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She turns away from me, pacing over to the window.
Gripping the sill, she stares out at the street, lit by hazy autumn sunlight.
She’s even beautiful when she’s just a silhouette, a shadowy outline of her shapeliness, her hips tempting me to grip them again like I did last time. Only this time I won’t stop.
“Rosie,” I plead. “What is it? What’s wrong? Why did you leave?”
Finally, she turns to me. Her eyes glimmering, as though she’s close to bursting into tears, but at the same time, she makes a visible effort to force them away.
The result is an expression of conflict, an inner battle being played out on her captivating features.
“It’s not you,” she whispers. “I didn’t leave because of anything to do with you. It’s me, Ryker. I’m the one who’s… I’m the one who’s broken.”
“What?” I growl, anger firing in my voice, bubbling like lava. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Chapter Twelve
Rosie
He stands on the other side of the room like an animal ready to attack, reared up to his full height with his hands clenched into tight fists at his sides.
After a torturous week of not seeing him – aching for him every moment, dreams gifted with visions of our sizzling closeness – my body feels ultrasensitive to his every movement.
His jaw is tight, his cheek pulsing, his veins pushing against his corded arms like there’s an inferno inside of him trying to bust free.
My clit tingles, telling me to forget about all this emotional stuff and rush right to the good part.
But that’s the problem…
“Rosie.” He strides across the room, closing the distance quickly on his long powerful legs. “You’re not broken. Whatever it is, whatever’s going on inside your head, I never want to hear you talking about yourself like that. Because it’s not fucking true.”
I flinch at the intensity of his words, feeling like they’ve just slammed physically into me, stirring up so freaking much.
“Maybe broken wasn’t the right word,” I murmur. “What I meant to say is… I can’t give you what you want.”
He narrows his eyes. “And what do you think I want?”
I throw my hands up, glaring at him, even if it’s really myself I’m angry with – even if it’s me who stormed out, who wrecked what could’ve been something beautiful.
“It’s not difficult to work out, Ryker,” I snap. “I could feel how badly you wanted to… to take things further last time.”
Trying to say the word sex threatens to wrap my tongue in knots, causing me to stumble over my words.
It’s like bringing it out into the open will cause the possibility – and my failure – to become that much more painful.
“Of course I did.” He smirks, stepping forward, staring down with hard eyes. “You’re so fucking sexy. The way you writhed and moaned for me… Yeah, of course, I wanted to take things further. So what?”
“So I can’t do that,” I snap. “I mean, I’m not sure I can do it. I’m not sure I can be the person you want me to be. The way you were looking at me… Heck, Ryker, I may be inexperienced, but I know what you wanted.”
“Needed,” he corrects with a feral growl in his voice. “It wasn’t what I wanted. It was what I fucking needed. Still need. Now, stop dancing around the issue and tell me what you’re talking about.”
I open my mouth to try and force the words out, but it’s like there’s a block deep inside of me, stopping me as I try to confront the issue. Each time I attempt to push the words out, my throat closes up.
“I’ve never done anything like that before,” I manage to say, my voice breathy.
“You’ve never…”
A tremor wracks through him and he reaches out, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me to him. His touch ignites an impatient arousal inside of me, sizzling down my shoulders and over my arms, into my belly, teasing my clit and making my sex pulse.
“Done anything like that?” he growls, bending down so his face is level with mine, staring at me, into me. “Am I understanding you properly here, Rosie?”
I lick my lips in a vain attempt to get rid of some of the dryness, the shyness, but it does nothing to combat either.
“Rosie,” he says firmly, tightening his grip on my shoulders. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
I nod, blinking away silly useless tears. I want to summon some of my sass, that shield that has protected me so many times, but it feels helpless.
Ryker strips me bare, tears away my defenses, more than anyone ever has before. He doesn’t even have to try. It’s the way he holds me in his gaze, as though nothing and nobody else exists.
Just us. This moment. This closeness.
“Say it,” he demands. “Tell me.”
