to check in at the Den. Do you have to be anywhere?”
“Actually, no. I’m not on tonight. And Uncle George is out of town on a deposition. He took his law clerk for that. I’ve got the day off.”
“Good,” Torch said, rising. “I want to see you later tonight. You up for that?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’d like that. Will we go somewhere or would you like me to order in?”
Torch was already in the bathroom. He didn’t hear me over the water running. The steam wafted through the door.
I padded across the hall to join him. Torch had his back to me. He wore his jeans but was shirtless. He hunched over the tub, testing the water temperature. In the full light, I saw. I couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped my lips. Torch stiffened and straightened his shoulder. Slowly, he rose to his feet and turned to me.
There was nothing to say yet. I went to him. He clenched his fists, and for a moment, it seemed like he might push me away. But he didn’t.
Last night, in the dim light and with his darker tattoos covering most of it, I hadn’t seen the scars covering his left shoulder and all the way down to his ribcage.
Torch had been burned. Badly. The skin was grafted and healed, but I didn’t need to have a medical background to know these had been severe third-degree burns. Likely life-threatening.
“What happened to you?” I asked. I reached around him and shut off the water.
“It was a long time ago,” he said.
“That’s not an answer.”
He clenched his jaw and kept his fists at his side.
“Torch,” I said. “What happened between us last night. That’s not ... I’ve never shared something like that with anyone. You ... I know what that was. You made me say it. I felt it. You made me …”
I hated that I couldn’t find the right words. I hated that I even had to say them at all. But I’d exposed the deepest parts of myself to him. I knew I was asking him to do the same.
Torch came to me. He threaded his fingers through my hair and kissed me.
“Sydney,” he whispered.
I pulled away. “I don’t even know your last name! Or your real first name!”
He smiled. “Thomas.”
Satisfied, I kissed him back. “You don’t have to be afraid of anything with me either,” I said. “I meant what I said last night and this morning.”
Heat grew between my legs as Torch kissed me again. He threaded his fingers through mine, and brought my hands up, pinning me against the wall. How did he do it? With just a look or a touch or ... lord have mercy, a kiss, he could have me wanting and wet, ready to forget everything but him.
I nipped his lip. It surprised him. He pulled away and regarded me. He kept my arms pinned above me. In spite of myself, I felt my hips writhe toward him. But I had to stay focused.
“What happened to you?” I asked. “Tell me. This can’t be just a one-way thing, Torch.”
He didn’t let me go, but he loosened his grip. Instinct told me he needed me like this. If he were going to let his guard down with me even a little, he’d need to feel in control. I grew even wetter thinking how much I could learn from him if I let him tie me up all the way.
“Tell me,” I whispered.
He pressed his forehead to mine. “It was a long time ago. I was a kid. Someone tried to hurt somebody I cared about. I stopped him. And I set his house on fire.”
“Who did you care so much about?” I asked. “Was it your mother?”
Torch straightened. Still, he kept my arms pinned above me. I knew what he needed. It was as if my body ... my soul became attuned to his. His needs. His fears.
“I’ll never hurt you,” I said. “Whatever you need ... Torch ... tie me up, then tell me the truth.”
His eyes ignited with dark passion. For an instant, it was as if he’d gone feral. Yes. I’d hit on it. That’s what he needed.
“She was ... they were my foster parents,” he said.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “Oh ... Torch.”
He let me go. What he had said was so basic. Almost clinical. And yet, I suspected there were few people in the world, if any, who knew even that much about him.
“I have to go,” he said, finding that