Page 13 of Blazing Desires
I can’t move, can’t speak. I should be listening to him, but he has the longest, darkest lashes I have ever seen on a man. I allow myself to get lost in his eyes for a moment, drowning in the depths of them.
“Davina! Promise me. Promise me you willneverspeak like that, or even think like that again!”
His voice is panicked but his hands are light and oh-so gentle, even as he tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear. The gesture is so at odds with his tone.
Soft sunlight filters in through the large windows, the sun streaming through the dark grey clouds and bathing the moment in warm golden hues. I close my eyes, briefly savouring the moment and committing it to memory. It feels like an accurate representation of this moment between us. I can easily pretend that I’m in a romance novel right now, that this is where the girl gets the guy.
But I’m not, and he’s still waiting for an answer from me. “I promise.”
“Good.” His breath of relief flutters over my skin, smelling of mint and raising goosebumps on my arms as he repeats himself again.
He surprises me by closing the distance and placing a brief kiss on my forehead. I should be telling him not to touch me and reminding him of our agreement, but he’s so distressed by my comment I let it slide.
Not to mention it’s been so long since someone cared about me, held me in a way that makes me feel like I matter.That’sthe real reason I’m unable to bring myself to tell him to stop. My heart unfurls a little from its protective ball and I know it’s in danger of being broken again. And I also know that this time, ifI give my heart away and it ends badly, there will be nothing left of it to recover.
Chapter 6
I'm Daddy
Blaze
It’s a mistake to get this close to her.
The kiss on her forehead is instinctive. I can’t stop the barrage of images spinning through my mind like a personalised carousel of nightmares. Her words are on repeat, the theme tune for the show.
“What a shame that would be!”
This is all going to shit so quickly. I’m supposed to come here, make her fall for me, and get her to figure everything out. Pull off my plan and hightail it to somewhere hot, preferably by a beach.
I’mnotsupposed to instantly get hard the first time I lay eyes on her, and I sure as shit was not supposed to feel so fucking protective of her.
She isn’t the Davina I once knew, or who I thought she would be.
She’s supposed to be a spoiled brat who gets everything she wants, someone I should be excited to break down and traumatise so that I’m not so fucking alone in my suffering. Turns out she's as messed up as I am.
Fuck.
I move back to my seat, sensing her eyes on me as I go. I try to put some distance between us so I can think about how to tryand downplay my response to her words and not freak her out. Clearing my throat, I change the subject.
“You need to eat, love.”
I gesture to the food, hoping to take her eyes off me and back to the table. I'm so fucking tense that I can feel the strain in my body as my muscles lock tight. I need her to take those soulful eyes off of me right now.
After a beat, she shoots daggers at the layout of food with the same disdain all over her face from before. I can't say I blame her—the food is fucking sad. Her father is a piece of shit if he's giving her this, and I’m sure it’s a punishment for something.
She reaches forward tentatively and picks up the banana. Her eyes scan the curved fruit with intent as she turns it this way and that. I frown.
“What are you doing?”
Davina’s hands don’t stop moving as she inspects it with intense scrutiny.
“Checking for holes.”
What the fuck does that mean?
Confusion and curiosity win out over my worrying, and the reprieve from the intensity of before helps me to relax a little. I rub the stubble along my jaw as I watch her. “Okaaaay, and why are you checking a banana for holes? Usually, people would be looking to put a banana in one—their mouth, that is.”
I throw out a short, awkward chuckle at my lame joke, desperate for anything to ease the knot forming in my chest. She snorts, which catches me by surprise as she moves her attention to me.
