AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Padma snorted and shook her head. “I don’t believe you.”
“Well, no. You shouldn’t. Obviously, I would never go back to that psycho. But I need to do something. I feel like I did something super wrong, and I feel shame and—”
“Easy, girl. Easy. I get it. He turned you down. Your first foray into the dating world, and you got burned. You want answers.”
“Exactly.”
“Fine. I’ll see what I can do, but you should know that he has been in a shit mood lately.”
“Same,” she grumbled. “Just get him to me, will you?”
Padma studied her carefully. “Have you actually fallen for him in this short amount of time?”
Amelia shrugged before shaking her head. “I don’t know. All I know is that I have never felt safer and more exhilarated by the same person. Wilder is special. He’s…”
Padma nodded. “I get it. I’ll do my best to get him here, but you should know that he is really stubborn.”
Amelia laughed dryly. “So am I. I’m not gonna let this go. I want to see him.”
Judging by the look in Padma’s eyes, she understood. Her new friend wouldn’t let her down.
* * *
“Amelia!”a deep male voice bellowed. “Amelia, get your ass in here right this fucking instance.”
She slowly made her way down the hall, but she was barely down the steps that Wilder was halfway to her.
“What game do you think you’re playing?”
Confused, she frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You threatened to go back to him?” Betrayal and disbelief burned in his eyes.
“No. Well, only to get you to talk to me. Good to see my plan worked.”
“You shouldn’t even think like that. What is the matter with you?” he continued to make his way up the stairs until he loomed over her.
“What’s the matter with me? Withme? What about you? You bring me to your home, and you vanish. Right after I tried to seduce you! What am I supposed to think?”
“You’re not supposed to think anything. You’re confused. You got trapped in a marriage when you were barely an adult, and the first man that you meet turns your head.”
“Is that really why you think I kissed you? Because you just happened to be there? Do you know how many men I spent the last five years around? Guard after guard. Some obviously made passes at me, but you know what I said? No. Because I never felt this way before. I never felt attraction before. And, of course, the first time I do, I scare the guy away.”
“Stop!” he shouted.
“No. I won’t stop. Not until you tell me why you kissed me first if you didn’t want me.”
Before she could register what happened, Wilder took her in his arms and crushed his mouth to hers. His lips were merciless. He lapped at her like a man drowning for breath. He clung to her, and she melted into the touch with a moan.
Impossibly, the kiss was even better than she had thought it would be.
“You think I left because I didn’t want you?” he growled before diving for her mouth again. “You think I stayed away because there’s something wrong with you?” He nibbled her neck. “No. No. There is something wrong with me for wanting you so much. I shouldn’t be here. I should give you time to think and breathe and be alone and figure out who you are. Instead, I’m here.”
“You’re here,” she repeated. “You’re here, kissing me.”
“I wanted you the second I saw you five years ago. I’ve longed for you more than anything in my life, Amelia. It killed me to watch you walk away with that man. And when I learned that you were never really his, that you never chose him…” He took a shaky breath. “I knew that keeping my distance was the only way to give you the space you needed.”
“I don’t want space right now. I just wanted to understand why you rejected me. Pushed me away.”
