Page 60 of Tempt

He raised his head just enough to look me in the eye, while at the same time rocking with short, deliberate strokes. Pleasure rippled through me and down to the spot where his cock pressed inside me, stroking just the right amount to drive me wild.

“This,” I gasped as my head tilted back and my eyes closed for a moment. It was all soright.“You know exactly what I need, Theo. I swear to God it feels like you can read my damn mind some days.” I muffled a moan. My orgasm was coming on fast now. My skin was already tingling and my feet flexing. “You care, Theo. You’re the only man that’s ever understood me.That’swhy I do this to myself.This.”I barely got the last word out before I lost the ability to form coherent thoughts.

From there, the sounds that came out of me were the only reply Theo would ever need: the sound of me completely and hopelessly lost to him.

He wasn’t far behind me and it was reassuring to hear exactly the same thing from him. He dropped his forehead down to mine, eyes screwed shut, and his nose gently nuzzling. He might as well have said the words out loud, but his silentI love youwas more than enough for now.

“We need to go,” he whispered.

“Where?” I cupped his face, running my fingers into his hair, his beard against my palm. Sometimes when I held him like this, with his cock still inside me, I let myself believe Theo was really and truly all mine. It was the one little fantasy I refused to let go.

“Away,” he whispered, pulling back so that we were nose to nose.

“Talk to me.”

He searched my eyes for several beats and his jaw ticked once before he replied. “They’ll release Toni and the first thing he’ll do is come afteryou. He’s going to get to me through you. He made that abundantly clear.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means things are about to change and we’re going to have to come clean to Margaret. Your life is in danger and she needs to know that.”

Chapter 21

Istared at Theo, wondering when I’d fallen down the rabbit hole. This wasn’t my life. All these things happening—saying I loved Theo, Toni wanting him dead, my world guarded by private security—it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.

And yet, here I was…lying on a hotel room floor with Theo on top of me, telling me it was true. Even more importantly, telling me it was going to get worse before it got better.

“Allison? Do you understand?”

Oh I understood, I just didn’t believe it. “My life is in danger because the man who wants you dead will use me to get to you. Yeah, I get it.”

“This is the only way to keep things as close to normal and still keep you safe.”

I chewed on my lip, knowing Theo was right but still not ready for our relationship to be public.

Theo must have seen the worry written on my face because he added, “Only Margaret needs to know. She’ll keep it quiet.”

I cocked my head. “How do you know?”

“She’s kept all my other secrets.”

There was one surefire way to kill a sex-high, and that was mentioning another woman. It didn’t matter if they were only friends. She knew Theo better than I did. For longer. Knew his secrets and kept them. It made them intimate even if they were never lovers.

And Ireallyhated that.

“I’m just gonna say this before it eats me alive…were you two ever…” I couldn’t say it. I tried, but the words wouldn’t form in my mouth.

After a moment the confusion in Theo’s eyes disappeared. Then the bastard grinned. “You’re jealous.”

“Says the man who bashed in Toni’s face when he mentioned me.”

“I don’t deny it. I’ll kill Toni before I let him anywhere near you. You’re mine.”

All the air went out of the room with that statement. “I belong to no one.” My response was a gut reaction against being owned by anyone other than myself—love or not. But in reality I knew the truth. I was Theo’s just as much as he was mine.

His face fell. “I didn’t mean it like that.” He dropped a kiss on my lips. “I brought Toni into your life and therefore it’s my responsibility to take care of the problems I’ve created. I don’t own you, but Iwilldefend you.”

I nodded instead of saying anything. I couldn’t have if I wanted to. Theo knew me so well he even understood my weird little quirks and didn’t take them personally. Who was this man and where had he been all my life?

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