Page 32 of Tempt

“Theo?”

“Yes?”

“I’m not the enemy. Will I accidentally say something that will hurt you one day? Yes. I can guarantee that. I have a mouth that just doesn’t quit some days.”

A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth and he finally looked back up at me. “I quite like that mouth.”

I smiled proudly. “As well you should.” More silence. “This is just food. I was hungry so I cooked. I didn’t want to interrupt you because I knew music means a lot to you. If me passing out after you fuck me into oblivion is a problem, then you should probably be less awesome at sex. Because this? It’s just food. Stop over thinking it.”

He picked up his fork and ate half the plate before he stopped. “I don’t mean to make you jump through hoops.”

“I know.”

“How do you know?”

I pushed back my plate, then my chair. I twisted so that I faced Theo comfortably and pulled my knees up to my chin. “Trust is earned. You are absolutely right about that. And when your trust has been broken by someone else, it means that everyone else has to work that much harder to earn it. Trusting blindly is weak and stupid. You are not weak or stupid.”

He blinked as if I’d shocked him. “And neither are you.”

“Thank you. So I hope you understand, then, that when I say all of this, it is with a clear head and comprehension of what I mean. I am not here to get anything from you or manipulate you into doing something for me.I don’t need you.” I let that hang in the air for a moment. “Iwantyou.”

He stopped breathing. “What’s the difference?”

I smiled. He full well knew the difference. He wanted to hear it. Theo fed off of hearing me repeating over and over again that I wasn’t here to get something from him. It gave him freedom. Freedom he didn’t get from anyone else but me.

And let’s be honest, I got high off that, too.

“One is taking, the other is giving. If I needed you, then really, I’d be here for me. I’d be looking to you to provide me whatever it is I was after—whether it was sex or money or a name. I’m here because Iwantyou. And because I want you, I need to be the giver. Otherwise I won’t get what I want.”

He swallowed. I think I was turning him on. “Does that make me the taker then?”

I shrugged. “I don’t think it’s required for there to be one giver and one taker in any situation.” I grinned, thinking of all the orgasms he’d given me, knowing full well that Theo needed me, he just wasn’t ready to admit it. “And just so you know,” I eased to the edge of my chair and spread my legs on either side of his. “It’s perfectly fine to need me a little. I can take it. I kind of crave it actually…”

This is where I knew I was walking a fine line. In order to be that vulnerable you have to fully trust the other person. I trusted Theo, but I hadn’t earned his yet. I was pulling on a very fragile thread hoping to make it stronger, not weaker.

He didn’t say anything after that. Not another word until we were both panting on the kitchen floor completely satisfied. But the look in his eyes told me everything he wasn’t ready to say yet. For the first time Theo let me see just how deep and wide his need for me ran.

It was the most beautiful and terrifying thing I’d ever seen.

* * *

I tossedmy phone onto the seat beside me after texting work that I was going to be late. I was in the back seat of Theo’s car and Martin was finally driving me home. I didn’t want to mindlessly entertain myself with mobile entertainment—I wanted to pick Martin’s brain.

Most likely it wouldn’t go anywhere, Martin didn’t seem the type to have loose lips. From his short salt and pepper hair, to the clearly military way he held himself, he had never been anything but close and competent with Theo.

And Theo… well, considering how easily he trusted anyone, I was pretty sure that meant Martin was completely trustworthy. Which meant I wasn’t likely to get anything more than a smile out of the man in front.

Wasn’t going to stop me from trying, though. I had ten minutes to kill, why not give it a go?

“So Martin? How ya doing?”

He glanced at me in the mirror. I still hadn’t gotten used to the whole “driver on the wrong side of the car” thing. “I’m well. How are you, Miss Riley?”

“You can call me Allison. I’m pretty darn good.” I was hoping super American casualness would charm him.

“Excellent.”

“What’s your favorite beer?”

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