Page 36 of Traces of Her
He stares at me silently with regret filling his eyes.
“I trusted you, Griffin. I believed the things you’d say to me, the way you acted toward me. I believed in the way you made me feel. I trusted you to catch me when I fell.” I stalk across the room quietly, shutting down and putting distance between us. “You’ve been feeding me lies, filling my heart with hope, bringing me back to life. And I fell for it all. I fucking fell for you.”
“You’re wrong,” he argues, standing up. “Everything I told Jared was a lie. You think that I’ve brought you back to life, but you’re wrong there too. You ripped my heart wide open, nestled yourself in there and made it your home.”
Closing my eyes, I bow my head, slowly shaking it.
“Why do you do that?” he growls, watching me with a heated look in his eyes.
I look up at him with a blank stare. “Do what?”
“That,” he scoffs, narrowing his eyes and taking a step closer to me. “You retreat into your own little world, closing yourself off to everyone and anything on the outside.” He takes another step, his chest barely touching mine. “Let me in, Rowena. Stop giving me little pieces of what’s inside. I’m greedy as fuck and I want it all.”
He doesn’t give me a chance, stealing any response from my lips. Grabbing the back of my neck, he pulls me flush against him and dips his head down, crashing his lips against mine. His kiss is rough, it’s consuming, and I let him swallow me whole.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, he backs me up against the wall with his mouth glued to mine. Slowly his hands start to slide across my shoulders and down my back. Abruptly he stops when he reaches my towel, pulling away from me and taking a step back. His chest heaves and my breathing comes out in pants.
“We should— I don’t think—” He pauses, taking a deep breath. “Today was a rough day and I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
“And what if I want you to?” I ask in a demanding voice.
He slightly shakes his head. “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,” he growls with hooded eyes.
“I’ll take my chances,” I retort.
“You don’t know what you’re asking for here,” he says in a low voice.
Taking a deep breath, I release the towel, letting it fall to the floor, pooling at my feet. “You.” I take a small step toward him. “I’m asking for you.”
He swallows hard, stepping into my space, as his stormy eyes search mine. My hardened nipples brush his chest with every breath I take. Reaching out, he slowly strokes my cheek, tucking my damp hair behind my ear. “I can’t make you any promises,” he says quietly.
“Promises are just words and end up broken,” I whisper, slowly tracing his lips with my thumb. “I’m broken enough, and they would only destroy me. I don’t want promises, I just want you.”
Lowering his forehead to mine, he takes a deep ragged breath, putting his hands on either side of my neck. “I can’t promise you that I’m yours for the rest of my days,” he pauses, looking deeply into my eyes. “Something that is already guaranteed can never just be a promise.”
With that, I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling myself onto my tiptoes and flush against his naked chest. His lips quickly find mine with a slow, heated kiss. Our mouths move together, caught up in a slow dance as his tongue lightly teases mine. Slowly, his hands begin their journey sliding over my bare shoulders, paying no mind to the scars and slides down my sides. A tingling, trail of heat follows his fingertips, burning his touch into my skin. His hands move downward with precision, reaching around me, grabbing my ass and I gasp as he groans against my lips. In one swift movement, he cups my ass cheeks in both hands, hoisting me up off the ground. Instinctively my legs automatically wrap around his waist as my hair falls around us like a white veil.
Spinning around, he starts walking toward my bed and then he stops. “No, this isn’t right,” he murmurs against my lips, turning and carries me out of the door, into the hallway. “You belong in my bed with me and nowhere else,” he growls as he takes me down the hall and into his bedroom.