The honest answer rises fast and sharp.Because if I do, I’ll lose you.Instead, I give her the truer one.“Because you’d leave.I can’t protect you if you aren’t here.”
She studies my face for a long moment.Then she nods.“Yes.”
Silence settles between us, not awkward or heavy but charged.Like something is lining itself up whether we want it to or not.
She breaks it first.“You’re more careful with me,” she says.
“Yes.”
“That’s new for you.”
“Yes.”
She smiles then—not soft, not teasing.Assessing.“Why?”
I turn my head just enough to meet her gaze.“Because I don’t want to ruin what hasn’t finished forming.”
Her breath catches.Just barely.That’s the moment.Not when I touch her, but when she decides not to move away.Her knee brushes mine, accidental in timing, deliberate in placement.I still don’t reach for her.I let the space do the talking first.Let her feel the option without pressure.
“Savage,” she says quietly.
I wait.
She shifts, turning toward me fully.Close enough now that I can feel her heat, smell her—clean skin, desert air, something sharper underneath that makes my hands itch to touch.
She doesn’t ask.She leans in.
Her mouth finds mine without hesitation, without softness, without fear.It’s not a kiss meant to be sweet.It’s a test.She presses into me like she’s checking whether I’ll take more than she’s offering.
I don’t.
I kiss her back slowly.Deliberately.My hand comes up to her jaw, thumb brushing along her pulse point like it’s something I need to memorize.Her breath stutters, not because I’m rough, but because I’m not.
That matters.
She exhales against my mouth and shifts closer, fingers curling into my shirt like she’s anchoring herself.The kiss deepens, heat blooming between us, but I keep my touch measured.When my other hand settles at her waist, it’s grounding, not claiming.
She breaks the kiss first.“Why aren’t you pushing?”she asks, breathless but steady.
“Because you didn’t ask me to.”
Her lips part.She studies my face like she’s looking for the trick.“You want to, though,” she says, a statement.
“Yes.”Dear God, do I want to push, take more than she is offering right now.I want to lift her into my lap and crush her to me.Carry her inside and fuck her against the nearest wall simply to feel her like I used to.
“But you won’t.”
“No.”The single word falls between us and she blinks.
Something shifts in her expression then, something unguarded.She leans in again, slower this time, mouth softer against mine.Her hand slides up my chest, fingers splaying like she’s mapping terrain.I let her.I don’t move to take control.I let her choose how close we get.
Her fingers dip beneath my collar, nails scraping lightly.Heat coils low in my gut, sharp and demanding, but I keep my breathing even.When her hand slips lower, testing, I still don’t rush her.
She’s the one who pauses.
“This doesn’t end with me pressed into a wall,” she says quietly.
“No,” I agree.
