“I may yell later.”
“I will stand still and take it.”
That pulls the faintest smile from her.The sight hits harder than any fist.
“Good,” she says.Silence settles again, but it’s different now.Not easy but less filled with secrets.Briana looks at the roof door.“I don’t want to go downstairs yet.”
“We can stay.”
“I don’t want to talk about the collar.”
“Then we won’t.”
“I don’t want everyone looking at me.”
“Then they don’t get to.”
Her gaze returns to mine.“You can’t control everyone.”
“No.”My mouth twists.“But I can glare effectively.”
That almost-smile appears again.Then she surprises me.
“Can you sit?”I blink, and she gestures to the low brick ledge near the planters.“You’re too tall.My neck hurts.”
I sit.Immediately, her brows lift.“I didn’t mean like a trained dog.”
I grunt.“Too late.”
She walks toward me slowly.I stay seated, hands open on my thighs, every muscle locked.The beast doesn’t understand why we’re below her eye level, why our throat is exposed, and why we’re not reaching, but he’ll learn.
Briana stops in front of me.Like this, she is taller.Not physically.Not really.But enough.She studies me with those tired, fierce eyes.Then she lifts her hand and touches the side of my face, and my breath catches.
Her palm is warm against my jaw.Her fingers tremble once, then steady.I close my eyes because the sight of her choosing this might finish me.
“Look at me,” she whispers, and my eyes open instantly.A small smile curves her mouth.“It’s not an order.”
“I know.”
Her thumb brushes my cheekbone, and A shudder moves through me before I can stop it.She notices.
“I like touching you,” she says, almost like she is confessing a sin.
My hands curl on my thighs.“Briana.”
“I’m not ready for more than this.”
“Then this is everything.”
Her eyes shine again.This time, one tear slips free.I don’t reach for it, not until she nods.Then I lift my hand slowly, giving her every chance to move away.She stays.I wipe the tear from her cheek with the side of my thumb.Her breath trembles, and so does mine.
The city moves below us, bright and careless.Above us, the night watches without mercy.Briana leans forward, only a little, until her forehead rests against mine.And my heart stops.
Her scent fills me.Her hand remains on my face, my thumb lingering near her cheek.It’s the most intimate moment of my life.
“I don’t accept fate making choices for me,” she whispers.
“I knew you wouldn’t.”
