Page 155 of Darling Psycho

It was probably the first time in his adult life he’d been vulnerable to someone else.

“Every time you throw your heart at me, do you even realize you had a predator watching you?”

“Protecting me.”

“I was the one you should have been afraid of.”

“Then how come I’m not?”

“Stupidity. A brain tumor. Little girl fantasies. Take your pick.”

Never. Even when his words had been sharp, it only made her run faster toward him. He wasn’t soulless. He was so present she felt the buzzing of his whole being, like he was made of pure electrical current.

“I’d see you smile, and it’d drive me fucking insane. I’d lose my mind to the point I had to get away from you until I was right again. I saw you, and it felt like I was bleeding out.”

“Sounds perfectly fine to me. It was no less what you did to me.”

“You should run from me, not pouring your emotions onto my lap for me to destroy.”

“You’re not going to destroy me, Lawless.”

“You don’t know that. I haven’t kept one thing in my life. Not one person I can’t shake off.”

“But you’re keeping me. You want me. You even love me if you let yourself admit it. I love you more than I’ve loved anyone, or ever will. Even if we have kids one day—okay, don’t choke,” she said at the noise he made, “I will adore those little criminals, but you will still own me, Lawless, it will always be you who I love the most. And I just wished you’d had that from someone in your life, so you know what it feels like. I’m sorry you’ve had no one to love you in your life until now.” She meant his bitch of a mother.

And Lawless knew it when his nostrils flared, and he snapped his neck around to stare.

“Don’t say sorry for that. I’m not sorry for the person I am. I wasn’t given a choice about what kind of man I became. You wanted to be shown who I am.I showed it to youin grim colors. That’s where I come from, what made me, the bitch who spat me out and left me to survive among a pack of wolves. She didn’t know I’d become their alpha. You don’t mention that bitch again, she doesn’t exist to you.”

Angela nodded blankly.

“That’s fine. She’s never invited to our Christmas table, ever. I’d stab her in the eye with a fork.” She swore she heard him chuckle beneath his breath.

“Don’t lie to me, Lawless or yourself. You haven’t been alive until me. I woke you up.”

“That’s a bold claim.”

“I don’t hear you denying it.”

His expression was lost somewhere under the permanent scowl and darkness.

She woke him up.

The magnificent beast was awake and breathing fire all over her. Claiming flames so no one else could ever have her.

“You thought in steps of numbers and actions. Every move was meticulously thought over, and then you saw me, and emotions took the wheel, and you didn’t know what to make of how it made you feel. Am I wrong?”

His stare was answer enough, though he stayed silent.

“I can only guess why you can’t sleep, why you’re brooding out here by yourself instead of being in bed with me. But, you need space, so I’ll give you that.” She rose to her feet, and her lips touched the side of his face, lingering. “Love you, grumpy.”

He wasn’t an island.

Nor was he an untouchable being, though he carried himself as such.

Lawless was a man who had the exact needs as everyone else.

And she was the only woman who knew what they were.