Page 207 of Collide

“For you, my Darling…I’d give it all up. The career, the fame, the spotlight, everything. Say the word, and we disappear.”

His hand comes to my face, thumb brushing along my jaw like he owns it. Like he owns me.

The words hit me low and deep, cutting through all my defenses.

He’s not just offering me an escape.

He’s offering me devotion I’ve never known before.

And it hits me like a drug.

I lean into the touch I should pull away from.

“I think”—I sigh, my voice trembling but finding strength—“if you want me, then I’m yours, Alex.”

His mouth brushes the word against my skin. “Mine.”

His eyes darken, something wild flickering there.

Hunger, yes. But something softer too.

Like awe. Like I’ve just handed him my soul, and he knows it.

“Elena,” he breathes, my name spilling from his mouth like a prayer.

His fingers brush my face, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, lingering as they drift down to my jaw, coaxing it upward until my eyes meet his.

“You think I don’t know what this is doing to you? To us?” he whispers, voice rough now, like every word scrapes its way out of him. “But I can’t let you go.”

His thumb strokes along my cheekbone, unbearably soft.

“You are everything to me.” His confession slips out like a secret he can’t take back. His touch burns and soothes at once, like he’s trying to memorize me.

“Mine,” he says again.

A shiver runs through me.

Not fear.

Something worse.

The terrifying anticipation of falling too hard, too fast.

“Say it,” he murmurs, his forehead pressing to mine, his breath warm against my lips. “Tell me you want this. Tell me you wantus.”

I tremble all over with the weight of it. I close my eyes, and the words slip out, unguarded.

“I do.” My voice barely makes it past my lips. “If we burn, we burn together.”

His mouth curves—wicked and tender all at once—as it brushes against mine like a promise.

“Then let’s burn,Älskling.”

His lips press into mine, sealing our fates in an instant. It might be a terrible idea. It might ruin everything. But neither of us cares.

I kiss him back with just as much fervor, hands tangling in his hair as he lifts me smoothly, my legs locking around his waist.

He carries me to the bedroom, the door swinging open with a thud.