Hold Me (Love The Way #2) - W. Winters Page 0,28

on the vanity next to my hairbrush.

There’s something liberating in that simplicity.

In the quiet, he rumbles, “I missed kissing you.” The warmth returns with full force. My guard is crumbling; I feel every piece fall and I don’t care.

“Is that all you missed?” I say, teasing him without thinking much of it.

“Come here,” he commands me in a whisper. It’s easy to obey. His hand finds the small of my waist, pulling me in for a chaste kiss. It’s simple, all of it is so easy and so bare. Yet I crumble and heat at his touch, feeling more vulnerable with every fraction of a second.

The feel of his kiss still pressed against my lips, my eyes closed and my blood warming, I push out the words that have wreaked havoc on my mind while he’s been gone.

“Damon suggested I may be displacing some of my feelings.” I push them out as quickly as I can, too scared to open my eyes until the last word is spoken.

He doesn’t answer and slowly, I peek up at him through my lashes. The only movement he makes is to run his thumb up and down my side.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know. I know I feel things … I don’t know what you feel.”

“You’re feeling uncertain?”

“Yes.”

“Mmm,” he says and his acknowledgment is a rumble from his chest. He pulls me forward, into his chest, to kiss the crown of my head, then he whispers, “You still want me?”

“Yes,” I answer easily, my eyes still open, staring down at his chest.

“Good,” he answers and pulls back, letting cool air filter between us to look down at me. “Even if you don’t want me for forever, you damn well better know that I want you right now.”

“And tomorrow?” Peeking up at him, I feel nothing but vulnerable.

“I’ll want you tomorrow too. So long as you want this, I will be here.”

I’ve never felt so needy before. So fragile with a man. James happened slowly. We were friends first and falling for him was unexpected. The security was there. By the time I realized what I felt, I knew he felt the same. This … this is nothing like that and it’s terrifying.

“I’m afraid … you don’t really want me. That you’re only here because you think I need you.”

Zander’s inhale is audible, and it’s heavy and suffocating all at once. His expression is just as alarming. It’s as if the air around him has darkened and a different side of him has taken over. With a single step forward, he towers over me.

“If I didn’t want you, I wouldn’t be here, Ella.” The disappointment is obvious in his piercing gaze. “How could you possibly think I don’t want you? It’s fucking embarrassing what you do to me. How I can’t even think when you’re around.” Taking my hand in his, he presses my palm against him. “I’m hard as fuck thinking of how I’m going to punish you for that insecurity.”

His touch is like fire, the air engulfed in flames around us.

“You missed being punished, didn’t you? When you opened your mouth to greet me and instead you complained.”

My gaze dances between his broad chest and his hand.

“I’m sorry,” I admit.

He smirks at me. “No you’re not.”

“I—”

“You wanted to test me. To push me. To make me prove myself.” My body heats with a knowing feeling as he takes a step forward and I take one back. Then again. And again.

“It’s called topping from the bottom.” My lower back hits the vanity. I grip it on either side of me as Zander lowers his lips to my ear and whispers, “Did you think I’d let you get away with it?”

“Z.” I swallow thickly, not knowing what to say. “I was upset and unsure. I’m sorry.” It’s not that I fear a damn thing in this moment. Not him leaving, not a punishment. That’s not why I’m sorry. I wish I could take it back, because I know it hurt him. That flash in his eyes, that disappointment. “I would take it back if I could.”

“You are my submissive, and you were disrespectful.” His admonishment is spoken slowly. “Get down on your knees and show me how sorry you are.”

I’m almost shocked by his disapproval, by the harshness of his tone. Shocked so much that I freeze until he lowers his lips to mine, his eyes still open, staring through me as he demands. “On your fucking knees right now. Get on the floor.”

I fall