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"Asking you to agree to be my girlfriend for a specific period of time was just me being selfish in another way. It didn't occur to me then, but I know..." His jaw clenched anew. "Having given myself sufficient time to analyze my actions, I am now aware that all I had been doing was forcing you to take all the risks."
Like he had with Ms. Longbourn,Pippi couldn't help thinking.
"I would have everything to gain - and you would have everything to lose."
Every word he spoke was the truth, and hearing him speak it made Pippi finally understand what had made her turn his offer down. Even though what he had offered her was better than what Ms. Longbourn had enjoyed with him, it still hadn't been enough - because what he had been offering her was a lie.
He had told her that she would be the one calling the shots, but that hadn't been true at all. The mere fact that he had been the one to decide how long the relationship would last was enough to make the whole relationship a lie, and that truth would have always made her feel insecure and on unequal footing with him.
It was a truth that her heart had subconsciously recognized even when her mind was still struggling against her growing need for his touch. It was a truth that had saved her from giving in, and it was a truth that she had never once imagined she would hear Acheron Simonides acknowledge.
And yet he had.
And now there was no forgetting it.
"You really were an arse back then," she told him tremulously. "And I wish, if only for my sake, you had stayed that way." She saw his gaze narrow demandingly at her, a silent command to explain herself plainly, and a smile wobbled its way to her lips. She instinctively knew that was just the start, a stolen glimpse of the days she would share with him—-
Me, Tarzan, you, Jane.
But instead of filling Pippi with trepidation, the thought of having this domineering man command every second of her life simply made a sensual shiver run down her spine.
"You don't get it, do you?"
The faint hint of laughter in her voice made Acheron feel like giving her bum a good, hard slap. "Just spell it out, dammit—-"
"I'm saying I understand you want me...but you're not in love with me."
All hopes he had of having Pippilotta Jones in his life expired in an instant. "Pippi..." He raked a hand through his hair. What she was saying was the truth, but goddammit, hearing her say it worried him like hell. "I know I'm not exactly the most trustworthy man on the planet—-"
"And I'm okay with that."
"But before you make any rash decisions—-" He broke off when Pippi's last words finally hit him.
"What was that again?"
"If you had stayed an arse..." Pippi's voice shook a little at the effort it took her to overcome her reticence and speak from the heart. "I would always have managed to keep my distance. But then you changed..." The smile that curved over her lips was the most beautiful thing Acheron had ever seen. "If you promise it will be just me—-"
"You have my word."
He had spoken the words so swiftly Pippi couldn't help feeling just the tiniest bit...giddy,and the realization filled her with both terror and awe at the same time.Am I doing the right thing here, God?
Her gaze returned to Acheron, taking in the proud, beautiful lines of his face, and she felt even more overwhelmed.
Acheron saw hesitation flicker in her eyes, and he said fiercely,"I'm not lying."He slowly reached for her, a part of him already expecting her to refuse his touch...but she didn't, and his chest tightened as she let him pull her towards him. "You're the only one for me, Pippilotta Jones."
Their bodies touched, the contact making him suck in his breath, and Pippi gasped. But it was the naked truth in his eyes that made her whole being melt -—
"Say you believe me,mikrí mou."
Her eyes stung at the enormity of what he was asking, but deep down inside her, she already knew that what he was asking for had already been his the moment he showed up dressed like a cop at her doorstep.
"I do." Her smile was tremulous, but her soft, firm voice rang with sincerity. "I trust you, Acheron."
The sound of his name on her lips was more potent than any aphrodisiac, and a shudder ran over Acheron's powerful frame. "Goddammit, Pippi." Sexual tension underlined the muttered words, and he couldn't stop himself from tightening his hold on her waist. "Do you know what you're doing to me?"
"Probably the same thing you're doing to me," she admitted with a smile that was half shy, half impish, and one hundred percent designed to drive him crazy with lust.
Ah, fuck it.
