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“Fine. You have the right to make your own decisions…”
“But?”
“But, I’m going to keep you safe one way or another.” Tepes ran his hand through his hair. “When I found the room empty I was terrified. You should have told me you were leaving.”
“Like you would have let me go.” Liv muttered under her breath.
Tepes ignored her interruption. “I didn’t know if Luis had found you. Had no idea where you could have gone or what you had planned.” He walked over and sat next to her. “It would kill me if anything happened to you. We’ve only just reconnected, but I care for you more than you seem to realize.”
He brushed her hair off her cheek and it took every ounce of will she had not to lean into his touch. It was tempting to just hand over complete control of her life to this man. Let go and just allow someone else to carry the burden for once. Unfortunately like so many others he had left her before and she couldn’t trust him not to do it again.
“Tepes.” She sighed.
“Sean. My name is Sean.” His voice was soft, the words almost chiding.
The correction hit her harder than it would have. It wasn’t that she hadn’t known his real name. She’d had to write it on the envelope every time she sent him mail. It was that in her mind he’d always been Tepes. Maybe it was the girl inside her clinging to the man he used to be. Bigger than life, a medieval warrior who was invincible.
Unfortunately this wasn't a dream or a childhood fantasy. It was reality. Cold, harsh, and potentially dangerous reality. If she wanted him to accept her as an adult who could make choices for herself she needed to realize he wasn’t some hero out of myths.
“Sean. We haven’t talked in years. You want me to believe that after one day, two if you count today, that you care about me so much that I should be willing to hand over control of my life to you and trust that you know what is best for me?” No matter how hot the chemistry was between them, and it was scorching, she couldn’t bring herself to hope he felt more than he would for a stranger off the street.
“It hasn’t just been two days. Time apart doesn’t erase the connection we had. You are important to me.”
“You shouldn’t be saying things like that.” Her throat was tight as she tried to hide how much his words meant to her.
“Liv, for two years you were the only bright light in some of the darkest moments of my life. Walking away from your sister wasn’t hard because I cared about her or her cheating. It was because I knew it meant losing you as a friend.” He laid his hands on her bare shoulders and she could feel the warmth of him soaking into her skin. “Tell me you don't feel this connection between us and I'll leave you alone once you are safe. It will be one of the hardest damn things I’ve ever done but I’ll do it.”
Remembering the conversation from the previous day she snorted. “Safe as in held prisoner by strangers while you ‘fix’ everything for me?”
“No. Safe as in, you and I keep our heads down here and try to help the team as much as possible while we stay out of the firing line.”
“You’re staying with me?”
Hearing that they planned to hide her with strangers had been the thing that had initially set her off. The notion that he could just walk away, lock her in a safe like a piece of jewelry and expect her to happily wait for him to come back had infuriated her. She’d rather be on her own than stuck trusting strangers. Or that had been her thought process before realizing she had no idea what to do.
“Yes, and I promise you're going to be kept in the loop if any decisions need to be made.”
Being secluded with Sean was tempting on so many levels. He made her feel safe and that wasn’t something she was used to. He also made her body sing but she didn’t want to think about that while she was covered by only a sheet.
“So you're not leaving me here alone?”
He chuckled. “No. But you need to understand you can't ever pull a stunt like you did back at that house. If you disagree with something we can talk about it. No running off. I have the final say until Luis isn’t a danger anymore. You will follow my orders.”
The way his voice dropped tightened things deep inside her. It was tempting to push back, refuse to agree but as long as she wasn’t being left out of the process, the idea of letting him make the decisions was more than appealing. “What kind of orders are we talking about?”
Liv smiled and gave him a look she hoped expressed all the dirty places that her mind had just traveled through. With him this close it was hard to think about anything else but the pleasure they had briefly shared. She leaned back taunting him and let the sheet fall to her lap. Heat flared in Sean’s eyes and her nipples tightened.
“Lay down.” The command was a growl in her ear.
She hesitated, not sure if she was ready to let him take control. Despite being the one to start the teasing she felt vulnerable. Their last encounter had given her the best orgasm she’d ever experienced. Could anything else live up to that frenzied experience? The one sided nature of it had left her unsettled. Her mind understood that he’d been trying to respect her but it had left her wondering if he desired her as much as she wanted him. His muscles tensed and she knew if she didn’t speak he would have her pinned in seconds.
“Wait.”
Sean froze, concern filled his expression.
Liv took a deep breath. “You asked if I felt a connection. I do. Neither of us can make any promises about the future, but if we’re going to explore this there can be no holding back. I know what I want.”
“And what do you want?”
