Page 218 of The Silent Note

“Why do you feel so thin? Were you eating? Are you hungry?”

“Zane.” Her tone and expression are serious. “Finn told me everything. About the boxes. Making a deal with the yakuza. Working with your dad. All for me. Skipping a few meals does not compare to what you did. If anyone needs to be worried right now, it’s not you.”

“What I did is nothing.” I shrug.

“Nothing? Forget how dangerous it is to work with the yakuza. I know how much you hate your dad.”

“I’d be dad’s underling for the rest of my life if I had to.”

She gives me a stunned look.

And I take it personally.

Rolling on top of her, I press both hands on either side of her head. She immediately elevates her hips and rubs her body against me, sending white-hot flames straight to my pants. I seize the access she’s granting me, pushing back so deeply that a low groan tears out of my throat.

“Zane,” she whispers, scrubbing her hands down my chest.

I capture one of her hands and kiss it. “I need you to understand something, tiger. You are everything to me. I’d do anything you tell me to. I’d go anywhere you send me. I’d burn the world for you if you only gave the command.”

She looks away.

I grip her chin firmly and turn her face back to me. “You don’t believe me?”

She doesn’t answer.

“Say it,” I growl.

Her breath hitches and she presses her soft hands into my back, pulling my hips down to hers. The friction almost kills me.

Lifting her head, she sucks at my lips. My instincts kick in and I part her mouth, sliding my tongue against hers and feeling the heat of desire snap through my veins. It’s like an inferno. Like we made our bed in the depths of a volcano.

Damn, she’s going to be the death of me.

With all my strength, I disengage my lips from hers. “Tiger.”

She slides her hands up the breadth of my back to wrap around my neck. Letting her luscious bottom lip bounce against mine, she breathes, “Yes?”

My body spasms at her soft, sultry tone.

All I want to do is plunge inside her, but this is now a battle of wills. And I hate losing.

Taking my time, I slip my hand under her shirt and find the spot I know will make her gasp. When she releases that little whimper I love, my entire world tilts to the side and my bodydemandsI take her immediately.

I let out a growl that has her trembling instead.

Slowing my caress, I stare into her eyes. “Say. The. Words.”

“I… I can’t.” She digs her fingers into my neck.

Roughly, I push her shirt up and drag my mouth over her. Then I unzip her pants and yank them down to her ankles. Sliding my hands up her thighs, I demand, “Why not?”

She whimpers as I rub circles on her trembling skin.

“Grey.”

She touches my hand, staring into my eyes with a promise. “Because it’s too one-sided.” She gives me a look that’s both brave and terrified. Determined and insistent. “I’ll go where yougo. I’ll do what you do. If the world needs to burn, we burn it together.”

I stop and look at her.