Fueled by the need to show her I’m the one she should trust, the one she should let close, I lean out, kissing the side of her. “I won’t let anyone touch you. I promise. As long as you’re with me, you’re safe.”
“They should all be dead,” she says, unmoving.
“Most of them are.”
We killed at least thirty men last night. Not enough, but it’s a start. Now I know how they treat the women who make Blaze his fortune, willingly selling themselves into sex slavery for American passports, I have a brand-new resolution for the near future: take Noretto down.
Expecting her to move away again, I grab her arm, pulling her into me. But she comes willingly. In seconds, my back hits the headboard and Hailey nuzzles her face in the crook of myneck, eyes closed. She’s not crying anymore. In fact, she’s so still and quiet for so long that I think she’s fallen asleep.
I run a hand down her back, cradling her close, the scent of her hair and skin like a potent sedative. I’ve not been this calm since our Lakeside mornings when she cuddled into me, asking for justfive more minutes.
Bad drug.
Perfect high.
I love having her close. I love feeling her muscles relax while my fingers toy with her hair. I love her delicate body against mine.
And I hate that she’s trying to inch away.
“Not yet,” I say, adjusting my hold. “I know you don’t trust me, but just for a little longer, turn the thinking off and let me hold you.”
She stares into my eyes, two creases lining her forehead. I have no idea what she sees, but whatever it is, it makes her lean back into me for another long cuddle session.
Broadway and Ryder came back half an hour ago judging by the roar of the bike shaking the house as it rolled into the garage. They’re cooking downstairs and the smells are slowly breaching the bedroom.
“Are you hungry?” I whisper, grazing my lips along her hair. “You should eat something.”
She doesn’t reply, but shifts a little, wrapping her arms tighter around my neck and... her lips part against my skin, stamping a tender kiss below the ear. Then another, and one more, each sending a fit of uncontrollable shudders down my spine. She sighs, lifting her head, and those soft lips find mine.
Her fingers walk a path into my hair as she parts her mouth, running her tongue along my lower lip. There’s not an inch of mybody that doesn’t want to let her deepen the kiss, but what she said earlier cuts through the lustful haze.
I break away. “What are you doing?”
“I missed you,” she whispers, leaning into me again, eyes heavy with desire. “You said you missed me too.”
I move her to the side before she kisses me again, then get up, hands balling into fists. “You said you don’t trust me, Hailey. You need time. You’re confused, vulnerable, and not thinking clearly.”
Her eyes widen, shining desire replaced by hurt. “Was...” She pauses as if needing a moment to digest the rejection. “Everything that happened between us... was any of it real or was it just part of the game?”
I crouch before her, both hands caressing the soft skin of her legs. “Everythingwas real.”
Her white teeth sink into her bottom lip. She asked and got an answer, but instead of relief, all I see is resignation on her pretty face. She tries to mask it, but I know her so well she can’t hide anything from me.
I spent weeks learning her facial expressions. Every smile and every frown. I know her better than she does herself.
“Then why are you pushing me away?” she whispers.
“Because you don’t believe me.” My hands cup her thighs. “You don’t trust me. You have every right not to, but I promise, everything between us was real.Isreal. You hold my heart in the palm of your hand. You just need time to understand that.”
She looks to her hands, toying with her fingers. “I don’t have time.”
“What do you mean?”
She inhales sharply, straightening her spine and lifting her chin to artificially inflate her confidence. She’s done it a thousand times before and it never ceases to amaze me howmuch fight she has in her despite the shitty cards she’s been dealt.
“I’m a big girl. I know how this ends. What I don’t know iswhen.”
My heart stutters in my chest.
