Page 27 of While He Breathes

To his credit, he doesn’t rush me. Instead, he holds my gaze, watching as the gears turn over in my head.

“What do you mean, you’ve been watching me for months?” I whisper.

“The night I pulled you from the wreckage after the accident, I knew you’d be mine. It didn’t make any sense to me, and I thought it would lessen with time, but I only got more obsessed with you and with your safety. That night at the Velvet Room, I wasn’t meant to engage with you. I was only there to make sure Lucas didn’t have you doing something I knew you wouldn’t be comfortable doing, and when I saw the way those two predators were looking at you, I had to get you away from them. It moved up the timeline, but one thing you should know, Ember, is that there’s nothing I won’t do to keep you safe, including putting the Hunter’s anonymity at stake.”

It takes a few seconds to realize I stopped breathing somewhere in that admission, and I drag in a stuttering breath.

Orion was stalking me?

For months?

Oh god, just when I think things can’t get any crazier, they just go ahead and do exactly that.

“I don’t understand,” I murmur. “Why would you do that? Why would you care?”

He shrugs. “I knew you were supposed to be mine, and that feeling only got stronger as time went on.”

“This is crazy.”

“If you hadn’t noticed, I’m not exactly the sanest of men.”

He can say that again. Every time Orion opens his mouth, something more unhinged comes out than the last time.

“One look at you, and every other woman no longer existed in my mind. Even bloody and broken from the accident, I knew you would become my everything. My queen.”

“This is too much,” I whisper, not trusting my voice beneath the weight of emotions slamming down on me.

“No, it’s not, Little Flame. Where we’re concerned, nothing will ever be enough.”

“I need time.”

“No,” he snaps. “You had time. Three months of it, in fact. I gave you time to run, to hide, and now that’s done. You’re mine.”

I shift beneath him, bucking my hips in the hope of dislodging him, but he’s too heavy, and he has me at his mercy. The only way I’m getting up is if he allows it.

“Get the fuck off me, Orion,” I growl.

“No.”

“You’re being unreasonable.”

“I’m not a reasonable man.”

“Not reasonable. Not sane. Fantastic. So glad you chose me to be obsessed with.”

He chuckles and dips his head until his breath whispers across my cheeks. “Me too, Little Flame.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Oh, I know.” He laughs. “Now, we can do one of two things. Either I can make you scream with pleasure, or we can curl up and go back to sleep. Those are your options, and I suggest you choose wisely.”

I huff out a sigh. “I don’t want you touching me at all.”

“Too bad, Ember. That’s not one of the options I gave you.”

“You’re an asshole, you know that?”

He shakes his head, his body shaking as he laughs, and I can’t help but notice how fucking beautiful he is.