Page 59 of Tempt

I wanted Theo to brand me. To erase everything I was thinking and feeling in a way that only he knew how.

“Harder.”

He glared at me. “I’m going to hurt you.”

“Iwantyou to hurt me.” That was the wrong thing to say and I desperately wished I could take it back.

The change in Theo was immediate and he didn’t look me in the eye for several beats as he moved my leg back down and slowed—almost to a stop. His voice cracked when he spoke. “Is that really what you want? For me to hurt you?” He thrust once and stopped to kiss me hard. “I don’t think that’s what you want. I think you just saw me do something you’ve never seen before and you’re trying to understand it.” He looked lost as he withdrew almost completely. I shuddered from the change in sensations. “You’re wondering how I can be the same person,” he whispered.

GoddammitI hated how right he was. Hated myself even more for asking him to do this. But he was absolutely correct—I was provoking him on purpose, trying to get another glimpse at the man I’d just seen. A man willing to kill for me.

He ran his thumb along my cheek, silently commanding me to look at him. “My knuckles are still fucking bloody, Allison. That’s how fast this was. One minute I was ready to kill Toni and now I’m buried inside you and all I fucking care about is making sure you feel safe.”

He slid slowly back inside me as he spoke, and I swear he was doing the same thing with his eyes. Theo had made his way inside my heart and soul and it was so overwhelming I could barely understand the immensity of what it meant—to mean so much to someone else, and feel exactly that much in return.

“I’m the same man, Allison.” He nipped at my lower lip, rocking his hips against me. “They’re both me. There’s nothing I can do about that.”

And that was what this was all about, in the end. Theo’s two lives and whether I could handle them.

Whether I should at all.

“I love you,” I whispered.

He recoiled slightly. “No.You can’t.”

I reached up and took his face in my hands. “Yes, I can.” I rocked my hips so that his cock moved inside me.

I realized that was why Theo was upset—it was just as hard for him as it was for me. He didn’t understand how I could possibly reconcile these two versions. But Theo also didn’t understand that I was in love with him, and that because of it, I couldn’t love one without the other. They were both him, and I lovedhim.

He stared at me, probably searching for the logic in all of this. The only problem was, there wasn’t any. So I decided to explain the parts that I did understand. “You know what you want,” I whispered. “You’re passionate and intense. You take care of the people you love. And I love that you’re the kind of man who’s willing to do whatever is necessary in order to protect them.” I swallowed down all the doubts screaming in the back of my head—the ones that insisted I protect my heart and never admit I loved someone first. But this was important and I knew Theo would never understand why I wanted to be with him unless I told him exactly how I felt. “So, yeah. I love you, and I know you might never say the same thing to me and I want you to know that’s okay. I don’t ever want to hear you say those words until you’re ready to live with the consequences.”

He swallowed hard, staring a hole through me. The desperation and intensity in his eyes almost broke my heart. Oh yes, I was falling for him. For all of him. And he was falling for me. I didn’t doubt that for a second. I knew how Theo felt about me and I could feel his love, even if he wasn’t ready for it.

“Okay,” he whispered without blinking. Then he kissed me. Gently.Tenderly.“Allison?”

I arched up so that my body pressed against his. “Yes?”

He pumped into me, hard but slow. “This isn’t over. If you stay, this will happen again. Do you really want to live like that? Not knowing which one of me will show up? Not knowing if—”

I kissed him before he could finish his sentence. I didn’t want to hear him say anything else. “I wantyou.Both of you, all of you. Whatever you can give me. I want a man with bloody fucking knuckles and who knows what he wants out of life.That’swhat I want more than anything.”

“Godammit,” he gritted out, looking away and shaking his head. He wanted me to say no. To walk away and never look back. If I did that, then his world would make sense again—the bad man with the bad past wasn’t supposed to fall in love.

But then he surprised me.

He nodded several times and kissed me hard. He kissed me relentlessly, as if his kisses could somehow cure everything that was wrong with me staying. Or maybe he was just taking what I was offering while he could. I didn’t know and I didn’t care. I drank it up and relished in every moment.

I pulled him into me over and over. Not just his cock, but his entire body.Him.I wanted all of Theo inside me—his heart, his soul—every single inch of him. I wanted to meld us together until we became one. And Theo seemed completely on board with my plan. He curled his arms around me. He held me gently. Each thrust was intentional, bringing us one step closer to orgasm.

I licked the pulse pounding against the skin on his throat so that I could taste the salt of his sweat. He groaned and leaned into my touch before returning the gesture, except that Theo’s version including gently sucking along my throat. He worked his way up to the hollow behind my ear, all while keeping up his hypnotic rhythm of thrusts.

There was something incredibly sexy about watching Theo’s shoulders when we were together. The muscle that ran from his neck to his arm was large and emphasized the beauty of the lines that made Theo so strong and capable. They led naturally to his arms, and I gotta tell you… watching a man’s biceps flex and strain as he pumps into you harder and more desperately with each thrust of his cock, is a turn-on all its own.

I slid my hands up his sweat-covered back, wrapping them around those sexy shoulders and held him even closer. It gave me the leverage I needed to arch into each thrust. Theo grunted and by the jagged sound of his breath I had a feeling he was desperately holding off his orgasm.

So it was a good thing I was ready, too.

He dropped his forehead to my shoulder, his breath hard against my skin. “Why me, Allison? You can have anyone you want… why do this to yourself?”

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