Hold Me Close Book Novels & Stories

"You and Clara are a perfect match. I'm truly happy for you." Rocco let out a low chuckle. He didn't pull back. Instead, he moved closer, his warm breath fanning across my ear. His hand slid down from my cheek, stopping at the nape of my neck. He knew my body intimately, knew that was one of my most sensitive spots. His fingertips drew slow circles, his voice low and husky. "Is that so?" "But Harper, if I recall correctly, when I was teaching you how to hold a gun, your heart was pounding louder than the gunshots."

“Alive. Desperate for more. For your hands. For your approval.” He closed the book with a soft snap. “Good.” He stepped closer, shadow falling over me. “Describe your body right now. Every sensation. Truthfully.”

I said, trying to gain back my confidence, “Not one bit.” He leans down a little closer, so close that our noses are almost touching. I can feel his hot breathe on my lips, and his thick black hair against my forehead. Why was he getting so close to me when I just met him? “What are you doing?” I said, my voice coming out softly. I couldn’t get my heart to stop beating so fast. I could feel my body getting warm from the proximity of him, but it felt so wrong. He doesn’t answer me, but instead grabs the book I planned on reading from the table.

“The connection between domestic confinement and psychological liberation needs stronger textual support.” She turns her head further and her mouth is RIGHT THERE – close enough that I can feel the warmth of her breath against my lips and see the slight part of her lower lip and count the heartbeats in the pulse at her throat, which is fast, which is very fast, which tells me things I should not be cataloguing about my stepdaughter’s autonomic responses to my proximity. I hold. She holds. The distance between our mouths is measurable in millimeters but neither of us closes it and neither of us increases it and the tension of the held position is so acute that I can feel it in my molars.

Aiden whispers at my ear and I squeeze my eyes shut, desperate to not feel his effect. "How'd you know what I'm looking for?" "Your family" I turn suddenly, Aiden's hand wrapping around my waist while my hand is splayed against his chest. Our embrace is intimate, awkward and very uncomfortable. My heart hammers away in my chest and I know he hears it. "This is where the answers lie" Aiden holds a small black book between his fingers, my eyes darting between the book and his face. In desperation, without even a second thought, I reach for it, not taking how close the small action placed our bodies.

“Stay like this a little. I like having you close.” And I let him. Even though my phone was still buzzing on the table. Even though I knew exactly who was on the other end. END OF CHAPTER 25

There was dust in the cloth and the smell of it was old, very old. When she removed the cloth, the book inside was a normal looking, with a dark red hard-bound cover with a picture of the full moon with some finer detailing. But somehow, I felt this iciness around my chest, like I was doing something I shouldn’t be doing. But I couldn’t help it either. “Here,” Daphne held out the book for me. “Do you wanna open it?” I nodded and took the book from her hand and placed it on my lap. It wasn’t big, but it was heavy and staying in contact with it made my heart heavier.

he stressed the word you while simultaneously tugging me into him. I gasped, getting lost in the way his full lips turned down in a frown. The way his own pulse seemed to hammer against the thin veil of skin at the crook of his neck. The way his hot flesh felt against mine. His face was so close to mine, I wasn't sure where his breaths ended and mines began but I didn't care. I wanted to eliminate the little space between us until none remained. "Hold onto that book of yours," he ordered in a raspy whisper that had a shiver racing down my spine.

One day I will just see him doing this to me face to face? I closed the book with both of my hands. I started putting the books I have borrowed. I excluded the book that Sheira let me borrow because it's my favorite book. I just held it and rested it on my left arm. Sheira also packed up, as she preferred being silent. She knew that one, wrong word from her and she'll be dead. I saw her biting her lower lip. "Wait, are we going to ask him who she was? You know, for confirmation..."

It was already past midnight when I returned to the hotel. Gazing out at the glittering skyline of the city's central business district, I realized I did not want to go back to where Max was. Without hesitation, I grabbed my phone and rescheduled my flight—to a private island this time. After treating myself to a spa session, I fell into a peaceful sleep. Max had not tried to contact me all night. The next morning at the airport, my phone started buzzing frantically. I glanced at it once and declined the call, but he kept calling until I finally put my phone on silent.