She wanted to hurl herself at it. Be struck by it.
“And you feel safe here? With me?” he asked, a low rumble in his voice.
“Yes.”
As inane as it was, as tumultuous as their past and current...relationship might be, she did. She harbored zero doubts that he’d ever intentionally hurt her, exploit her. If she’d come seeking shelter, he’d not only give it, he’d use his own body to provide it. That was his nature.
No.
It’s who he was.
After witnessing the pettiness, the cruelty her parents were capable of tonight, she needed that haven. She craved that security. She’d come here on the pretense of making sure Achilles was okay, but really, she was the one who desperately wanted to be assured.
Did that make her a user? Did that make her selfish?
“Stop, and no.”
She blinked, snatching herself from the downward spiral of her thoughts. “I’m sorry?”
“Wherever you were going right now in your head. You had a deer-in-headlights look in your eyes.”
“I’m selfish. A user,” she whispered.
“You’re going to have to explain that one.” He cupped her elbow and led her to one of the sitting areas, guiding her to a black armchair. “Sit. Because you look like you’re about to fall over.”
“I convinced myself I was coming here for you. When it was about me,for me, all along. Selfish,” she repeated, tilting her head back to meet his gaze. “I came here to use you.”
She expected his disgust at her admission. At the very least annoyance. Not that flicker of...oh, God, desire.
“Use me in what way, Mycah?” Another man might have hunkered down next to the chair, minimizing his size so she didn’t feel towered over or intimidated. Not Achilles.
And she didn’t feel intimidated or overpowered.
No. She felt covered. Protected.
And so aroused she could barely breathe without taking in his scent—pine, fresh rain and sex.
“Mycah.”
“I want... I would...” She couldn’t say it. Couldn’t push it out.
In her family, asking for what you needed—other than the latest season’s fashion line or the newest car—was akin to exposing your neck to an apex predator. It was revealing a weakness. When he’d been a stranger, someone she hadn’t expected to see after a night together, it’d been easier. But he wasn’t a stranger anymore.
If he’d ever really been.
And as much as she’d run to him tonight...as much as she trusted him not to intentionally hurt her... What this man could inadvertently do to her heart would make a natural disaster look like an April shower.
“We’ll table it for now.” He sank into the chair across from her, his sprawled long legs bracketing hers.
He didn’t speak as he tipped the bottle to his mouth and drank. And she did the same, watching him, mesmerized by the oddly sensual sight of his ale-dampened lips and the dance of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. Maybe it was the alcohol she’d barely sipped, but she longed for nothing more than to lean forward and slowly close her teeth around that strong throat and flick her tongue over his skin. Taste the earthy, salty flavor of it.
User, a small, smug voice rustled in her head. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
“I’m sorry, Achilles,” she whispered, tracing a fingertip through the condensation dotting the bottle. “You didn’t deserve that kind of treatment tonight. I know you didn’t want my apology earlier, but I need to offer you one. Or try to.”
“Look at me.”
She lifted her head, meeting his gaze, a flicker of annoyance at her immediate obedience to his order mingling with a flash of lust.
