Breaking Free (Invitation to Eden) by Cathryn Fox Page A

you arranged all of this.” She shifted, lifted her head, and propped her chin on her knees. “And I know who you are.”
    His gaze returned to the horizon. “How long have you known?”
    “I’ve always known.” Unable to help herself, she reached out, running her fingers along his tattoos. He flinched at first but then relaxed into her touch. “But what I want to know is why. Why did you do this?”
    He shrugged and shot her a quick look when he said, “Because you were sad, so lonely. I wanted to do this for you.”
    Her heart went into her throat. Even though she didn’t want to pry, she couldn’t help but ask, “How did you afford all this?”
    “I sold my bike.”
    She sucked in air. “Jesse...”
    “It’s no big deal.”
    Her fingers shook as she linked them together. “I can’t believe you did that for me.”
    “Look, I brought you here for you.” The muscle in his jaw ticked. “I wasn’t supposed to get personally involved in your fantasies.”
    “Then why did you?”
    “Because...”
    “Because why?”
    “I care about you, Alaska,” he said quietly. “That’s why I volunteered for the job of watching over you.” He frowned and his mouth clamped shut like he wanted to take his words back, like he’d said too much.
    “You...you volunteered?”
    He glanced away. “Yeah.”
    “I had no idea. I thought you were picked because you were young and could fit in at the dorm.”
    “It’s no big deal.”
    “It is to me.”
    “I just hated the way your father treated you.” His hand went to the scrolls on his arms. “And I swore...” He stopped, letting his words fall off.
    “Tell me,” she urged.
    “I wanted to protect you from your father.  No girl should ever suffer abuse from their father,” he said and she sensed he was talking from personal experience.
    She put her hand over his, her eyes going to the tattoo scrolls. She looked closer, and her stomach tightened when she saw all the scars camouflaged beneath the black ink. “Did your father do this?”
    When his glance lifted from his tattoos to her, the vulnerability Alaska saw there caught her heart in a vice. His mouth worked, as if he wanted to say something but was holding back. He looked away again and pressed his lips together. After a moment, in a voice so soft the ocean breeze almost took it, he said, “Yeah.”
    Tears burned the backs of Alaska’s lids. She blinked them away. “And you have a sister?”
    Jesse nodded, his eyes moving over the horizon as if seeing the past. “She was older, and I was too little. I...couldn’t protect her.”
    Alaska swallowed the lump forming in her throat. “Where is she now?”
    His chest rose on an intake of breath. “Drug overdose.” Expression pained, he stretched his legs out before him. Alaska looked into his eyes and glimpsed the inner man, so well hidden behind a tough exterior. “The streets were hard on her,” he said quietly.
    Alaska climbed to her feet. As he looked up at her, she lowered herself onto his lap, straddling his hips, needing to connect with him more than ever. Her lips came down on his, and her hands cupped his face when she whispered into his mouth, “They were hard on you, too.”
    * * *
    H is heart pounded as Alaska kissed him, her mouth so warm, her body so welcoming. She broke the kiss and inched back, her eyes moving over his face, her fingers touching his scars. Jesse’s throat constricted. He could hardly believe that he’d open up to her so easily, sharing his painful past. He’d never talked to anyone else about it. As he looked up at her now, the walls he’d built to protect himself came crashing down. Everything in the way she looked back at him, with desire, trust, and respect, sent new life surging through his veins. He felt...comforted. He’d never had that before. There had never been anyone who had cared enough to give it. Was it possible...?
    “I want you inside me,” she whispered, “But first, this.”
    She slid down his