“What the hell do you want?” I demand.
“I’m not the one who stormed into the orchard acting like the house was on fire, flinging insults when we didn’t immediately drop everything and bow to your every whim. So why don’t you tellmewhatyouwant before I take the scissors to your five-thousand-thread-count sheets?”
Damn it. She’s not going to let me off the hook. Not going to give me a fucking inch.
I turn off the water and release my aching cock from the tail’s firm grip, for all the good it does me. Having her this close to me when I’m naked and wet and she’s pissed off and glaring at me like she’s about to set my cock on fire?
Fuck, my balls are throbbing for her.
“I wanted to give you an update on Detective Reedsy,” I say, turning slightly to keep my rock-hard cock from pressing up against the glass.
“Well? Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“We received word from our contact in customs that he’s hiding out in Argentina. He bought a round-trip ticket, though—if he sticks to the itinerary, he’ll be back in a week. Jude suspects he’s looking for property down there, probably to relocate permanently.”
“What happens when he comes back?”
“We’ll be waiting for him.”
She sighs, some of her anger dissipating as she hops off the counter. Heading for the exit without so much as another glance in my direction, she says, “Thanks for the update. Next time, try to be less… lessyouabout it.”
Fuck. She’s leaving again. Turning her back and walking away from me like she always does.
Because you keeppushingher away, you daft bastard…
No. Not tonight. Not now.
“Not so fast, little mortal.” Ignoring the state of my cock, I step out of the shower, water sluicing down my skin and puddling on the tile floor. “I told you what I wanted. Now it’s your turn.”
“I don’t want anything from you,” she says, refusing to turn around to face me.
I take a step closer, then another, so close my breath stirs the back of her hair. A rogue leaf lingers, and I resist the urge to pull it free. “You wouldn’t have left Augustine and his hard-on to fend for themselves in the orchard if that were true.” Then, teeth gritted against the scent of her skin, the desire she’s stirring painfully to life inside me, “So dispense with the attitude and tell me what it is you want from me, Miss Avery.”
Tell me you still want me. Tell me you forgive me for being a world-class arsehole, again and again and again. Tell me you’re still thinking about the last time we touched…
“Are you asking me for the truth?” She finally turns to face me head-on, her eyes lasering in on mine, then slowly raking over my form. “Or some inane pleasantries that will make you feel better about yourself?”
“From you, I want the truth. Always.”
“I want the truth from you too, Draegan.” She meets my gaze again and sighs. “That’s it. Honesty, pure and simple. Not just about what’s going on with Reedsy and the Forsythes, but about what’s going on in here.” She presses her palm to my heart, her touch as soothing as ever. “I want you to stop acting like a jealous dickhead whenever you see me with the other guys, because you know damn well I’m yours, too. I want you to stop avoiding me just because feelings are uncomfortable sometimes. I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me—”
“Tell youwhat?” I grip her wrist, sliding my thumb along the delicate skin, unleashing an involuntary shiver that rolls through her body from head to toe. “That I can’t stop thinking of you?” I whisper. “That the remembered sound of youbeggingme to touch you is a lullaby that soothes my darkest nightmares?” I step closer, lifting her up and setting her back on the vanity counter, dragging my nose down along the slope of her neck. “That the scent of your skin haunts me so violently, I find myself inventing excuses just to be near you—another update on our enemies’ whereabouts, some inane question, an argument always at the ready if only to keep you in my presence, to see that fire light up your eyes?”
She swallows hard, and I brush my lips over her throat, her pulse thrumming just beneath the surface.
“To tell you,” I whisper, “that the very feel of your name on my lips makes my heart beat so fast, I fear it might burst before I get a chance to touch you again?”
She opens her mouth to speak, but I brush my thumb across her lips, silencing her.
“You asked me to kiss you the other night, and I refused. Twice. Not a moment passes when I don’t regret it. Andthat, Miss Avery, is the honest truth.”
Hurt flickers in her eyes, and I curse myself for bringing it up again. For reminding her what a bastard I’ve been to her.
But then the hurt vanishes, blinked away so fast I can’t even be sure it was ever there at all.
A cold grin slides across her lips, almost cruel. It’s so unlike her I stumble backward.
“And you think I’m going to let you kiss me now?” she taunts. “After the way you’ve been acting? Is that what’s happening here?”
