Page 100 of Bound
He stills. “That has to be the most beautiful sound in the world.”
My head leans back to find him watching me, the first hint of soft green light filling his gaze. “What is?”
“Your laughter. You haven’t laughed since you’ve been in town.” He appraises me. “It’s a beautiful sound.”
I turn away and the tension grows.
“I’m sorry, Amoret.”
My eyes widen as I look at him fast. “For what?”
“For this shit.” He jerks his chin at the room. “And for lying to you this morning.”
A tight wrenching squeezes my heart. I pull away. “Gage. Don’t.”
“Don’t you dare move, Amoret.” His voice is like iron. “I lied, damn it. Making love to you wasn’t a mistake. It will never be a mistake to me.” Tears burn my eyes as I watch him. The conviction there. The stark honesty. “I hold no title. I’m exiled. And I will never return to the Sith.” His jaw flexes. “But I don’t regret this morning.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I can’t stop the near pleading tone of my voice. The confusion.
“Because you deserve to know. You deserve to not be lied to. To be safe. I fucked up that one. I mean, look around.” His eyes scan the shadows surrounding us, and his expression is surly. “But even if they kill me hours from now, days … I have never been as peaceful as I was this morning. As happy.”
“Gage …” I drop my eyes, unable to breathe. His words are like a vise around my heart. I want for them to be true. To mean something. I clench my hands together. “You don’t remember me from the Sith, do you?”
Quiet, then, “No. But I am sure I would if I had seen you.”
“I was young before you left. A teenage girl.” I exhale. “But I loved you then. And I fear I love you still.” His whole body goes rigid and I clench my hands together until they ache. “I know you cannot feel the same for me, but being with you—even for one night, was more than I ever hoped to have. So you don’t need to apologize. I was not grown when you left the first time. But I am now, and I will deal with whatever happens.”
The silence stretches between us, and my heart pounds so hard I am sure he hears it.
“Amoret.” His dark, husky tone rolls over me like a caress, filling my body with heat. With warmth. “Look at me.”
I shake my head.
“Amoret. Now.” The command is rough. But just like his previous tone, my body responds whether I want it to or not. Whether it is a good time or not.
I shift over his lap, squirming at the rush of desire that fills me, and peer up into his face.
He leans his head down as far as he can, his lips rasping over my forehead. I close my eyes, relishing the small touch.
“Come on, baby. You got to tilt that pretty face of yours up for me,” he whispers against my skin.
I shiver and angle my head back. Hoping but not believing—
His mouth slants over mine, the press gentle. Slow. I moan as he sweeps his tongue across my bottom lip.
“You keep making sounds like that, baby, and it will make me love you.” His warm breath flows over my cheek as he nuzzles my skin. “Slide your legs around me.”
I straddle his wider waist, and my dress bunches between us. He kisses me again, working his way to the corner of my mouth and over to the shell of my ear. I arch without meaning to, pressing our bodies closer together.
The shocking thickness of his arousal makes me cry out as I rub over him.
“It’s not love yet, baby girl,” he tells me. “But you are fucking addicting. I can’t get enough of you. Hell, I don’t think I ever will.”
My hands grip his shoulders as he lifts his hips, scrubbing the harsh seam of his jeans over the juncture between my legs. “Gage?” I gasp.
“I know this is piss-poor timing, baby. But you can’t tell me you love me and not expect me to want you in response. I need you. Now.”
“But—”
