Page 109 of Echoes of You

I moved until I stood right in front of him. “Don’t shut me out.”

He blinked a few times. “I’m not.”

“You haven’t said a word since we left the station. You won’t even look at me.”

Nash’s jaw worked back and forth. “I’m just trying to keep myself in check.”

My brows furrowed. “In check?”

“Maddie…do you have any idea how angry I am right now? Someone attacked you last night. I had to question your piece of shit dad today. And now your ex is sending you flowers that are most definitely a threat. I’m two seconds away from losing it.”

And he thought that would scare me. The knowledge hit me like a ton of bricks. If there was one thing Nash would never want to do, it was instill fear in me. He’d rather cut off his own arm.

I lifted my hands to his face. “Don’t hide from me.”

His jaw tensed beneath my fingers. “You don’t want this.”

“Yes, I do. I want all of you. Whatever you’re feeling.”

“I can’t.”

My hands moved along his jaw until my fingers fisted in his hair. “You could never scare me.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. Let me in.”

“Mads…” My name was a plea.

My mouth met his, taking. “Let me in.”

Nash’s hands dropped to my hips. “I can’t. I’m not in a good headspace.”

I kissed him again.

Nash answered me this time, his tongue gently stroking mine. But that gentleness was a lie, more of Nash hiding himself from me. I nipped his bottom lip as I pressed myself into him, my fingers pulling tighter on his hair.

Nash’s control snapped.

His fingers dug into my hips through the cotton of my dress, pulling me flush against him. I felt him hardening against me, and the sensation had everything in me pulling tauter. My body yearned for Nash, all of him, even that anger.

“Mads…” This time, my name was a warning that he growled low.

I stepped out of his hold. A mixture of relief and disappointment flickered across his face.

I bent, grabbed the hem of my sundress, and pulled it over my head. I let the cotton sail to the floor and stood before him in nothing but a lacy thong, bra, and my ankle boots.

Nash swallowed hard, his eyes raking over me. “If I’d known this was under that dress, you’d never have made it out of the house this morning.”

The corner of my mouth kicked up as I moved toward him. “Is that right?”

“Damn right.”

The moment I was within arm’s length, Nash grabbed me and spun me around so I faced the island. The cool surface was the complete opposite of the heated blood running through me.

Nash’s hand ran slowly down my spine. “You want all of me?”

“Yes,” I breathed.

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