Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 764(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 510(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 764(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 510(@300wpm)
I don't have any time to process this before he crushes his lips against mine.
CHAPTER 25
ROMERO
There is something about her that makes me say everything I’ve fought to hold back. What is it? How does she do it? I still don’t have the answer by the time I break the kiss to come up for air. There’s a storm raging inside me, a storm that’s threatened to erupt for as long as I can remember.
It’s all because of her that I finally lost control. I should hate her for it, but how can I when it feels so damn good to stop fighting?
She looks so lost and confused as she stares up at me. Her lips are swollen thanks to my kiss – the sight makes me want to kiss her again, harder, until she’s bleeding. The impulse races through me like fire and leaves me grinding my teeth, fighting it back. I can’t hurt her. No matter how much I want to.
“Don’t stop.” Her desperate whispers make me groan in need and regret, closing my eyes, begging silently for strength. I don’t even know who I’m begging. God, the Devil himself, I have no idea. I only know I’m barely holding on.
“Don’t you get it?” I hardly sound like myself as I take her by the shoulders and hold her still, glaring down at her. “I am not who you want. I am the last thing you want.”
“Don’t tell me what I want.”
“You want someone who can be good to you. Who can take care of you. That is not me, Tatum. That will never be me. I am not good for you – or even for myself. Everything I’ve ever touched, I’ve destroyed. I’ve hurt people. I’ve killed people. And… and…”
And it’s all so clear. Finally, I understand what I’ve wrestled with and why. I have finally gotten to the heart of everything, and it’s staring me in the face. “I don’t trust myself with you.”
She reaches up, and I shrink away from her touch – it’s dangerous, because it feels so damn good. Even though I crave it with every fiber of my soul, I crave something I don’t deserve. “Give it to me,” she whispers, stroking my stubbled cheek.
“What?”
“Give it all to me. Every bit of it. All the pain and anger. All the regret, all those memories. Give it to me. Take it out on me.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Fuck you for telling me what I mean. I know what I mean. I know what I want. You. You are the only man I’ve ever really wanted, the only one I couldn’t have. I still want you, more than I ever have. So give all of it to me. Let it be over. The hate in your heart. Let it go. I’ll take it.”
Either there’s something wrong with her, or there’s something wrong with me. What she’s saying shouldn’t make sense. I should shove her away with both hands and tell her she’s crazy. I need to.
But I need her more.
There’s a force stronger than both of us that makes me wrap my arms around her, clutching her body close to mine before I pick her up and start for the stairs. I would take her here and now on the floor like an animal, but she deserves better than a hard fuck on her mother’s ashes. I still have enough control over my primal urges to know it would be wrong.
She buries her face in my neck, her breath hot on my skin. The sweetest fire is nothing compared to the fire racing through me, making my blood sing, and the animal that’s always lived inside me raises its head and roars. Finally, no more fighting it. Finally, I take what was always meant to be mine.
I see it in her eyes when I lay her on her bed, staring down at her in the clear light of day. There’s no hiding, no running away. I see her, and she sees me. We both know there’s no coming back from this.
My hand trembles as I run it over her cheek. So fucking beautiful. How many nights did I spend secretly wishing to touch her this way, wishing she would look up at me with lust, fear, and trust in those clear, green eyes? “I can’t promise I’ll be gentle with you,” I whisper while my cock threatens to break the zipper on my jeans.
She takes my hand, staring up at me while she places it over one of her tits. “I don’t care. I need you. I’m yours.”
The sound of that shouldn’t unleash so much satisfaction; then again, nothing about this makes sense. Not in my mind, anyway. Only in my body. In the most primal part of my soul where she has always lived.
I take the neck of her thin sweater in both hands and tear it open to reveal the creamy top of her tits encased in white lace. I descend on them, letting myself soak in the taste of her skin, her sweetness, soothing myself in the comfort of her body while she arches her back, crying out wordlessly as she offers more of herself to my greedy mouth. “Yes, just like that,” she moans when I yank the cups down to play with her nipples. Her fingers run through my hair, tugging and scraping my scalp with her nails until my skin sizzles. “More.”