Page 66 of The Dark Before Light

He cusses. Colorfully.

The garage door rolls downward. The second the sliver of light disappears, I’m out of the car and jogging down the sidewalk.

A door slams behind me. “Goddammit, Kier!”

“Stay back,” I throw over my shoulder. I cut across her front yard, take the steps to the porch in a leap, and pound my fist on her bright red door.

From the shadows of the driveway behind me, Sven grumbles, “She’s gonna call the cops.”

“No, she won’t.”

The side of my hand is starting to hurt, but I don’t let up until the door swings open on Talia. Dark hair spills riotously over her shoulders, freed from its high ponytail. Her feet are bare, her skirt wrinkled. And her silky white blouse is untucked on one side, the bottom two buttons undone.

Everything I planned to say to her flies out my ears.

Her eyes widen. “Kieran? What?—”

“Are you alone?”

“Yes, why?—”

“We have unfinished business.”

She rocks back half a step. The movement brings her face beneath the soft glow of a ceiling light, and the jealousy searing my veins extinguishes instantly. Her eyes are puffy, her face flushed. She doesn’t look unkempt because she fucked someone else; she was getting ready to crawl into bed because she’s been crying since I left her.

“What—”

“Let me in.”

My voice isn’t gentle. Nothing about this moment is gentle. I want to destroy the world—destroy myself—for making her cry. And I want to fuck her so hard she cries again.

Her delicate nostrils flare, eyes spitting fire. “If you interrupt me one more time, I’m going to break your nose.”

Elation lights up my body. I can’t help the grin that spreads over my face. I probably look deranged, but I’m past sanity and firmly in the realm of Fuck It All at the moment.

“I’ll take it. Anything you dish out.” I soften my voice as much as possible. “Just let me come inside. Your house. You. One night. That’s all I’m asking for, mo ghrá.”

Her eyelashes flicker at the endearment. I wonder if she knows what it means, then decide I don’t care. Nor do I care whether she seriously thinks I’ll be satisfied with one night. Let her believe the lie.

This is war.

I take a step forward, the toes of my shoes smacking against the metal sill of the door. Two feet away, she stands her ground like the queen she is. But her chest moves faster. Against the silk of her blouse, her nipples are hard points begging for my attention.

“Kieran.”

My name is a whisper cracking with the same desperation that shines from her eyes. Desperation for me to stay, to leave, to give her what she needs and deny her. All of it.

“One night, Talia.”

Emotions fly across her face like swift moving storms. Longing. Guilt. Pain. Desire. She’s still fully clothed, but she’s never been this naked. Never shown me this much.

I told myself a lot of things on the way over here—that I’d give it my best shot and let her decide, that I wouldn’t force it even if her words and eyes didn’t match. But that was before, and this is now. I understand her inner conflict, the pressure and weight of feeling like you always have to maintain control. The fear of what might happen if you lose it.

This isn’t the Talia who told me to take off my pants and deep throated me like she was born to do it. This Talia needs me to help her let go.

I’ve never been more qualified for anything.

One more step brings me across the threshold and chest to chest with her. My fingers dive beneath her hair, curling unerringly around the back of her slender neck. I force her head up and she gasps, arching for me, her breasts soft and warm against my chest. I know she feels my cock; she squirms against it. She’s panting, neck flushing, eyes dark and glassy with arousal. All strung out with need for me. Beautiful.

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