Page 25 of Ignite

He’s way out of my league.

I could never give him what he needs. I’m boring. Plain ol’ boring Hal. Just like Ben said. Stupid, stupid Hallie.

Chapter 9

CONAN

Sleep Token – Even In Arcadia

Ican see her spiraling inside her head.

Like I can hear every single doubt rattling through her mind like shrapnel. It’s chaos behind those eyes, and I want to silence every piece of it. Just for a moment. Just enough to remind her who the fuck she is.

I cradle her face, one hand on each side. My thumbs stroke along her temples, slow. Gentle. She doesn’t flinch. That’s a win. This girl is sending me fucking crazy in the best way, and she needs to know what she does to me.

Fuck whoever broke her confidence. I’ll hunt them all down and grind their faces into the dirt. If it’s Ben, then I’ll gladly end him.

But right now? I need her to remember the version of herself who let me slam her against a wall with my tongue down her throat just to piss off her loser boyfriend.Ex-boyfriend.

“Come back to me, trouble. Fuck what Ben said. Fuck anyone who has ever made you doubt yourself. They ain’t worth it. You are so much more than they could ever be. You, Hallie, are abadass. You’re funny. You have impeccable taste in cars. You’re kind and caring. You are drop-dead fucking gorgeous. You made me hard while sticking a needle in my leg. You made me hard when you giggled. Do you need me to continue the list? Or can I just fuckin' kiss you now, for real this time?”

She sucks in a shaky breath. I roll my tongue along my teeth to stop myself from doing what I’m burning to do.

There’s something she said earlier, something I can’t get out of my head.

Something that damn near brought me to my knees.

And maybe that’s where I want to be.

“Or do you want me to be a good boy and get down on my knees and beg for you?”

Her eyes go wide. She licks her lips slowly, and the switch flips in her. I feel it. Like an electric charge between us as her nails drag over my shirt. That touch hits like a spark. Fuck, it burns like it too.

I’m holding back. Every muscle in my body is begging to snap. But I won’t. She needs this—control. Power. I want to be the one to give it back to her.

“I don’t ever do this, Conan. This isn’t who I am normally. I don’t bring men back and have sex with them.”

I press a finger to her lips. Her words crash against her teeth, stopped by my touch.

“There is nothing wrong with a woman feeding into her desires, trouble. Women having sex does not make them disgusting, or a whore, or anything else. We’re all human, we all have urges; men and women are no fucking different. So while it makes me hard as hell knowing you don’t do this often, I wouldn’t have given a shit either way. I just want you.”

And I mean it.

This world has fucked up everything for women. Taught them shame. Like they’re not allowed to want things. Need things. Like pleasure should only ever be a reward, never a right.

Bullshit.

For the small amount of time we actually walk on this planet, why can’t we just fuck who we want, when we want, and exactly how we need it?

Everyone would be a lot happier running through the woods and fucking against trees like the feral fuckin’ animals we all are born to be.

Her mouth opens. Closes. I wait.

“Just one night? And we tell no one.”

She means my brother. Yeah. I get it. It’s not worth the fallout. Not tonight.

“Secret is safe with me, darlin’.”

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