Take You Away: A Novella Read Online Free PDF Page A

lives. Family issues can be complicated. I get that. But I’m going to be his family now, too. He can’t just close me out.
    Right now he’s sitting on the balcony outside of our bedroom, staring up at the stars. His brow is slightly furrowed, and his mouth is a hard line. I would erase every bit of tension from his body if he let me. If he allowed me in.
    I’ve brought him his favorite wine again, just in case he changes his mind. He glances over at me when the bottle clinks against the glass top of the patio table.
    For a second, his dark eyes are as distant as they’ve been all day, but then they seem to snap into focus. Some of the muscles soften in his face, and he reaches his hand out to me.
    "I’m sorry," he says. "I don't mean to keep shutting you out."
    I give a small smile as I grasp his fingers. His hand is warm and his grip is reassuringly firm.
    "Don’t worry about me," I say, letting him pull me down next to him onto the floor of the balcony. "What are you thinking?" I don’t need to ask how he’s feeling. I can read that in every line of his body. Hear it in his every breath.
    He tugs me closer to him. "I’m thinking that I handled this all wrong."
    "We haven’t exhausted all of our options yet. Maybe one of her old friends—"
    "I don’t mean looking for her. I mean everything before." He rubs his face. "I know Louisa. I shouldn’t have yelled at her. I shouldn’t have stormed down to the estate and expected all of us to just walk out of there like one big happy family."
    I touch his cheek, turning his face toward mine. "You can’t blame yourself for her actions."
    "No. But I can blame myself for not knowing how to reach my sister. I’ve spent the better part of my adult life ignoring her. Worrying about my own problems. And that ’s on me."
    I hate seeing him like this. He’s been through so much darkness since the death of his father. Will it never let him go?
    "You’re too hard on yourself," I whisper to him. "It's clear you love Lou very much. You’re a wonderful brother."
    "I’m a shitty brother," he says, turning away from me. But the words must have come out much harsher than he meant, because after the briefest of moments he sighs and tilts his face toward mine again. His arm tightens around my waist, his fingers grazing the bare skin of my belly.
    "And you have far too much patience with me," he says. "You’re sitting here half-naked, and I’m complaining about a bunch of things I can’t change." His hand skims upward across my skin, and his thumb slips beneath one of the lacy straps of my bra.
    "And here I’d thought I’d lost a bit of my charm," I say lightly. "I was hoping I had a few more years before the sight of me in lingerie didn’t make you forget about everything else."
    Amusement dances in his eyes, breaking through the darkness, and that flicker of life makes my heart soar.
    "A few years?" he says, his voice lower than it was a moment ago. "I will never get tired of seeing you in lingerie. Or, better yet, naked." He slides the strap off of my shoulder. "And I’ll never get tired of touching you." His thumb traces a path downward across the upper curve of my breast. "Or kissing you." He leans forward, and his mouth brushes against my temple.
    I move closer to him, melting against his hands and lips. It’s cool for a summer night, but my skin is heating quickly beneath his touch.
    "I dare you to do something about it," I whisper.
    He doesn’t need to hear that challenge twice. He yanks me roughly against him, and his lips come down on mine.
    I will never tire of his mouth. And my body will never fail to react to the dance of his tongue against mine. Or the whisper of his fingers against my bare skin. He has both of my bra straps down now, and there’s just enough slack to allow him to pull aside the bits of lace that admittedly did a very poor job of covering my breasts. I tilt my head back as he works his way down my throat and across my chest.
    That first