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He could feel that darkness racing inside him, pounding in his head. A hunger he only associated with Kia, some unknown surge of emotion that had him enforcing his control over it.
He'd never known before what he could feel tearing at him now. He was naturally dominant, naturally sexually hard, and she was so sweet, so soft, she terrified him.
He stared into her quiet, watchful expression as he helped her up, helped her adjust her clothes before he adjusted his own.
He should never have gone to her tonight, and he knew it. He saw the hope in her eyes, and he saw the fear. And he knew, tonight, he would end up destroying himself.
Kia watched his face as he reached around her and zipped her dress. His expression was torn, his eyes roiling with emotion that she knew he wasn't going to let free. She could see it, she could feel it. But he would never let go of it enough to trust it in her care.
She wondered if that was the battle. If he wanted to trust her, hold on to her, and had to push it back. Or if that darkness in his expression, in his eyes, held something more.
"Chase. "
He laid his fingers over her lips when she would have asked, when she would have tried to whisper her own feelings.
"Let's get you home. " His jaw tightened. Flexed. "Before you catch a cold. "
She stared back at him, torn, knowing, feeling the distance he was suddenly placing between them. Just as he had when Khalid joined them. Just as he always had.
Damn him. Something inside her exploded in grief as he helped her back into the car. He waited until the door closed behind her before buttoning his shirt, moving around the car, his head down, his expression savagely controlled. For just a second she had seen the pain in his eyes, a flash of savage darkness that tugged at her soul and tightened her chest.
When he slid into the driver's seat, he looked as presentable as he had at the ball. No one would have known he had just taken her on the hood of his car, whereas she knew she looked mussed, perhaps still a bit drowsy from the pleasure.
That haze was easing away quickly, though.
She sat silently as he drove quickly off the Sinclair property and headed back to Alexandria. He didn't waste time; he maneuvered the vehicle efficiently, quickly, and, too soon, they were pulling up in front of her apartment.
She was surprised when he got out of the car and came around to her side.
He helped her out and kept hold of her arm as they moved inside the building. As though eager to get her to her apartment and be on his way.
"You don't have to go up with me," she told him. "I'm perfectly capable of getting upstairs on my own. "
She didn't want him to come up with her. She didn't want what she sensed was coming, the pain she knew would explode inside her.
"I know you are. "
He stepped inside the elevator with her anyway, punched in her floor, and watched the digital display as they rose up.
Kia took the key from her purse as the elevator doors opened again, and was once again surprised as he gestured for it.
Seconds later, her door opened and she stepped inside. Chase didn't follow her. He stood in the open doorway, watching. She turned to meet his gaze.
She slid the cloak from her shoulders and tossed it to the couch. Kia had to force back the shiver that wanted to race over her body, the betrayal of anger that wanted to rise inside her.
"Are you staying the night?" she asked him, her voice cool, remote.
She wasn't taking this anymore. Damn him to hell. She was falling in love with him. Bastard that he was—cold, remote, distant— something in her heart responded violently at the flicker of emotion in his eyes, and his battle to hide it.
His jaw clenched. "No. And you don't really want me to. "
Her lips twisted mockingly as the anger that would have surged inside her days before remained at a slow simmer. She wasn't even surprised. She thought, perhaps she had expected it.
"You know, Chase," she finally said. "I want a lover, not a fuck every now and then. I'll tell you what. Close the door as you leave, and we'll pretend none of this ever happened. I've had enough. "
She couldn't take this ride. It was tearing her apart inside, leaving her scrambling to hold on to something, to make sense of herself and her own emotions. She couldn't handle it anymore.
He stepped into the apartment then, and with a controlled flick of his hand, the door closed with a bang.
