Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 90009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
A taut silence stretches between us until it’s on the verge of snapping.
“Is that what you wanted from him?” he asks.
I freeze as he moves closer, invading my personal space.
Unable to hold his gaze, I look away.
His fingers slip beneath my chin, coaxing my attention back to him. “Is that what you wanted from him?” he repeats, gentler this time.
My tongue darts out to moisten my lips as I force myself to answer the question. Talking to Steele about this is so much more embarrassing than I imagined. “I don’t know. I mean… maybe? I guess I just…” I trail off, unsure how to express the tangled thoughts running rampant through my head.
“Hey, it’s me, Lilah,” he says. “We can talk about anything.”
I exhale.
He’s right.
We can.
“Yes. I think… I wanted something more. But Devon never saw me that way.”
Steele’s jaw flexes.
“I guess I don’t understand why,” I add, eyes falling shut. “Why her and not me? What was it about her that made him so uninhibited?”
Steele swears, and when my lashes flutter open, I find his hands balled at his sides.
“Don’t do that. Don’t compare yourself to her. You’re… Jesus, Lilah. You have no idea.” He drags a hand through his hair. “The way you’re wired, the things you want, they’re not wrong. Wanting to feel that kind of passion, that connection? It’s not something you should be ashamed of.”
I don’t realize I’m trembling until he reaches out and places a hand on my waist to steady me. His eyes search mine, like he’s trying to read everything I’m holding back. All the things I’m unwilling to put into words.
Steele exhales slowly, like he’s barely holding himself together. “You think you weren’t enough for him. But that asshole couldn’t even begin to understand what he had. Or what you needed and deserved.” His voice is a husky whisper when he speaks again. “If I were him, I never would’ve left your bed. I’d have worshipped every damn inch of you. I would have touched you in all the ways you craved until I learned how to read your body like it was the only language I understood.”
Heat blooms beneath my skin.
It’s hard to make sense of what’s shifting between us.
Or maybe I already know exactly what it is.
And that’s the part that terrifies me most.
“Steele…”
He lifts a hand, brushing a strand of hair away from my cheek. “Is that what you want, Lilah? To experience that kind of passion? To have someone take you like an animal, to make you feel like your brain can finally click off and you can stop thinking for a change?”
The arousal that slams into me at those words is almost enough to knock me off my feet.
Because the answer is there.
On the tip of my tongue.
Fighting to break free.
24
STEELE
She doesn’t respond right away.
Not with words.
But it’s there in the way her lips part and her chest rises and falls with each shaky inhalation. Or how the air between us turns charged until it’s almost crackling.
She’s right there on the edge with me.
But then, she takes a single step back.
That’s all it takes to knock the air from my lungs.
“I’m afraid to ruin what we have,” she whispers. “You’ve been my friend for so long. I can’t lose you. I just… I need to think.”
My heart is beating so loud it drowns out everything else. The last thing I’m going to do is push her into something she doesn’t want or isn’t ready for.
“That’s fine. Take all the time you need. Whatever you decide won’t change anything between us.” My fingers slip beneath her chin again so she has no choice but to meet my eyes. “You understand that, right?”
Her gaze reluctantly finds mine before searching it for the truth. “Yes. I don’t want to make another mistake. I can’t afford to.”
It kills me that she sees this—us—as a potential mistake.
Because to me, it’s the only thing that’s ever felt right.
The only thing that’s ever made sense.
I force a smile and gentle my tone. “Then don’t think of it as some big decision about the future.”
Her brows pinch. “What do you mean?”
I take a step forward, watching her carefully. “I’m not asking for forever, Lilah. I’m not even asking for a relationship.”
Her eyes widen slightly, but she doesn’t interrupt.
“While you’re here,” I say, “we could just be…” I drag a hand through my hair. “Call it whatever you want. A break. A distraction. Friends with benefits.”
I hate the words as soon as they leave my mouth. But if they get me even a piece of her, I’ll choke them down.
Her brows lift as her expression turns amused. “Friends with benefits?”
I lift one shoulder in a casual shrug and force a crooked smile. “Sure. No pressure. No strings. You set the pace, and I’ll follow your lead.”