If he didn’t, now was his chance to be honest.
When he stepped away from her touch, turning to face her with a grim look, her heart fell to her knees.
“I’m trying to protect you.” His voice sounded foreign. Frightening.
A sudden wave of uncertainty made her throat tighten and voice crack. “You said I was safe here.”
He shook his head, his eyes darkening. “I’m not trying to protect you from only the stalker, Vanessa.”
Noprincessthis time. The sudden distance stung, and sparked her anger all over again.
“I don’t need to be protected from you.” She inhaled anunsteady breath and went for what she really needed. “I want you. And you want me.” She tried to sound confident, but her certainty wavered.
The air between them crackled with tension, like an electrical storm brewing from their restless apprehension.
Before she realized what was happening, he dragged her flush against his chest until he was glaring down at her, his breath against her cheeks, his body heat igniting hers.
“I want you to be happy and safe.” His nostrils flared, pupils dilated.
For one scorching second, she thought he might kiss her.
Then he said, “Nothing more,” and released her so abruptly, she stumbled.
When she regained her footing, he’d disappeared out the French doors, leaving them wide open with nothing but emptiness behind him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Fuck. Fuck.Fuck.
Jordan stormed down the sandy path toward the beach, rubbing his hands roughly over his scalp. His entire body was at war with itself. One part wanted to run as far away from her as he could. The other part, the dominant part, screamed at him to claim her the way she’d all but begged him to.
“I want you.”She’d said it with such conviction. Like shemeantit.
Fuck.She’d looked so needy. So wanton. Flush cheeks, loose hair still tangled from their windy ride. So heartbroken when he’d made her believe he didn’t want the same. The lie of his fucking life.
He yelled into the cold winter air. The wind churned around him, stealing his tortured scream, eviscerating it in the roar of the crashing waves a few feet away. He should’ve been freezing, but instead his body burned.
“Jordan!” Her voice found him like a siren’s call. She was everywhere, imprinted on every piece of him.
It was excruciating. Because he knew what she didn’t.They could never be together. She was the beauty. He was the beast. But this wasn’t a fairy tale.
“Jordan!”
Her scream was louder, breaking through the sounds of the brewing winter storm, making him stop dead in his tracks.
He spun, catching sight of her slim figure chasing after him. She was barefoot, her hair whipping around her, skin pale, illuminated against the glimmer coming off the water.
“Go back,” he shouted. It was too dark outside now, too cold, too dangerous.
“No,” she shouted right back at him, stopping an inch short of colliding with him.
Tears streaked her cheeks, her inky hair sticking to the stains. “I’m sorry.” Her cry was carried away by the sea. “I know I’ve been a lot. I know I’m a mess. I know I’m probably the worst thing that’s ever happened to you. But please, please don’t run away from me like that.”
A tear dripped down her chin, followed by a steady stream from heartbroken eyes. And he snapped. Lost it completely.
Any control, any restraint or will he had left was carried away on a salty gust of wind. He almost collapsed to his knees under the weight of the need that thundered through him. Instead, he hauled her up against him.
“You are thebestthing that’s ever happened to me.” He ground out each syllable so she couldn’t mistake the truth of his words. Before she could reply, he crushed his lips against hers and devoured her.
