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I’ve just met him…but I already love him, scars and all.
I shake my head. “You could be the worst man in the world and I would love you anyway.”
He lifts his face to meet my eyes. “Don’t do this.”
I sniffle and wipe the tears from my face with a free hand. “Javi, I can’t help it. Even if you weren’t my mate, you’ve kept me safe. You’ve put yourself in the line of fire over and over again to make sure I don’t get hurt. And you could…you could do terrible things to me and no one would punish you for it, but you’ve resisted every urge.”
“You shouldn’t love me because I’ve beendecent,” he says.
“I can’t decide to love you or not,” I say. “I just do.”
“But you told me you wanted gestures and romance. I can’t do that for you.” He pushes himself away. “This is just the bite and instincts. You’re horny.”
I grab him by the shirt, twisting the fabric in my hands. I gasp when I realize my claws have come out a bit, tearing five tiny holes in the shape of my grip. Javi looks down too, still leaning over me, unable—or unwilling—to escape.
“I’m an omega, Javi,” I say. “I’ve been horny before. I know the difference.”
“You don’t even know me.”
He looks frustrated…but he doesn’t pull away.
“Then tell me about yourself,” I whisper.
Javi comes back slowly, kneeling between my legs, his hands on my thighs. I feel like we’re on the cusp of something—something more than heat, more than lust, more than pure desire.
“I’m a goddamn fool,” he says. “Thinking I could resist. You’re gonna make me fall in love with you, aren’t you Peach?”
My throat constricts and I swallow hard. “Would it be so bad?”
“That’s the thing,” he says. “Ican’tfall in love with you. Gideon already has so much power over me, and if I love you…he has everything. He has my whole world held in his fist, and I can’t do anything to stop him.”
“I don’t know how that changes anything,” I start, but Javi cuts me off.
“It changeseverything,” he says. “Partners are one thing. They come and go. But lovers…mates? You’re my forever. I can’t risk you.”
His hands stay on my thighs, no matter what he says—and his eyes stay locked on mine. My second bite mark throbs and stings, begging for his touch.
I want him with everything I am—body and soul.
“I think it’s too late for all that,” I say.
He bows his head and presses it to my chest, his tousled dark hair tucked under my chin. It brings him so close that I can smell that seasalt scent, coffee and coconuts. I lean down and inhale deeply, wrapping my arms around him.
“I don’t trust myself with you,” he breathes, his grip tightening on my thighs. “You make me crazy.”
I get goosebumps all over at the rumble of his voice resonating through me, at his proximity, at how close I am to drowning in him.
“Can I ask for one thing?” I whisper.
He looks up at me. “Anything.”
“I’ve never been kissed,” I say. “I’d like you to be my first.”
Javi straightens, and I think for a second that he’s going to say no—that we’re going back to this game of will they, won’t they, that he’s too resistant to letting me in. But he takes my face in his big hands, his thumbs grazing my cheekbones, and he moves closer.
He tilts my head and my eyes flutter shut even though I could keep staring at him for hours.
His breath ghosts over my lips, the hint of a kiss…and then the real thing.
