Then he stops.
He breaks the kiss like it hurts him.
“Why?”I whisper.
He drops his forehead to mine, breathing hard.
“Because I want this too much.”
A tremor moves through him.
“And if I don’t stop, Becki,” he says, voice breaking, “I will not stop.”
His restraint shakes him.Not fear.Want.The want he is terrified of.The want he is not supposed to have I guess, while Joey is missing.The want that ties us together in ways neither of us truly understand.
I finally see the truth.
Royal doesn’t want to break me.
Royal wants me.
Really wants me.
And that terrifies him more than any demon.
Chapter 37
Becki
Royal’s breath is still shaking against my lips when he jerks back like he’s been burned.The mattress dips beneath his weight, his muscles locked, jaw clenched so tight I can hear his teeth grind.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he growls.
I do anyway.Like he’s the only solid thing in a world that keeps shifting under my feet.Like he’s the only person who didn’t treat me like a walking sermon.Like I remember every inch of him pressed to me, and I want it back.
His eyes flick over my face, and something snaps inside him.
Not control.
Restraint.
He drags a hand down his face, breath ragged, voice destroyed.
“I told you.I can’t do this halfway.”
“Then don’t,” I whisper.
It hits him like a slap.
He grabs my ankle and drags me back down the bed in one smooth, punishing pull.My breath staggers.The blanket bunches under me.His body, still fully clothed, cages my naked one again, but this time there’s no hesitation, just feral, hungry heat rolling off him in waves.
“You don’t know what I want from you,” he rasps.
“I know exactly what you want.”
His hand fists in my hair.
“Say it,” he snarls.
