want to breathe, I can’t. Every inch of skin leaps in anticipation, begging for his touch.
Shadow’s fingers remain suspended mid-air. “You ran away from me.”
“I didn’t.”
“Sure did.” He holds my chin prisoner and runs a thumb along my cheek.
The air is filled with Shadow. His scent. His dark, yet pulling aura. Those lively tiger tattoos who look ready to devour me whole.
I missed him, dammit. I missed him so much.
His finger stops near the corner of my mouth. The freaking tease. “But you know you were running away from yourself, not me, right?”
“I wasn’t.”
“You’re a fucking coward, beautiful. I thought you were more than that.” His voice is neutral, but the hurt note underneath takes me by surprise.
Pressure builds behind my eyes as tears try to fight their way out. They surprise me even more. Why the hell should I live for his expectations?
Why does it hurt that he’s disappointed in me?
“You thought I was more than what?” All the frustration and pent up energy cooking for months explode in my voice. “I was more than watching you kill another human being in cold blood? Did you expect a medal for that?”
“He wasn’t a human being. He was a machine made to kill.”
“Like you, apparently.”
His lips crash to mine. I gasp, and it turns into a deep-throated moan. Shadow doesn’t ask for permission. No. He dives right in. Once my lips are parted, he thrusts his tongue inside and claims me. His kiss is ravenous, desperate, and so out of control. It’s like he can’t kiss me hard enough or mould his body to mine close enough.
The passionate ferocity turns me mindless and firing up with need.
I can’t breathe.
I don’t want to breathe.
If he wants to consume me, then I’m willing to be consumed. I’m willing for anything as long as he satiates the ache inside me.
Shadow pulls away to whisper against my mouth. “Just like me.”
My head is foggy and I can’t make out the meaning behind his words. It’s after sharp intakes of air that I realise he’s referring to what I said earlier.
“You’re a monster,” I pant.
“Your monster.” He sucks my bottom lip into his mouth and bites down hard. No blood comes out, but the pain is enough to shoot the familiar need to my core.
I clench my thighs together in a desperate attempt to tame my reaction. “You’re hollow.”
His lips trail from my jaw to my neck, teeth grazing the skin. “Then fill me up, beautiful.”
My mind spins out of control and my body fires with need. There’s no way I can even pretend I don’t want this. Not after all those lonely nights I spent dreaming about him.
Shadow must’ve taken my silence as rejection since his grip tightens around my wrists. “Go ahead. Fight me.”
I do. Not because he told me so or because I want him gone, but because we both get off on it.
I try to wiggle free. He presses me down. I groan and squirm sideways. He tries to force my legs apart with his knee. I lift my leg to knee him, but I miss.
A sadistic smirk lifts Shadow’s lips. “Keep it up, beautiful. Tell me how much you want me.”
I grunt, fighting the chaotic pull of adrenaline and dopamine. He turned me into a wreck.
“Fuck you, arsehole.”
“That’s what I plan to do.”
I buck off the bed as if the mere mention offends me when the truth is I’m trying to hide my reaction to him. “Dream on.”
“Oh, I’ve been dreaming all right. Until the day I thought you died.” He pauses as if remembering something. Lust is still there, but instead of the playfulness, fire contorts his expression. “You made me believe you died.”
I swallow. This angry, mindless side of Shadow is scary.
“You did all that stunt to make me believe you died.” He repeats as if talking to himself.
I open my mouth not even knowing what I’ll say. A stupid part of me wants to soothe whatever demons swirl in his metallic gaze. Pain lurks beneath his rage, but Shadow is the type who would rather focus on the anger.
The impulse to say something is taken away. Shadow lets go of my wrists and flips me over. I yelp then gasp when I recognise the position.
My face is buried in the pillow with my arse up in the air. The sound of his zipper fills the silence.
He’s going to take me from behind because he’s mad at me and doesn’t want to look at me.