“About fucking time.”
Sitting on my bed, haloed in the dim light of my bedside lamp, is the tempter himself.
“Cade.”
“Sebastian.”
The way his tongue wraps around my name sends heat licking down my spine.
I need him out of my space.
Now.
“What do you want?”
He uncoils like a serpent. “Oh, I don’t know…” His head tilts. “How about the explanation you owe me?”
He’s always pushing me and I can’t fuckingstandit.
“I don’t owe you anything,” I growl.
A wave of cigarettes and cologne washes over me as he slithers closer. “Is that so?” Something violent flashes through his eyes. “I’m usually a fan of games, butthisgame you're playing? Is bullshit.”
He’s under my skin like acid.It burns, it burns, it burns. Charging, I snarl, “I’m not the one playing games here.”
A bitter laugh. “More lies. Doesn’t it get exhausting repeating them to yourself all day?”
I cuff his throat, shoving his chin up with my thumb. His pulse slams against my palm.
“I have no choice.”
“No, youbelieveyou have no choice,” he hisses. “There’s a difference.”
Hot breath fills the space between us. His tongue flicks over his bottom lip. I track the movement.Fuck.
“I can’t.”
“Can’t what?” He demands. My jaw is wired shut. His glare darkens. “Can’t. What?”
“No,” I stammer.
“You’re not running this time, Sebastian.” His tone is sharper than fangs, injecting paralytic venom. “Man the fuck up and tell me to my face?—”
“I can’t!”
“I can't,”he mocks in a high-pitched whine. A switch flipsand he's furious again. “Do you know any other words? ‘Cause I'm getting really fucking sick of ‘I’ and ‘can't’!”
“I ca?—”
“You can’twhat?”
“I can't want you!”
The echo of my roar rings in his stunned silence. Violence shines in his eyes again. It’s sirens flashing. A warning given far too late.
“But you do.”
I don't deny it.
