I growled. All this was doing was pissing me off even more.
“Well, I don’t forgive you. Now kindly fuck off.”
“Finn…”
“No! You’re either in this or you’re not. If you’re not into me, then that’s fine, but fuck off then and leave me alone. I’ve made it clear how I feel about you, and I’m sorry, but I don’t want to train every day with someone who clearly doesn’t want me back.”
Suddenly, he was crowding me, and my back was pressed against the door. He was cupping my face in his large hands, and he rubbed the tip of his nose intimately against mine.
“You think I don’t want you, Finn?” he murmured against my lips.
“I—”
“I want you so fucking bad I could have killed that silly little girl for putting her hands on what’s mine.”
What’s…mine?
My whole body was suddenly on fire. His lips were so close to mine that he was practically swallowing each one of my breaths.
“I’m notyours,Riddick. You’ve made that perfectly clear.”
A low, animalistic growl built in his chest, and he pressed me more firmly into the door.
“I’m trying toprotect you, Finn. Can’t you just trust me on that?”
“Protect me fromwhat!?”
“From me! I’m notgoodfor you. It doesn’t matter that I want you so badly that you’re all I can think about. Because it’s not aboutme.It’s aboutyouand what you deserve.”
He was telling me all the things I’d been dying to hear, but it still wasn’t enough. I needed more than pretty words. I neededhim.
“And what do you think I deserve, Riddick?” I asked, though my voice was a whisper. He rested his forehead on mine and closed his eyes, both thumbs stroking my cheeks tenderly like I was something precious to be worshiped and treasured.
“Everything…Anything, Finn. You deserve anything you want in the world, and I’m sorry if I made you feel like you don’t.”
“What Iwantis you.”
He pulled away slightly so he could search my eyes. I stared back at him, holding my breath as I watched his resolve crumble.
“You’re still going to try to ride Leviathans, even without my help, aren’t you?” he choked, and I nodded.
“You know I am.”
He stroked my cheeks again, and I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he made a decision that would change my life forever.
“If I give in… If we explore this…thing, will you come home?”
Still unable to breathe, I nodded once.
“Say it. I need to hear you promise me you’ll come home and let me help you.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding in a rush and nodded again.
“Yes, Riddick. I’ll come home if you agree to give this a chance.”
The longest second of my life ticked by as my words hung between us, and then he wrapped his large palms around the backs of my thighs and hoisted me up, forcing me to wrap my legs around his waist.
“I hope you can forgive me one day, Finn… I fucking tried. I really tried,” he murmured, his voice rough. My heart was slamming in my chest, and for a moment, I thought he was going to refuse me again. I shivered as he turned his beautiful but horribly sad blue eyes on me, and I watched him break.
