Making me gasp as he let his lips come close to my mouth.
“Doesn’t stop the way I want to, though, does it?” he rumbled. “Way I want to peel you apart, layer by layer, then be the one to piece you back together?”
“I’m not broken.”
But clearly, I was begging to be with the way I leaned farther into his hold.
Because I wanted to feel.
I wanted to feel something different than I’d been subjected to for so long.
I was tired of the cold and the vacancy.
And whenever Silas entered the room? I felt alive.
“Nah, baby, you aren’t close to being broken. You’re a force. A storm. AWildfire. And I want to burn. Even though doing it might prove to be the death of me.”
“And I’m ready to live.” It was a whisper. A secret. Maybe one I was trying to claim for myself.
“Gonna see to it that you will,” he murmured before he reached over to peel the foil from the plate.
Once again, he commanded, “Eat.”
I nearly choked over a laugh when I saw it was breakfast dessert.
Okay, dessert concealed as breakfast.
A mountain of pancakes piled high with cherries and whipped cream.
Silas dug his finger into the cherries and cream and brought it to my lips.
Stupid, foolish girl, sucking it into my mouth.
He slowly pulled it out, then he walked away, muttering, “Fuckin’ Wildfire. What are you doing to me?”
Funny how I thought I couldn’t eat another bite, and I’d scarfed down the entire plate.
But with the realization that it was time for me to make a change, I decided to go ahead and take a little of thegood.
Thatgoodmight have made me feel like I was going to burst, but it was worth it.
A strange satisfaction glided through me as I sat there an hour later, making a dent in the stack of invoices.
I should have been off kilter after the earlier interaction with Silas, the way it felt like we were on the brink of a catastrophic explosion, but it was an easy smile climbing to my face when the main door swung open to the lobby.
Probably a smidge too peppy as I stood to welcome the customer.
A man strode through before the glinting glass pane drifted shut behind him.
He looked simple.
Innocuous.
Safe enough.
But the blood drained from my head and my limbs went weak as recognition bowled me over.
It was the same guy from the drugstore parking lot.
