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He eyed her, his gaze hot, the tip of his tongue sliding slowly. “Truth.”
Oh boy. “Doyoulikeme?”
He held her gaze real tight. “Yes. I do.Verymuch.”
Oh,verymuch.
“Truth or Dare,” he said.
“Truth.”
He looked right at her now. “If there was never an agreement between us. Would you…still want to be married to me?”
He lost his courage halfway through and lowered his eyes, like he feared that answer. “Absolutely,” she whispered. “And for more than just your body, even.”
She smiled at hearing his beautiful laugh.
“Truth or Dare,” she said, watching his smile fade.
“I’m getting nervous. Truth.”
She realized for him Truth might be riskier than Dares. She considered the question she needed to ask that would help him the most. And her. “Did you know…” she began. “That no matter what is in your past…you can trust me to never hurt you?”
He stared between them and then looked off to the left. “I believe… you think you mean that.”
She stared at him, her hope crumpling a little. “Well…I dare you to tell me about it. So I can prove it to you.”
He shook his head, and she held her breath, praying he’d just do it. “What do you want to know?”
Oh thank you God. “Tell me why you’re afraid of me knowing?” she urged softly.
“Because…I don’t want you anywhere near that. Everything about you demands I protect you from it.” He looked at her and the real fear in his gaze froze her as much as it pained her. “The things I liked…are direct offspring of the evil that once consumed me.”
“When did that start?”
“Sixteen.”
She nodded. “That’s already a rough age for boys. I’m so sorry you were ever hurt. I know I can’t change anything but…you know me and you…we seem to make a pretty amazing team. We could put—” She stopped at his headshaking. “No what?”
“I don’t want anything to do with it.”
“Then we won’t,” she said simply.
“I wish it was that simple.”
“Well…then explain it to me,” she urged.
“It’s waiting. That’s all it’s doing, it’s just fucking waiting. I’ve been celibate and I can already tell that sixteen years is a joke to it. One taste. One step. One inch, that’s all it needs. I know because I already want it more than anything. And when it takes me, Cat, I can’t…” He closed his eyes. “It controls me.”
She was shaking her head. “I won’t let that happen.”
He hit her with angry eyes. “You can’t stop it.”
“Ethan…you’ve never had a partner to help you fight in the right way. I don’t know what this woman you were with did, but I can tell you if she was involved in that, she was bad news and you can thank God he got her out of your life. Look who you are now. You did that. But you didn’t do it alone, people that loved you were there to help you. Let me help you.”
He scrubbed his face and angled it away from her. “I know you’re right. About everything you just said. I know I have to try. There have been plenty of offers. But there has never been anybody who I would ever trust for something like this.” He turned his face toward her now. “But you…I know. I know I can trust you.”
Oh mercy. She wiped her tears, desperate to touch him. “Sorry,” she whispered. “That means a lot to me.”
