Page 103 of Reverie

The world starts to shake, and when I clench my fingers into fists, I realize that it’s not the world, but my entire body vibrating with tension.

I’m losing....

Release your hands, Winter.

I’m losing him.

Breathe, Winter.

I’m losing the love of my life.

One.

One-two-one.

One-two-three-two?—

“No,” I say, adding more force behind my words.

I don’t do the sane thing, which is to give him some goddamn space. Instead, I hold him tighter.

Ihaveto hold him tighter.

Later, I’ll analyze my behavior. Later, I’ll look into why I’m chasing behind a man who doesn’t want me—at least, who doesn’t want me in this moment.

I’ll come to terms with the fact that I know this isn’t healthy but I’m doing it anyway.

I push the thoughts aside. “I won’t leave you, Hunter. You can’t make me leave.” My voice cracks, shakes.

He inhales sharply. “Why can’t you just do as you’re told? Why can’t you ever do what you’re told?”

It would have hurt less if he’d slapped me.

“Because I know you don’t want me to leave,” I say. “You can’t.” The last two words are a pained whisper.

Hunter stands, spreading his legs to broaden his stance.

“You want to know what I want, Winter?” He spins us so that we change positions. My ass presses painfully against the counter, and he brackets his arms around me, caging me in as I face him.

“I want to fuck you, Winter. I want to make you bend. Make you beg. I want to show you what I really want to do when you fight me on every fucking thing—even if it’s for your own good.”

I’m stunned silent by the inferno in his eyes, the promise in his words...the blood-curdling fear of what the fuck is happening here.

“What does that mean, H?” I bring my hands up between us and place them on his chest, feeling his heart race despite the vibrations in my fingertips.

“I forget how inexperienced you are, baby,” he says, leaning close to whisper the words in my ear. Wetness floods my pussy because Hunter Brigham, this close to me, whispering dirty things in my ear is a total fantasy. But also because....

Fawn.

When he trails his nose up the side of my neck, he pauses to say, “I want to punish you, Winter Leigh Vaughan.”

Alarm bells clang between my ears, and I struggle to reconcile the arousal I feel with the apprehension welling up within me.

“Why do you want to punish me?”

He peppers kisses along my jaw until he stops to nip at the flesh beneath my earlobe.

“Because I’m a broken man,” he murmurs, and the confession breaks my heart.