Page 36 of Call Me Yours (Lodestar Ranch #4)

Oh, god, the hurt I saw in his face was so much worse than anger. “Steven,” I choked out. My chest felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it, cracking me open. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Anything you want.” He rubbed a hand over his hair, disheveling it.

“Anything you want. I love you, Chloe, and I think you could love me too, if you let yourself. Hell, I’m a reasonable man.

If you need to hate me a little, I can live with that so long as you call me yours.

Because that’s what I am, princess. I’m yours. ”

My heart banged itself against my ribcage like it was trying to fling itself at him, but I held myself back. Held tight to my anger. If I caved now, where would that lead us? Right back here again. “Steven. I can’t .”

“You can. You can forgive me, Chloe. I would do anything. Ask me to crawl over broken glass on my hands and knees. I’ll do it.”

That was what people said. I’ll crawl over broken glass or I’ll walk across hot coals . I dragged my index finger along the rim of my water glass in a slow circle.

People said that, but they didn’t do that. They didn’t mean it.

I tipped the glass to my lips and swallowed the last gulp of water, then hurled the empty glass to the floor. It shattered between us, the sunlight glinting off the water droplets and reflecting rainbows on the walls.

“So crawl,” I said.

Because he wouldn’t .

A heartbeat, and he dropped to his knees.

Another, and he flattened his palms on the linoleum tile.

I stared at him. No. He wouldn’t.

Oh, god.

He moved forward.

“What the hell, Steven! Don’t crawl!” I gasped. “What is wrong with you?”

He looked up at me and had the nerve to fucking smirk . “I’m getting mixed messages, princess. But you’re there and I’m here, and one way or another, I’m getting to you.”

“Stop!” I shrieked. I instinctively leaned toward him like I was going to take a step.

“Don’t you fucking move, Chloe,” he commanded, and I froze. “You’re barefoot.”

He crawled toward me like a lion stalking his prey. He didn’t look weak or chastened, down on his hands and knees for me. He looked strong. Determined. Relentless .

I was the one who was begging. “Steven, please get up.”

The way he looked at me made me grip the counter for support. Like he would crawl a mile over broken glass for me, not just across the kitchen floor. “It’s just a little blood, baby.”

He was at my feet now. I grabbed fistfuls of his henley and tugged, trying to get him to stand. I might as well have tried to move a boulder. He didn’t budge.

“Say I’m yours, Chloe.” He looked at me with his heart in his eyes.

The answer lodged itself in my throat. Yes was terrifying, but no was dishonest.

His mouth twisted. “I know. You still can’t forgive me.

How could you? You don’t even know how to forgive yourself.

You haven’t learned how to live with something terrible without punishing yourself every day.

You’re too good, that’s what it is. It’s all right.

Stick with me, princess. I’ll show you how to be a villain. ”

My lips parted on an exhale. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do.”

Yes, I do .

I shook my head. “Give me your hands,” I said.

I ripped off a handful of paper towels and ran them under the faucet. He turned his palms up for me. Shards of glass sparkled in the light. A smear of blood crossed one palm, a small red bead on the other. I tenderly wiped it all away with the damp towels.

“I can’t believe you did that,” I said, running my thumbs lightly over his palms to make sure I hadn’t left anything sharp behind.

He gave me a sardonic look. “When have I ever said no to you, Chloe?”

“You were supposed to say no to this,” I said sternly. “This was supposed to be your limit.”

“I don’t have limits when it comes to you.” He took the towels from me and tossed them on the counter.

His hands bracketed my hips, then clenched around the hem of my t-shirt and pushed it up, exposing my stomach. He pressed his forehead there and took a shaky breath that he released on a long exhale. I stared down at his dark head, stunned, unsure how to respond.

“Don’t go,” he said thickly. “Please don’t go.”

He kissed my navel, then trailed his mouth lower and kissed the sensitive skin along the waistband of my stretchy maternity pants. A tremor shuddered through him and he held my body a little tighter.

“Chloe…can I…” He pressed the words to my skin with heated kisses, tongue, and teeth. “Can I taste you?”

My hips answered yes before my brain could comprehend what he was saying, tilting toward him eagerly. I shouldn’t let him. It was so selfish, taking pleasure when I couldn’t give him everything he wanted in return.

Like he was reading my mind, his head tilted so he could meet my eyes. “At least let me have this.”

I nodded. “Yes,” I whispered.

He dragged my pants and underwear down my legs, helping me step out of them with my hands on his shoulders for balance. Then he hooked one leg over his shoulder, pressed his face to my pussy, and made me see starbursts with one perfectly placed lick.

“Oh, god !” I shouted, from shock and pleasure and need. My hands dove into his hair, and I held on for dear life.

I felt his lips curve into a smile just before he sucked my clit into his mouth more firmly.

My senses sparked to life. I wanted to memorize all of this.

The silky feel of his hair between my fingers.

The rough scratch of his hand palming my ass and the bruising pressure of his fingertips digging into my skin, holding me to his mouth like a starving man.

And his mouth. Oh, my god, his mouth . It should be registered as a lethal weapon.

His tongue flicked softly at my clit, then worked straight into me as he fucked me with it, plunging in and out of my pussy as he made hungry noises. My release barreled down on me like a freight train, no matter how hard I tried to push it off, to prolong this obscene pleasure as long as I could.

“Steven, I’m going to?—”

I couldn’t even finish the sentence before pleasure roared through me. I shattered like the glass on the floor. My knees buckled from the force of it, and he caught me as I fell, cradling me into his lap.

I rested my cheek against his chest. Felt his heartbeat, quick and hard.

You’re mine , I wanted to say.

But I didn’t say anything at all.