“Only sex?” I echo, shaking my head slowly. “No, Anna. Don’t cheapen this. Don’t pretend what we have is just sex.”
Her eyes open, and her gaze meets mine.
“If it were only sex, you wouldn’t be shaking right now. You wouldn’t be looking at me like you can’t decide whether to kiss me or kill me.” My hand lifts, hovering just beside her jaw. “Be a good girl for me, Anna and just accept it. So I can give you what you’ve been craving. A reward only I know how to give.”
Her tongue darts out to wet her lips, and the sound that leaves her throat is barely a whisper. “I… I…”
I smile slowly, the kind of smile that tells her I already know she’s breaking.
“How about I give you a taste of what you’re denying yourself?” I say, my voice deep and commanding.
Her breath catches, and before she has a chance to reply, I slip my hands in her shorts and let out a primal growl when I find her wet. Her fingers clutch at my shirt, a soft moan slipping past her lips before she can stop it. The sound rips through me, proof that every word she denies is nothing but a lie. Dipping my head down, I bury my face into the curve of her neck as I continue pumping my fingers inside her.
“Landon,” she gasps, jerking her hips, silently begging me for more as she tightens her hold on my shirt to steady herself.
“I lost you once, Anna,” I whisper against her neck, my breath hot on her skin. “But I won’t lose you again. Not now, not ever. Even if I have to chain you to me.”
She doesn’t reply. Her lips part, but nothing comes out. My chest swells. I’m about to push harder, to make her confess and end this torture, when a piercing cry fills the room through the baby monitor.Liala. My sweetest little cockblock.
Anna’s eyes fly open, and her hands press firmly against my chest. Damn, I love my daughter more than life itself, but right now, it feels like even she’s in on the conspiracy to torture me, ruining this moment with cold water.
“Liala needs me,” she says, her voice shaky as she slips out from under me and moves past quickly. I watch her fumble at the doorway, her steps unsteady.
The door shuts behind her, leaving me alone. My pulse hammers in my throat, every nerve on edge, my body still burning with the memory of her pressed against me.
For a damn heartbeat, I almost had her breaking in my arms… giving in, surrendering.
And then, she’s gone, leaving me with nothing but the taste of everything I still can’t have.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not just sex I want. Sure, I want her body. I crave her, ache for her until it drives me half-mad. But it’s more than that. I want her life tangled with mine. I want to wake up to her messy hair in my bed, to her laughter filling every corner of the walls. I want the fights, the tears, the making up. I wantusback. I want our family. My family.
And no matter how many walls she builds, no matter how many times she hides behind her lies or uses our daughter’s cries as her shield, I’ll break through every damn barrier until she finally sees what I already know. She’s mine. She’s always been mine. And I’ll fight the whole damn world if I have to, just to make her admit it… to make her remember exactly how it feels like to belong in my arms.
Chapter 17
Anna
Damn him.I’m fucking so damn weak when it comes to Landon.
It makes me so furious the way my body betrays me and the way my heart stumbles every time he’s near. But my mind knows better. It screams at me to keep my distance, but the moment he steps into my space, I lose the fight. And I hate myself for it.
Even last week, when I told Mick I’d be at his place for dinner, all it took was one touch from Landon, and my mind just short-circuited. In fact, I was ready to give in, letting him claim every part of me until nothing remained but us. But just then, Liala’s sudden cry yanked me back from the brink. And what did I do? Instead of giving myself space from Landon, I rang Mick and cancelled our dinner. Since then, the quiet gleam of victory in Landon’s eyes hasn’t faded. He knows exactly what he’s doing to me, and God help me, part of me wants him to keep doing it.
And what’s worse, the days that followed have been nothing short of torture. He no longer wields the icy silence that he once did; instead, he gives me something far more dangerous. His constant attention.
His eyes are always on me, and the way his gaze catches my mouth makes my breath falter. Even when I’m just pouringcoffee, he stands too close, his arm brushing mine, sending a jolt of current through me. And when I come home from work and settle Liala to sleep, he murmurs,“You should get some rest too. I’ve got her,”and my heart just melts.
It’s all too much.
And I know it’s only a matter of time before I let go of all the hate I’ve been carrying for him and finally give in to him.
But through it all, what terrifies me most is not knowing whether I’ll regret it more if I hold on to my hate… or if I let it go.
The shrill buzz of my phone jolts me out of my thoughts, and my eyes flick to the screen.Sabrina.
She still has no idea I’m living under the same roof as Landon. She doesn’t know about our history, either. And in a way, I’m lucky Landon has respected my wish to keep it quiet.
Pulling my knees up to my chest on the bed, I force a steady breath and swipe to answer.
