Page 33 of Forget Me Not

“You can’t just take everything in life, Reid.” I know where he’s going with this. He’s trying to tell me to stand up for myself, but I don’t need coaching. Not from him.

No, right now, all I need is for him to stop touching me so we can go back to hating each other.

“No one has the power to make you do anything you don’t want to do, little bird. You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone. You don’t have to apologize. That’s the beauty of being an adult.”

He finishes the stitch and wipes the area clean, again. Four stitches later and my hand has stopped bleeding. I look like I went to the clinic in town.

“You don’t apologize?”

He pulls out a bandage, carefully peeling it open and covering my cut.

“If it’s warranted, but never for doing what needs to be done.”

When he’s done placing the bandage over my hand, I know it’s time to get up, but something keeps me there. Maybe it’s the way he places the remnants of everything in the trash and then lets his fingers trail down my bare arm, as if he’s doing it subconsciously. Maybe it’s the way his other hand comes up to grip the small of my waist.

Either way, neither of us makes any attempt to move.

“Nova,” he says quietly and my spine stiffens.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I ask, so quiet, I’m not even sure I said it. I definitely didn’t mean to, that’s for sure.

His finger trails back up my arm, then higher to my shoulder blade and a shiver runs through me.

“Maybe you give me no choice.”

What does that even mean?

“You hate me.”

“I don’t.”

“You don’t like me,” I correct. His hand on my shoulder slips forward to wrap around my neck. Slowly, he tugs my head back to rest on his shoulder and forces my eyes to his.

I can taste the mint on his breath and my mouth waters.

I want his taste. Again.

His eyes search mine for a moment, the normal chocolate pools almost completely black as he looks at me. It’s terrifying, but I can’t move. Almost like he’s got me in a trance. I certainly feel that way.

“And if I just wanted to scare you off?”

“Why would you do that?”

“Not everyone is clean, Nova. Some of us are monsters. We won’t write you shitty little love songs.” He reaches up with his free hand, brushing a curl out of my face before he rests that hand on my stomach. Dangerously low on my stomach. My body tightens, the heat from his fingers traveling straight to my core and making me wet. “We take. Especially sweet and innocent things.”

I swallow my next breath when his thumb lightly traces the button on my shorts.

“And who said I’m innocent?”

He pauses for a moment, his lips inches from mine. My breath catches in my throat and I don’t move. I don’t even think when he closes the distance between us, solidifying everything I’ve been thinking the last week when we were avoiding each other.

He wants me. Even if he hates himself for it.

His first kiss is like a feather, soft and sweet, but it’s not what I want. His next kiss, though . . . it’s demanding, owning me completely with a single touch and searing me with heat.

He groans when I kiss him back, his tongue slipping against mine in the most sexually charged kiss I’ve ever experienced.

Kissing Reid feels like the end of everything I’ve ever known. Like up until this very moment, I’ve been surviving, barely keeping my head above water, and his kiss is what drags me back to shore.

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