Page 15

His warm, appreciative gaze turned sharp when it landed on my wrist, and he closed the distance between us in a few long steps. He was the tallest of the three, not quite as broad as Thorne, but my entire frame still fit within his.

I shifted on my feet as the awkwardness of not having said anything crept in. “I… This is the ring tent, right?” I mumbled out the words.

He didn’t respond to my question, instead reaching out and cradling my wrist in his palm.

“Are you all right?” he said, his rough thumb stroking the fading marks.

“I’m fine,” I stuttered out and forced myself not to pull my hand away.

Silas looked at my face, his brows pinching in the middle. He seemed displeased with my answer.

“You will be.” It came out as a promise, and he entwined our fingers, not giving me a chance to question him as he tugged me to where the hoop hung three feet from the ground in the middle of the tent.

“What is that?” The more I looked at it, the less familiar it felt. The hoop was several feet in diameter, with a padded bench suspended across the two sides of the lower third of the hoop, creating a bridge-like platform.

“Your game.”

“I got that much.”

His mouth shifted slightly. I’d seen him at my table in the library frequently enough to know how rarely that happened. He was quiet, never talking to anyone despite many people’s attempts. At first, my thoughts would constantly go back to wondering why he had always chosen to sit by me, despite never saying a word. But the more he came, the more comfortable I became with his quietness. I began to look forward to his calming presence.

It was no different now. His soft, steady gaze met mine and washed away any tension I’d been holding.

“Do you know why I chose you?”

“Why?”

His fingers locked between mine when I instinctively backed away. “I’ve been watching you. The way you lower your head when others walk by or how you cut conversations short the second anyone asks you anything close to personal.” He chuckled, then tugged me closer so that our toes were touching, and the heat of his words reached me as he said, “Do you have any idea how fucking happy I was when you finally relaxed around me?”

His words swirled inside me. The idea that this man who everyone tried to get close to had only been focusing on me made me dizzy. It didn’t make sense, but I wanted to believe him.

“How happy?”

He growled, and his mouth grazed mine. The air around us grew thick with that brief touch. Suddenly, every nerve ending in my body was pulling me toward him. “Let me show you.”

His offer was tempting, but I knew better than anyone how dangerous it could be. I glanced at the hoop, then back to him. “How?”

His lips curved into a knowing smirk, like he’d caught his prey. “You’re always afraid, Gwen. I’m going to show you how good it feels when you embrace that fear.”

He was right. I’d been barely surviving these past years, buried under the fear that I wouldn’t be able to change from the girl I was. That fear had controlled my every action, until there was nothing left of the person I used to be.

Thorne had shown me how good it felt to take what I wanted. Now all I wanted was Silas.

I swallowed hard and rose onto my toes until I tasted his bottom lip. There was a small tremble in my voice when I asked, “Oh yeah? How are you planning to do that?”

He growled, and he crashed his mouth into mine. His fingers dug into my hair and tipped my head back to deepen the kiss. I pulled him toward me, meeting his tongue with my own. He lifted me from behind my thighs, and I wrapped my legs around his waist in response.

My weight shifted in his arms as he began to walk, and I inhaled sharply when my nipples grazed his chest. He hummed, then shifted me again, that same tingling sensation dancing along my skin.

I’d been so lost in that feeling that I hadn’t noticed we had reached the hoop until he stepped one leg over the bench. Silas held me to his chest with my legs wrapped around his waist so that I straddled him when he sat on the bench.

My heartbeat rose in my ears as I looked high above us to where the rope disappeared in the shadows too high for the lights to reach. It had to be at least forty feet in the air. A tremble rolled down my spine. His large hand wrapped around my hip, holding me firmly in place, and the other on my chin, not hard enough to hurt but firm enough to capture my attention.

“Are you afraid of heights, Gwen?” he asked, green eyes locked on mine as he scanned my face.

Even with his feet firmly on the ground, fear sparked along my spine, seeming to light up every nerve. Scared? I was terrified. I looked around, but there was no net in sight. Nothing to tether me in place but him.

I swallowed hard, not breaking his gaze, and replied, “Yes.”