Page 84 of Tempt

He pulled out and rolled me over onto my stomach. I arched back to meet him as he pushed inside. “This is me,” he said, his lips grazing my shoulder. I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead into the mattress, gripping the comforter tightly. “This darkness? That won’t change.”

“You’re not darkness,” I whispered. I could barely catch my breath.

The intensity of everything I was feeling mixed with the stroke of Theo’s cock was a mind-blowing combination. I craved more of everything and pushed back harder with each stroke, chasing my orgasm.

“I’ll never be free of this. That’s what you don’t understand. This will always be part of me. I’ll never be what you deserve.”

I didn’t have the words to make Theo understand anything other than what he had in his head, so I gave up trying. Higgins was right. When he was lost in his head there was no way to reach him. All I could do was wait.

His hard thrusts were so relentlessly powerful there was no choice but to give in to my orgasm. He kissed my back over and over as it took over. He whispered things I couldn’t hear, and caressed my skin in a way that only intensified everything I was already feeling.

Both good and bad.

I closed my eyes and absorbed it all.

We cleaned up silently and I redressed quickly. By the time Theo had his boxers on my bag was packed. I threw it over my shoulder. “If you find anything else of mine, just have Joe or Martin drop it off at HDM2.” And then I walked past him and out of the bedroom without a second look.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

I was sorry, too. “Why? This is what you wanted.”

“No,” he said quickly. “I don’t want this. I didn’t think you’d—”

“Think I’d what?” I grabbed my purse off the table and kept walking toward the front door.

“Leave. I didn’t think you’d leave.”

I held back the tears and anger that bubbled up inside me. “You didn’t give me a choice, Theo. You went for the jugular.” I pointed back at the table where he’d said all those hateful things. “You said you didn’t love me. What did you think was going to happen?”

He shook his head, his eyes dark. “Ididn’tthink. I—”

“Youwhat? Didn’t mean it? Or maybe it was the only time you’ve been honest with me.” I didn’t believe that, but I was just so angry I didn’t know what else to say.

“No. That’s not why.” He was pale and panicked in a way I’d never seen before. No matter what happened or how surprised he was, Theo always appeared cool and calm. But not now.

“What did I say to scare you like this?” I was so lost. I’d obviously hit on something but I didn’t know what, and because I didn’t know I couldn’t fix it.

His eyes unfocused as he looked past me, lost in his thoughts. “I never know if it’s safer to push you away or hold you tighter. Not knowing which choice is the right one is eating away at me.” He took a slow, steadying breath. His pulse throbbed at his throat as tension rolled through his muscles. “I don’t want to hurt you, but it’s all I seem to do.”

“Then tell me what’s going on. Tell me, and we can figure this out together,” I pleaded.

He shook his head. “It’s too much.”

“What could possibly scare me away after all this, Theo?” I threw my hands in the air. “What do I have to do to prove to you that I’m not going anywhere?”

We all had skeletons in our closets, stored carefully beside all our regrets. No one lived a perfect life and I didn’t know if I had the patience to keep fighting him on this.

But then he locked eyes with me and I lost my breath. The look in his eyes knocked me to the ground.

He was broken. Completely and utterly broken. And I realized that the secrets still locked inside him might be a whole lot worse than I’d believed.

I’d severely miscalculated.

“Theo…” I whispered as he stepped toward me, backing me up until he crushed me against the front door.

“You either love me completely or not all.That’s what you said, right?”

The desperation in his voice hit me like a wave. On the surface, the words sounded cutting. Harsh.Cruel. But that wasn’t his intention at all. It was a plea for me to love him through the secrets.Despitethe secrets.

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