But as soon as her fingertips grazed my flesh, I was unleashed.
Grabbing her, I turned and slammed her back against the wall. A sharp gasp left her lips just before I dipped my head down and devoured them. It took a moment for the shock of the suddenness of my movements to reach her, but once they did—I half expected her to push me away or to fight me. She did neither.
Instead, Cressida's arms lifted even further, wrapping around my neck and pulling me against her body. I crushed her into the wall—her soft, small frame delicate and oh so breakable beneath me. I had always wondered how smaller people—humans and delicate females—could face the world as if they were not constantly on the verge of shattering. Cressida was one such female.
She took my fucking breath away. She feared very little and what she did fear, she still faced. It was time that I admitted that my so-called hatred for her had been born out of a place of fear—of what she could do to me. Of what she could do to my brothers. This little woman—although infinitely delicate in stature—had the heart of a warrior. And whether she realized it or not, she had completely overtaken the three of us.
Yes, the three of us. Not just Roan and Orion, but me as well. I was enraptured by her. I hated that fact, was terrified of it. But what if, I wondered idly, what if I stopped pushing her away and just accepted it? Accepted that she was undeniable to me now.
My mouth parted from hers as we both gasped for air, panting, our chests pushed tight against one another. "W-why would you..." Her words came with no small amount of confusion. "Sorrell … do you … want me?"
"Cressida," I whispered her name as I reached up and held her head in my hand. "Want is a pathetic word for what I feel for you." Desire. Craving. Need. Even those were not enough.
She shook her head as if trying to clear away her thoughts and yet, when she returned her gaze to mine, there was still clear bewilderment. "I-I thought you hated me," she said.
"Hate," I replied, "is a powerful emotion to cover up another powerful emotion."
"What—" I didn't let her finish asking the question. I couldn't. I wasn't ready to admit it yet. All I knew was that right here, right now, I needed her. My lips pushed hers apart and I let my tongue sneak forward. She rose to my bait, moaning into my mouth as I reached down and hefted her into my arms. The skirts of her nightgown pushed up her thighs all the way as her legs spread and she wrapped them around me.
"Cressida," I said, releasing her once more. "Tell me yes. Say yes."
Even after all that I had put her through—all that I didn't deserve, but would take anyway—she didn't hesitate. And in that darkened hallway, with her legs wrapped around my hips and my hand in her hair, she tipped her beautiful face back and gave me everything with one word.
"Yes, Sorrell. I'm saying yes."
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cress
My back slammed into the wooden frame of the door, but I didn't offer anything more than a light grunt as Sorrell's mouth came down on mine—hard. Everything about him was hard. He was massive and all over me. Inside of my mind, and soon, he'd be inside of my body too.
He fumbled for the door—it was almost cute how rushed he seemed. Almost as if he were afraid I would rescind my consent. I wouldn't dare, not now. The fact was, I wanted this as much as he did. Perhaps more. This, it seemed, was something we'd been slowly moving towards since we first met. Since the first time he'd looked at me with those cold, angry eyes.
There was nothing cold in his look now. He was all molten heat and sinful promise even as he pulled back and, instead of unlocking the door as a normal man might, he reared back and kicked it in. I gasped as my whole body jerked against him.
"Sorrell!" I snapped. "Don't destroy the castle."
"It's my castle," he replied. "I'll do whatever I damn well please."
I didn't have a response to that, not that he gave me time to think of one. As soon as the door was opened, he strode through and turned, slamming it shut—only this time, it didn't close all the way. Probably had something to do