“Don’t you get it yet, princess?”
Her eyes widened at the sharpness of his tone.
“For you, I would.” He took a few steps back inside the room but stopped midway, because if he touched her now— “For you, I fucking would.”
Tears rushed in like a river, and she made a choked sound before covering her mouth with her hand.
“I mean it, Vanessa. What happened tonight was my fault.” He thumped his fist against his chest. “All mine. But I promise to do whatever it takes to keep you safe. I’ll cross every line, fight any fight, go back to prison. I’d fucking crawl to get to you. I won’t let anyone touch you like that again.” His chest tightened as the weight of his words settled over them. It mattered more than anything right now that she believed him. As long as he was breathing, she wasn’t alone in this, and he needed her to trust that he’d do anything to keep her safe.
She sat on the edge of the bed, her gaze fixed on his chest. When it finally came back to meet his, her eyes were dark, pupils blown wide with something that made his stomach tense, and all his blood rush straight to his groin.
Gone was the panic. Gone was the fear. Replaced by?—
“Vanessa—” A hint of warning lingered in his tone, but instead of heeding it, her teeth dragged across her lower lip.
“Do you mean that?” Her voice was raspy, two octaves lower. A sultry hum, and not a goddamn single drop of blood was staying north of his dick.
“I mean every word I say to you,” he whispered.
She arched one eyebrow. “Even when, not long ago, you called me a pretentious princess?”
One side of his mouth quirked upward. “If I said it, it must have been true at the time.”
“Mmm,” she rumbled, and the look she gave him next sealed his fate. She owned him, and this was his last chance to walk away, because whatever happened if he stayed only spelled trouble for them both.
“Van—”
“Crawl.” This single word from her was all it took to complete the stiffness inside his pants.
“What?”
“You said you’d crawl to me, and I want to see you do it.”
He watched her carefully, searching for any sign that they were not on the same page.
Vanessa held his stare, gaze glittering in challenge. “I want you to get on your knees and crawl to me.”
He’d never had a woman take this kind of control before, but after the night she’d had, he knew she needed this. So, with one last, hard look, he sank to his knees, planted his palms on the floor and crossed the short distance to her, never breaking eye contact, giving her all the time in the world to change her mind.
Instead, her mouth parted, and she delicately licked her lips, leaving them glistening by the time he arrived at her feet.
“I can’t believe you didthat.” Her breath caught on thelast word. Heat now came off her in waves, and her scent with it. Warm, sweet, and calling him.
“I said I would. I don’t go back on my promises. The sooner you understand that, the better.”
She nodded, inhaling sharply, as if he’d touched her, and he inclined his head in question. If she wanted him to do what he was prepared to do, he was going to need words.
Her tongue slipped out again, tracking across her bottom lip. Then, her teeth sank into the soft pink flesh. A signature move he’d become addicted to.
She was killing him. He was dying kneeling there, so close to her sweet pussy, the scent of her heat clouding his brain. He wouldn’t touch her until she asked, but, fuck, he was salivating for her. “Vanessa?—”
“I want you to stay tonight,” she whispered huskily.
“Okay.” Relief that her plans aligned with his eased the tightness in his chest.
“And…” Her eyebrows rose a fraction as if to say,you know, but if she wanted him to fill in the blanks, she had another thing coming.
“I need to hear you say it, princess.”
