Page 4 of Savage Heart
God, this isn’t how I wanted our reunion to go. I played out this scene in my head so many times I wondered on occasion if it had actually occurred it felt so real, but now that it’s actually happening, it’s more anger than love.
Through gritted teeth, Alaric mutters, “Trent. Sounds like a Yale asshole if I’ve ever of heard one.”
“You don’t even know him, so what gives you the right to say anything about him? He’s never been cruel or unkind to me, and he makes me happy.”
Alaric steps forward, pressing his body to mine, and looks down into my eyes. “Happy? Does he make you forget the world exists when the two of you are together? Because that’s what we had, Sienna.”
I wince as my body betrays me, filling with desire for him. My breath gets caught in my chest, so I answer with a shake of my head.
There’s no point in lying. Trent has never made me feel like Alaric did. At first, I couldn’t help but miss that, but in time, I grew to accept that no one was ever going to affect me like Alaric did back in Italy.
But that was a different time and a different place. Now I have someone gentle and kind who cares for me.
“A man doesn’t have to take my breath away to make me happy. If you had bothered to come see me in the past two years, you’d know that.”
He lifts his hand toward my chin and drags his fingertip along my jaw, making my eyelids flutter closed at his tender touch. “You deserve nothing less than a man who takes your breath away. Why are you so willing to settle for common and mediocre when you’ve had incredible and unforgettable? We had incredible and unforgettable, Sienna.”
I sigh heavily, hating how right he is. “Because that never showed up and I got lonely, Alaric.”
“You don’t care about him. I can tell.”
“What makes you think you can say that?” I ask angrily.
His hand slides around my neck before he closes his fingers around my hair, sending waves of pain and need skittering across my scalp. “I can say that because I know you, Sienna. You’re mine, and no time you spend with some bland guy can change that.”
“Yours?”
Good to know that being his means he ignores me for years.
“Mine.”
The look on his face tells me he actually means that. I’m not willing to let myself be assumed to be his, though, so I step back from him, instantly missing his touch.
“Just admit the truth. You didn’t care enough about me after I flew away from Italy to come find me. I’m guessing it’s because I told you I loved you. Typical man. Feel free to forget I ever said that.”
Still, he won’t let this go.
Shaking his head, he cages my body in against the wall with his body and smiles down at me. “How do you know I didn’t fall in love with you in the time we spent together? Just because I didn’t say it back?”
Sincerity fills his dark eyes, and I so want to believe he cared about me like I cared about him. But I can’t let myself fall for that.
“Uh, yeah. That’s how people know if the feeling is returned. I might not have a line of men a mile long I’ve had great sex with, but I do know that.”
My words get stuck in my throat as I speak, mostly from jealousy since I’m sure he’s been with dozens of women since our time in Italy. I shouldn’t care. So we spent a couple days together and he saved my life? It probably happens a lot in his world.
“Don’t think for a second I didn’t fall for you. I didn’t say it back because the life I lead doesn’t allow for that kind of thing.”
God, he sounds so earnest when he says that!
“Then why are you here tonight?” I ask, loving the feel of his body pressing against mine.
His dark eyes fill with need. “I couldn’t let your big day go by without bringing you a gift. I missed you, Sienna. Never doubt that.”
I want to believe that. He has no idea how much it means to me to hear him say those words. But it doesn’t change the fact that for two years I’ve waited for him to return.
Quietly, I ask, “Why couldn’t you just let me keep thinking I meant nothing to you? At least then I could hate you.”
Not that I ever truly felt anything close to that.