Page 190 of The Billionaire's Obsession: Florida

Kade snatched the other half of the sandwich from the plate and pushed the cake in front of her. “Eat.” Picking up the fork, he put it in her hand.

Her eyes lit up as she cut off a tiny piece. “I haven’t eaten a lot of chocolate. This looks almost sinful.”

Kade grinned at her, catching her eyes and holding them for a moment. “It is. But sinning can be so much more fun than being good all the time.” He wolfed down the rest of the sandwich and started on his piece of cake.

He watched her while she ate, the rapt expression on her face almost erotic. She ate like she was climaxing every time she took a bite of the pastry, closing her eyes and savoring it before letting it slowly slide down her throat. His burgeoning cock twitched every time she let out a satisfied hum of pleasure.

I’m screwed. Every damn thing she does turns me on.

He yanked his eyes away from her, studying his own nearly empty plate. “Don’t do something like this again, Asha. If you need or want something, all you have to do is say so. What happened to you wasn’t right. You have to ask for what you want. I won’t deny you anything. It makes me happy to please you,” he said huskily.

“That confuses me,” she admitted, pushing her empty plate away from her. “I’m not used to it.”

“Get used to it,” he said, shooting her a warning glance.

“I probably could. Very easily.” She got up and started putting things away. “And I won’t be with you forever. I’m not sure I really should get used to it. Life isn’t easy out there, Kade. Not for a woman struggling to survive.”

She’d never be struggling again. She’d never have to worry about where her next meal was coming from or where her next job would be. He’d make sure of it. “Your life isn’t going to be like that again. You have family now. You have me.”

He got up and put the dishes in the dishwasher, banging them a little harder than necessary, trying to get a grasp on his instinct to grab her up and make her his until she was completely convinced.

“I’m glad I have friends and family now. But I need to be able to know I can rely on myself,” she answered stubbornly. “Putting my life into other people’s hands hasn’t been good for me.”

“Maybe you just trusted the wrong damn people,” he rumbled, slamming the dishwasher closed and turning to face her.

He heard her inhale sharply as she looked at him, her eyes scanning his body. “Oh, Kade. Your poor leg. It must have been so painful.”

He looked down at himself, realizing he was dressed in nothing but a pair of black silk boxers. He hadn’t bothered to put on clothes because he hadn’t planned on seeing anyone else at one o’clock in the morning in his own house.

Her eyes were focused on his mangled leg, and he flinched. “I’m sorry. I would have covered it if I’d known you were down here.”

Dammit! Asha was the last person he wanted to see his messed-up leg. Even healed, the scars were glaring and ugly. “Don’t look at it,” he snarled, moving closer to her and tipping her chin up. “I can’t even stand to see it.”

“It isn’t the way it looks; it’s the pain you must have suffered,” she cried, her eyes filling with tears. “How did you bear it?” Dropping to her knees, Asha’s fingertips stroked lightly over his scars.

“I didn’t have much of a choice,” he answered gruffly, his heart thundering from the touch of her fingers. Some of the feeling on his skin was gone from the scar tissue, but he could feel the fluttery, careful stroking on some of his leg.

She’s not repulsed by my scars. All she cares about is the pain I felt.

Kade watched her carefully. Dressed in the silky nightgown he had bought her, she looked like an angel, her face revealing nothing but concern.

“And you worry about me being hungry when you’ve been through that much pain?” Asha scolded, standing again and facing him.

Kade wanted to tell her that it didn’t hurt anymore, not nearly as much as the pain he was suffering from wanting her. “It’s over.” He wanted to forget about that time in his life. His leg ached occasionally, but he’d survived.

“Does it still hurt? Tell me the truth.”

Yeah. I hurt, but the pain isn’t in my leg. I ache every fucking time I look at you.

“No,” he replied huskily. “It’s not that bad.”Not my leg, anyway.

She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. The feel of her hand on his bare skin nearly made him lose it. She was trying to comfort him for an old pain, but she was creating one just as acute. He wrapped his arms around her, feeling her softness against his hard body.

“I’m sorry, Kade. I wish this had never happened to you,” she murmured against his chest.

“Shit happens,” he replied casually, trying not to give in to the urge to carry her back to his bed and bury himself inside her warmth, take the comfort she was willing to give. But he didn’t want her that way. He wanted it to be mutual, for her to burn for him as much as he did for her. She continued to cling to him, murmuring words into his chest that he didn’t understand and suspected were Telugu, crooning them softly.

“You realize I don’t understand a word you’re saying,” he told her, trying to contain the tender emotions that were bursting to get free.

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