Page 172 of Enthrall Ecstasy
I hated him for saying it. “Is this why you warned me not to get close to you?”
He looked down at the sparkling water. “There is only one way I’ll know the game is over.”
“It should never have begun.”
His gaze met mine. “It was on this spot that you once demanded I give you what you wanted.”
“I know…but…”
He exhaled slowly. “The thing about Chrysalis is you get to change your mind. You’re in control ofyourbody.”
“Which was why you saved me from Pendulum.”
“Yes.”
“De Sade told me you asked him to watch over me just now.”
Shay looked off. “The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s from a William Blake painting…the balance of good and evil.” He shook his head as though rising from a nightmare. “No one questions De Sade.”
“Only you,” I bit out. “I don’t want anyone else.”
“I’m fulfilling my end of the bargain.”
“I’m…in love with you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Cadence!”
“Nowyou use your safe word?” he said.
“I didn’t know how to tell you I’d changed my mind.”
“How about, ‘I’ve changed my mind,’” he said dryly.
“Cadence!” I repeated.
“Yes, I heard you the first time.”
“Are you disappointed in me?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re pushing me away.”
“For your own good.”
“Whatever happened to you in Afghanistan still haunts you. You pretend nothing affects you, but it does. The wall around you is too high for anyone to breach.”
“You breached it,” he said softly.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things.”
“I am rather fond of you.”
