Page 267 of Ignite

He cups my face.

“Say you believe me,” he whispers.

I don’t hesitate.

“I believe you. And that’s all I want too. I choose you, exactly as you are, beastie. It’s always going to be you.”

He closes his eyes and rests his head against mine.

“Let me take you back to Decadence. Let me explain everything. Show you what really hides behind the gates. I need you to see all my skeletons. And then, once you’ve seen it all, you get one chance to run, where I won’t chase you.”

I blink, panic rising in my chest.

“Does it get worse than what I’ve seen?”

He blows out a breath.

“Depends on your definition of worse. But what happened to you...probably is the worst, yes.”

The pain in his voice is raw.

“You want to tell me it all? No hiding. No sugarcoating?”

“We have to. To move on, you have to see my demons.”

I sigh and press a kiss to his temple.

“I see the man behind all of it, and I love him. It will be fine, beastie. But we’re not going anywhere until the doctors sign you off. Got it?”

He salutes me.

“Whatever you say, boss.”

I climb off and rush to the bathroom. I quickly clean up and run warm cloths under the tap before heading back into the bedroom.

“I’m meant to clean you up,” he says.

I roll my eyes.

“We’re equals. You’re injured, and I’m looking after you. Now lay back.”

He does as I say, and I gently clean him.

I toss the cloth aside and scan his naked body.

“You know, when you suggested kissing me in front of Ben, I was so convinced you were way out of my league.”

He rests his hands behind his head, smiling.

“Sit on my face, baby. I’ll show you how wrong that is.”

I giggle.

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“No. Probably not. But you’re naked in front of me, and I’m desperate to eat you out. There is no league. Just us. Now take a damn seat. Let me clean you up. Equals, remember?”

I can’t argue with that.

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