My temper flares, my hands curling into fists at my sides. “I’m asking you to speak to me. I want to hear your voice. That’s not the same as wanting you to be someone else.”
Her chin lifts. It feels the same.
We stare at each other, neither willing to give ground.
Then she raises her hands again. Her hands move again, slower now, but no less fierce. “Why did you stop?”
My brows draw together. “Stop what?”
“Saying you love me.”
The words land like a weight in the center of my chest. I take a step closer. “I stopped because you never say it back. Until you can look me in the eye and tell me you love me, I’m not giving you those words again.
Her lips part, but no sound comes. I can see the heat in her eyes, the anger, the hurt. I know the line I’ve just drawn between us is deliberate and cruel, but I don’t take it back.
Her hands twitch like she’s about to sign something, but she stops. She looks at me as if she could burn me down where I stand.
I close the space between us, my hand curling around the back of her neck. “You think you can push me away with this?” My voiceis rough now, my control thinning. “You can’t. Not when I know you feel the same, whether you’ll say it or not.”
She turns, striding toward the house, and I follow, my pulse pounding, the fight still burning in my blood.
In our bedroom, the door closes with a soft click, shutting out the world, and she faces me, her hands signing, Damn you. You don’t get to demand my love.
I grab her wrists, gently but firm, pulling her close, my voice a rough whisper. “I’m not demanding it, cara. I’m waiting for it.”
Her breath catches, her body taut under my touch. She doesn’t pull away. I see the moment the anger shifts, morphing into something wild, desperate. I kiss her, hard and hungry. She shoves me back just enough to glare at me before pulling me in again.
It’s a battle disguised as a kiss, teeth and heat and stubborn defiance. She meets me with equal fire, her hands tugging at my shirt, ripping it free.
I back her into the wall, my hands finding her hips, lifting her easily. Her legs wrap around my waist, her nails digging into my shoulders through my shirt. The sound she makes when I press my mouth to her throat is low and unrestrained.
“Tell me,” I murmur against her skin.
She shakes her head, her fingers tangling in my hair, pulling hard enough to make me groan. “N…n…no,” she breathes.
It only drives me further.
Her hands are on me, pulling at buttons, shoving fabric aside, and when I finally get her bare beneath me, I take a moment to look at her. Her chest rising quickly, her eyes locked on mine, daring me to break first.
I don’t. I push her onto the bed, my body covering hers, my mouth claiming hers again. The kiss is deep, consuming, a clash of want and fury. I kiss her neck, her breasts, tasting her heat, her need, and she arches into me, her moans soft but urgent.
I shed my clothes, my cock hard and aching, and I enter her, fast and deep, each thrust a release of the fury, the longing, the love I can’t say. She moves with me, her hands clutching my shoulders, her eyes locked on mine, wild and unguarded
Her hands grip my shoulders like she’s holding on through a storm, and I keep driving into her, the sound of our bodies filling the room.
She gasps, her nails scraping down my back, and I set a hard, steady rhythm that makes her arch beneath me. Her head tips back, and I kiss the line of her throat, biting just enough to make her moan.
“Say it,” I growl, my mouth against her ear.
Her eyes meet mine, and there’s fire there, a challenge. “N…no.”
It pushes me over the edge. I pin her wrists above her head with one hand, my pace quickening until she’s gasping, her body trembling under mine. Her body tightens as she comes hard, her cry breaking through the air.
I follow her over, burying myself deep as the release rips through me, a blinding rush that leaves me trembling
For a moment, neither of us moves. My weight is braced above her, my breath ragged, my heart pounding against hers.
When I finally let her wrists go, she slides her hands to my face, holding me there. Her eyes are softer now, but the words still don’t come.
