Page 64 of Dreams and Desires

I walk faster.

“Fine,” he snaps. “If it’s a chase you want—” He stops himself, but I already hear it. The threat buried in the frustration. “You’ve got it.”

I glance back. He’s closing the distance. His eyes don’t look soft anymore. That flare of panic hits low and fast, and my body moves before I can second guess it. I run.

The mud catches me. One step wrong and I go down hard, palms scraping wet ground. My knee slams into something sharp. The pain’s distant—drowned out by the sound of him behind me.

“Juniper! Stop running!”

Before I can push up, his hands are on me. Fast. Familiar. My body reacts even before I register his voice. He hauls me up and into him, chest to chest. His grip isn’t rough, but it’s unshakable.

“I told you to stop.” His words land against my temple. His breath is warm, uneven. It doesn’t calm me. It makes it worse.

“Let me go,” I snap. My voice is tight, pitched higher than it should be. I twist, but he doesn’t let up. He shifts me, turning me to face him. His eyes look wrecked. Like he doesn’t know how to say what he needs to without ruining it all.

“We’re not done,” he says. “Not by a long shot.”

I shove him with both hands. He doesn’t budge. His mouth finds mine before I even realize what’s happening.

It’s not gentle. Not sweet. It’s a dare. A demand. A thousand unsaid things shoved into one impossible kiss.

I should pull away. I should scream in his face and run again. Instead, I kiss him back like I’ve been holding my breath for weeks.

His grip tightens, but he’s still careful with me. “You’re beingridiculous,” he says into my mouth. “Completely ridiculous.”

That’s it. That’s what does it. I pull back just enough to slap him.

His head jerks to the side. The sound is sharp. His eyes flick back to mine, slow and dark.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he says, almost too quietly.

I take one step back. He takes two forward. Then I’m against the tree, back hitting bark, his body pressing in just enough to make me freeze. He’s not hurting me. He’s not letting me go either.

“You think you can outrun this?” His lips hover close to mine. “You think I don’t feel it too?”

His hand moves to my waist. It stays there. The kind of touch that doesn’t demand anything, but makes me feel like I’ve already given too much.

I feel like I’m shaking apart.

“This is insane,” I whisper, but my body doesn’t move. I stay right there. I lean in.

He exhales, just once. Then presses his forehead to mine.

“You feel it,” he says. “Don’t lie.”

I close my eyes. Everything hurts and everything burns. I can’t stop shaking.

“Zade…”

He kisses me again. Slower this time. Less war. More ache. I don’t fight it. My hands grab the front of his shirt. I need something to hold onto. I’m not sure which one of us is trembling harder.

He pulls back, words rough and ragged. “You’re not going anywhere.”

I don’t answer. My throat is tight and my face is wet, and I’m not even sure if it’s from the rain anymore.

He lifts me slightly, just enough to hold me close. My legs barely touch the ground. I let it happen. I don’t care what it looks like.

“Tell me you want this,” he says, quiet now. Almost scared.

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