Empathy was one thing, trust another. And he’d never been dumb enough to trust anyone one hundred per cent. Not even his brother.
‘Don’t confuse me with your bastard of a father,’ he said, his tone edged with tension.
She stiffened. But then her expression became flat and direct. ‘What makes you think you’re so different from him?’
‘I don’t want to own you,’ he said, refusing to acknowledge the surge of possessiveness.
‘Really? You say you know what it is like to be powerless… And yet you have done nothing but take my choices away from me.’
He swore under his breath. Angry that she was right.
‘He would have found you in Zurich and engineered to get you back,’ he countered, but the raised voice couldn’t mask the defensiveness.
‘Not the point. I get to make my own mistakes.’
He glared at her. ‘Yeah, I guess you do. Like throwing your virginity away on a man who didn’t want it.’
Freya tensed. ‘Why are you so hung up about that? Is that why you were sulking all day yesterday?’
Theo’s glare became laser sharp, but she knew she’d hit a bullseye when he growled. ‘I don’t sulk.’
‘Oh, really. So what were you doing yesterday, then? Going for gold in the glowering games or something? You spoke precisely ten words to me during the six-hour drive to get here. I know, because I counted.’
‘I was concentrating on keeping us on the road.’
He stepped closer, no doubt to intimidate her. But she’d done enough backing down in her life. And she was through making adjustments for his ego. She poked her chin up and glared back at him, refusing to retreat an inch.
‘Bullshit!’ she shouted, using a word she had never used before in her entire life. She refused to regret it though, even if she had probably shocked herself more than him. ‘Why does it matter if I was a virgin or not?’ she demanded.
He grasped her arm, tugged her up onto her tiptoes, until they were nose to nose, his blue eyes sparking with fury. But the deep turquoise blazed with fire, not ice, when he snarled back: ‘Because it gives me a responsibility I don’t want. And because no woman has ever made me come so hard I saw stars. Explain that, when you didn’t have a clue what you were doing.’
‘I… I can’t,’ she said, shocked by the passion in his voice.
He touched his forehead to hers, his breathing ragged. His palm cupped the back of her neck. ‘Yeah, well, neither can I.’
He cradled her jaw, tilted her face up.
‘I apologise for kidnapping you,’ he murmured.
She gasped, shocked not just by the apology but by the sincerity in his voice.
‘But I’m not ready to let you go. Not by a long shot.’ The words were so raw, and his voice so low she almost didn’t hear them. But even so they detonated in her chest—making her feel validated, and also victorious.
His pupils dilated to black, before his mouth found the pulse point in her neck.
‘Tell me you don’t want this, too?’ he murmured.
The hot wave of arousal hit her, as fierce and sweet as her victory.
She clasped his head, dragged him closer. ‘Just kiss me, Theo, and stop talking.’
His lips slanted across hers, not subtle this time, not flirtatious, but harsh and hungry and real.
He devoured her soft sobs, lifting her to place her on the counter. Pushing her thighs wide, he wedged his muscular body between her legs, to press the ridge of his erection against the melting spot at her core.
She thrust her fingers into his hair, tugging his mouth back to hers—and met his thrusting tongue with demands of her own.
He wrenched free of her grip. ‘I want you naked this time. I want to eat you out until you come on my tongue.’
