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“Only mine.”
I’m trembling beneath him, a chasm of desire and need, my mind barely able to hold on to a single thought.
When he lifts my shirt and kisses a trail up my stomach, my wrists break free of the loose hold he has on them, my fingers diving into his hair to demand a harder touch, to seek the pleasure and pain he gives me.
“Just us, Em,” he begs before his teeth sink down on a sensual kiss. And then he’s speaking against the sting. “Promise to have faith in me for once.”
Tears leak from the corners of my eyes because I want this so much.
Yes.
A hundred times yes.
A million times if that would be enough to hold on to this man.
My mind traps me with fear that it will never happen, while my heart pounds like a war drum and the certainty that it can.
He closes his mouth over the tip of my breast, a hiss blowing over my lips, my head rolling back as I fight a battle within myself.
“Don’t you trust me, Em? Don’t you know that you own me? That I’ll do anything for us to have what we want?”
I nod my head, but can’t find the breath to tell him that’s exactly the problem.
There’s no doubt he’ll do anything, destroy anything, unleash the violence inside him to make this happen. And I can’t bear the thought of another bruise or scar on his body that happened because of me.
“Please, killer. Just promise to let me try.”
His hips rock one more time, and I cry out, my thighs tightening together, my body oversensitive to his touch.
I’ve already lost the will to fight, and now he’s slowly causing me to lose my mind.
That’s par for the course, I guess. I’ll give him everything, do anything, because he already holds my heart.
“Yes,” I whisper, the sound so soft I’m not sure he heard me.
Ezra goes perfectly still, and for several seconds he says nothing, does nothing, just stays in place.
“Say it again.”
I smile at the memory, at the way he did this to me ten years ago on a beach where fire licked the sky.
“I promise.”
He shudders, his entire body trembling. This strong, carnal man that instills fear in everyone around him actuallytremblesat my words.
“Fuck, say it one more time.”
Tears stream down the sides of my face.
“I promise, Ezra.”
He pushes up so fast that the breath catches in my lungs, his hand locking over the back of my neck as his mouth crashes on mine, his lips demanding, his tongue hot and wet.
There are no words after that. No promises. No arguments. No insults, no apologies and no excuses.
It’s just us, a man untamed and a woman surrendering, a fight that has lasted ten long years finally drawing to an explosive close.
Neither of us won this war, we just finally laid down our swords and realized we’ve been fighting the wrong opponent all along.