I want to demand an explanation. What Ishoulddo is give her space until she’s comfortable enough to trust me with her story. That’s going to take time. I’ve always thought of myself as decently patient. Today, I’m proving myself wrong.
We’re halfway up the elevator to the apartment when my frustrations hit a boiling point. Using the side of my fist, I hit the emergency stop button, sending the elevator to a lurching halt. Terina gasps, clutching the handrail to steady herself.
“What’s going on?” she asks, wide-eyed.
I close the distance between us, crowding her against the wall. “It’s time for some new rules between us.”
She peers up at me through thick lashes, her lips slightly parted, and her chest rising and falling on rapid breaths.
She’s so damn beautiful.
“From now on, you’re going to do exactly as I say, without hesitation.” I place my palms flat on the wall, caging her in. “You’re going to start trusting me with your body and your truth.”
“What are you saying, DiAngelo?”
“It’s D. You call me D when we’re alone.”
“D…” she breathes, sending a jolt of lust straight to my swelling dick.
“That’s right. When you call me D, I know there are no barriers between us. No lies or judgment. Only trust. Because I don’t want any harm to come to you—physically or emotionally—and the only way I can ensure that is if you open up to me.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking.” Her face crumples.
“I tried so damn hard to keep myself away from you, Rina. Then I told myself we could take things slowly so that I didn’t rush you, but I can’t do it. I want you too damn much. I don’t care that I’m too old for you, or that my best friend is your brother. I don’t give a shit that the things I want to do to you will send me straight to hell. I’ve never wanted to possess a woman more than I crave you. I need you. All of you.”
“You want … to possess me? What does that mean, D?” Her wariness is palpable. I’m going to lose her if I’m not careful. I have to word this in a way that won’t send her running.
“It means you give yourself to me, firefly. Tell me you’ll trust me to take care of you.”
Temptation shines in her eyes, but she’s scared. Fear holds her back.
“Why do you call me that? Why firefly?”
“Because you’re my light in the darkness.” I bring my lips to her neck and jaw, peppering her skin with reverent kisses. “Please, Rina. Try to trust me. I swear you won’t regret it.” My ragged plea is fraught with desperation.
Thudding heart beats pulse in my ears as I wait.
Finally, she breathes the one perfect word I needed to hear.
“Yes.”
CHAPTER 41
TERINA
Present
I’m notsure what just happened. D was suddenly everywhere at once—in my lungs and on my tongue, filling my vision and wrapping himself tightly around my heart. He’s weaving his way into the fabric of my soul, and I’m powerless to stop him because that’s exactly where I want him.
The problem is, I’m more broken than he knows. What he thinks he wants isn’t real. Yet I said yes because I want to give him what he wants. I desperately want to trust him.
I want to know what it’s like to be his.
That’s the only thing I know for sure in all of this. I need to know what it feels like to have this warrior of a man devote himself to me, even if it means catastrophic heartbreak at the end of the day. Because that’s what might happen when he learns the truth—that I’m not the fighter he thinks I am.
I never meant to mislead him. I made every attempt to keep up my boundaries, but that battle has failed miserably. This incessant pull between us has only intensified.
There will be a reckoning.
