“Why are you bothering?” I wanted it to come out as snark, but it reeked of desperation.
Those sinewy muscles bunched as he stalled out.
Hesitation blowing through him like the howl of the wind.
Even though he wouldn’t give me any details, we both knew what was coming.
I’d either be dead, perish to whatever secret he was keeping, or I’d be right back in the same place.
By myself.
Fighting.
Fighting for Dereck.
Fighting to protect myself.
Fighting to survive.
Except something had to change. It was time. I couldn’t keep doing this with Dereck, even though the thought of disappointing my mother destroyed me.
I couldn’t keep allowing him to ruin my life again and again.
That was if he didn’t…
I crushed the thought in its tracks. I refused to even contemplate it.
“I don’t know, Brinley, but I can’t seem to stop.”
The fingers that had been slipping along my cheek slid into my hair.
Fisting into the locks as his nose ran the length of my opposite jaw.
Flames tore through my body.
“If we don’t stop, I’m pretty sure it will destroy us both,” I rasped.
“Probably,” he grunted. “But I think it might be worth it.”
Worth it.
“I think I’ve been hurt enough.” It was a shaky defense.
His hand in my hair slipped down until he was holding me by the front of the neck.
Need flooded my veins, as well as a flicker of the old terror that worked to hold me back.
A prisoner.
Was that what I was always going to be?
His mouth pressed close to my jaw. Voice drenched in chaos. “And I’m the fool who wants to take away your pain.”
“I don’t know if there’s anyone who can do that,” I wheezed. I shouldn’t have released it. It sounded far too much like an admission.
“And I’m nothing but the selfish bastard who wants to try. Not supposed to touch you. Can’t touch you…” He murmured the roughened words up and down my jaw.
Trembles rolled and the desire that I’d been battling broke free.
