Page 89 of Cruel Possession

Her eyebrows climb high, and her full lips part. “Aiden.”

“Zoe, I’m serious.” I cup the back of her head, pulling her closer to me, brushing my lips over hers. “You think it’s time I be my own person and get what I want out of life. I’m telling you that you’re who I want. I want to be with you, and I don’t give a fuck what that looks like. And if we only have five years, or if we have fifty, I can tell you that I know you’re it for me.”

Maybe I said too much, or maybe I didn’t say enough.

She’s looking at me like a deer in the headlights right now, and I don’t know what to make of it. But I know that telling her feels right.

Being with her feels like one of the best things I’ve ever done.

She straddles my lap, her arms draping over my shoulders as she leans in. My hands go to her waist, and I pull her down onto me, her body moving closer.

When her lips land on mine, I lose myself to the feeling of her pressed against me.

My cock grows hard, straining against my jeans as she rolls her hips, grinding into me.

Zoe nips at my bottom lip.

My fingers reach for the laces on the front of her corset, but she leans back. “Not right now. Pasta.”

I laugh and cup the back of her head, pulling her into me.

Our tongues tangle, and though it’s not going to go any further than spending the rest of the night kissing her until I feel like I can’t breathe, that’s more than enough for me.

She sighs into the kiss, her body pressing closer to mine.

I tug on her hair, guiding her to the side, deepening the kiss more.

When I finally break away from her, I’m breathless, trying to sort through everything going on in my head.

I didn’t think that tonight would be the night I tell her how I feel, but the words are right there on the tip of my tongue.

Especially when she’s looking down at me with that warm look in her eyes and the flush in her cheeks.

The corner of her mouth tips up as she runs her fingers over my shoulders and down my arms to my hands.

And then the look in her eyes changes. It’s like she’s sitting there in front of me and putting her walls back up.

She is shutting down, and it has my mind spinning.

Zoe gets off me and perches on the edge of the coffee table, raking her hand through her hair.

I lean forward, elbows resting on my thighs. “Want to tell me where you just went right now?”

“You want me, and for a long time, you were still threatening to kill me. It’s going to take a couple of minutes to wrap my mind around that. Sort through it in my head. Figure out some things.”

“Well, tell me what’s going on in your head. We can sort through it.”

“Do you still want to kill me?”

“No.” I press my lips together. “Not really. We both did things that neither of us are going to be able to entirely look past. We’re going to have to work on trusting each other more than we do now, but I trust that you’re not going to hurt me or my family.”

“And what if I tell you that trusting me is probably a mistake?”

I snort and take her hands, running my thumbs over her knuckles. “I know you, and I know who you are. You might be good at a lot of things, but deception isn’t one of them.”

“I don’t know.” Her tone is teasing, though the mood in the room still feels like this suffocating weight pressing down around me. “I got you here, and tonight wasn’t just about being alone.”

My eyebrows pull together. “No?”