Now, I was the one fighting an internal battle. I wanted to obey Wes—whose singular word was not a request, but a command. Yet I also wanted to save Lorelei.
Ineededto save her.
And just like with every other decision I faced, no matter which I chose, I lost.
“Things have changed,” Wes said vaguely, staring down at my body as if he owned it—this body he had barely touched and hardly explored.
“Nothing has changed,” I said bitterly before I could stop myself.
Wes reared back as if I’d slapped him. “Nothing?” he asked.
I swallowed. “You can’t tell me what to do, not with something this important to me, especially when you don’t even feel strongly enough about me to…”
I looked away, unable to finish. It felt too pathetic to say aloud.
Wes’s eyes widened, his arms flexing where they boxed me in on either side. “Nova…” He took a deep breath. “God, I?—”
I braced for the truth. I told myself I could handle it, even if my heart protested.
“It isbecauseI feel so strongly that I’ve held back with you,” he said. “I’m working through my shit, I promise. God, I swear, I’m trying. I told myself the day we met that I would never be able to give you what you needed. That I couldn’t have you.”
My heart clenched. My lower lip felt wobbly. I closed my eyes for a moment and searched for strength I wasn’t sure I possessed.
“Look at me, baby,please,” Wes asked, his voice racked with emotion.
I met his eyes, trapped in their gravitational pull just as I’d been from the start.
“Rip off the Band-Aid,” I begged. “Don’t draw it out. If you feel strongly but you still can’t do this, just tell me.” I stamped down the urge to cry, leaning into anger instead. My voice came out stronger this time, my gaze sharpening. “Tell me how youfeel, Wes.”
“How I feel,” he repeated harshly. A vein in his tattooed neck pulsed. Wes’s control snapped. He pushed off the wall and took a step back from me. “I am fucking terrified of becoming addicted to you, Nova!”
I flinched. The words seemed to echo against the walls, in my own mind.
“I’m sorry,” he said immediately, lowering his voice. “Shit, I’m sorry.” He gently tugged me toward him, and a tremor rolled through his body, similar to the day he told me about his ex. He rested his forehead against mine.
“Fuckthis,” he growled, slamming his lips against mine. I was breathless as he consumed me, devoured me—nothing like the careful control he’d maintained these past weeks.
My mind, once scrambled and confused and desperate to solve the avalanche of problems crashing toward me, settled.
It all went quiet. Everything faded to the background. Only Wes remained.
His lips skated down my neck, sucking and nibbling until he finally made good on his promise. He held me in place as he bit down on my sensitive flesh. I gasped, melting in his hold as he quickly soothed his bite with his tongue.
“Are you going to use your safe words, Nova?” Wes asked, low and urgent.
“Yes.”
We were using the red, yellow, and green light system for simplicity’s sake.
He stared down at my body one more time before throwing me over his shoulder. I squealed in surprise, feet flailing, and he slapped my exposed ass before gripping it hard.
He carried me up the stairs with ease, to the one floor I hadn’t seen yet.
When I was back on a solid floor, I glanced around at a tastefully decorated bedroom with black and forest green accents, art, bookcases, and wooden furniture. I was dizzy from the blood rush and emotional intensity. Wes gripped my hair at the base of my scalp, forcing me to look up into his stormy eyes.
“I will go with you,” he said. “But I don’t want anyone else fucking touching you.”
I tried to nod, but the movement pulled at my hair. I winced. Wes didn’t loosen his grip. My core turned molten, my panties growing slick.
