Page 43 of The Villain

And not even for how I’d hurt her all those years ago, but for who I was in this moment—a man who still wanted her beyond all reason. I kept my distance not because I worried she might figure out the damn truth, but because the way I wanted her was irrational. Uncontrollable.Unreasonable.

“Athena…”

My thumb stroked the back of her hand one last time, her skin like rays of sunshine straight to my cells, and then I drew my hand away. I had to. If I didn’t…that warmth would melt my restraint. It would loosen the long-tightened knots from their moorings and set a need free that hadn’t been fed in years.

My eyes slipped from their hold, sliding from her wrist along her arm until it disappeared beneath the soapy water where the rest of her full, naked curves dwelled.

Fuck.I jerked my head to the side and swallowed down the hiss that threatened to slip through my lips, a hot traitor ready to reveal the secrets of how damn bad I desired her. I shut my eyes for a second to clear my thoughts, and instead I was greeted by the memory of those curves sprawled on the bathroom floor like a wounded siren.

Of course, my first instinct was for her safety. Her comfort. But now that that was handled, instinct gave way to a sea of images that churned around me. Her hands splayed on the ground, hair falling over her shoulders, her chest heaving. Herfull breasts hung with their tight berry tips, waiting to be laved and worshipped.

My mouth had pooled with saliva, and my tongue was so thick and starving with want, I could barely speak.

And now they were inches from me. Just below the surface of the water. It would be so easy to lift her up just an inch or two so I could worship them.Feast. Sate the beast inside my chest, turning me gaunt with want.

“I really know how to pick them, don’t I?”

Fuck.I bit into my cheek and flung my eyes open.

“Don’t do that,” I rasped and shifted my seat to adjust my hard dick, my piercings digging painfully where they were wedged inside my jeans. “This isn’t your fault.”

“Then how do I only attract men who want to use me—hurt me? Kill—” She couldn’t finish.

“It has nothing to do with you. Nothing. You hear me?” I heard myself. The frustration etching my tone, the anger elevating my voice.

I balled my hand into a fist to stop it from moving. If she only knew how many times I wanted to reach for her—how many times I had to stop myself from touching her. Comforting her. Drawing her to me and never letting go.

“No?”

She rested her chin on her knees, her gaze staring blankly in front of her. She looked so…small. So fucking defeated. And yet, she hadn’t broken down. Hadn’t cried. Hadn’t freaked out.What the hell kind of woman held her cool after all that?

“No,” I practically growled.

“Then why can’t I see how bad they are for me?” Her head tipped to the side so one cheek rested on her knee, and her haunted stare was aimed directly at me.

I couldn’t stop myself. I reached out and brushed myfingers on her cheek, loving the way it made her breath catch and color rise to where my fingers touched.

“Because you don’t see the bad, Athena. You only see the beauty.” If finding the good in everyone were a moral treasure hunt, she would be as rich as Croesus.

“You think so?” Her tongue slid along her lips, and it took every strength I had not to send my thumb following it.

“I know so.”

The blush on her cheeks deepened, and just as she turned into my hand, I managed to pull it away. Before I touched something I shouldn’t.Before I touched something I wouldn’t be able to let go.

“I still can’t believe Brandon…”

Dammit, I knew I should’ve punched the fucker.

“He owes a lot of money to a lot of bad people.”

“Not that,” she murmured. “I believe that.” Her sigh broke off another piece of me. “I just can’t believe I never saw it after years together. Never realized he was still gambling—that he had a problem.”

“When—” I stopped and cleared my throat. “When did you two meet?”

“In college.” A sad smile brushed her cheeks. “I was in this…shell…after my mom died. Not spiraling, just orbiting. Brandon was vibrant. The life of the party. He wouldn’t let me stay in my orbit and pulled me into his. And it was good—what I needed.”

Because she hadn’t had me.

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