her back, trailing fire down her spine so that she curved into him. He gasped and looked up at her, his eyes wide and unblinking now. A slow smile spread as he scoured her face, searching for something. Permission? If he was looking for her permission…if that’s what he was asking for…

Farley swallowed and kissed him tentatively, running her hands up the back of his bare neck and into his hair. He exhaled, groaning, which was enough to make her pull back, chewing her lip.

“Sorry. That just feels really good,” he whispered.

It
had
felt good. A little too good. His lips were on hers in a heartbeat. These kisses were so far from the ones they’d shared in the past. They had been good, sure, but this a whole different story. They were demanding and insistent, so completely new and overwhelming. Armageddon could have been going down at that exact moment and Farley wouldn’t have noticed. Hell, she wouldn’t have even cared. She wrapped her arms around his neck, losing herself. His hands pressed against her back, drawing her closer so that her body pressed against his. Quick and shallow, his chest rose and fell in rapid synchronicity with hers.

He groaned again and huffed against her lips, crushing his own against hers so that her mouth parted and she tasted his tongue: mint and something sweet. Her back arched again as he crushed her to him, and she suddenly knew what he’d meant. She needed to be saved. Hot damn if she didn’t need an intervention right now.

A sense of urgency took over; Daniel worked his hands beneath her thighs and stood up, lifting her with him
.
 
Three steps. Three steps and
 
Farley had her back pressed up against the bathroom wall. Daniel’s hands were busy tracing their way across the burning hot skin on her chest. So close to touching her somewhere she thought he’d never get around to. So close…

She screwed her eyes shut, ignoring her frantic breathing. When he finally gave in, it was the most gentle of touches. Barely a graze. His fingers skimmed across the front of her shirt, pausing to follow the line of her bra as it travelled down in between her breasts. Farley’s eyes snapped open when he reached the point where his index was brushing against her cleavage. He was staring at her, at the way she was reacting to him, his lips parted, wearing an expression that sent a searing thrill of adrenaline through her whole body.

He dropped his hand, smiling nervously, and pulled back so he could trail his lips across her jaw, down her neck. As soon as he started kissing the spot below her ear, everything went hazy. Cotton wool replaced Farley’s tongue, making her mouth tingle. Speaking was off the cards; trying to tell him that she wanted him would only come out as incoherent nonsense. All she could manage was his name.

“
Daniel!
”

His whole body seized, completely rigid against her. Had he liked her saying that? A hot pulse made her head spin, her lips throbbing from being kissed so roughly. He fell forward against her so that his face was hidden in her shoulder, but Farley pushed him back, wanting to see him. It was addictive, having him look at her like this. His eyes seemed foggy, like he could barely see straight. It was excruciating that his hands weren’t on her anymore; she knew from the torn crease between his brow that he was deciding what to do next- how far to go. Time for her to take what she wanted. Farley nudged his head back and kissed his throat.