Page 14 of Bitter Sweet Love

I cringed. “Did you tell him I was with you?”

“No. I should have, but I didn’t.” Dez leaned forward slightly. “I did tell him about your conditions.”

My eyes widened. “Even the skinny-dipping?”

Dez laughed loudly. “I kept that little detail to myself, but I told him that this was something we needed to do, that I owed it to you.”

Owed it to me. What could I say to that? I pulled my ponytail over my shoulder, twisting the ends. “What did he say?”

“He wasn’t too thrilled about it and he listed, in detail, all the reasons why traveling to DC wasn’t safe, but in the end he agreed.”

“He did?”

One side of his lips curved up. “Only after promising to rip me limb from limb if anything happens to you.”

I smiled widely.

He frowned. “I hope you’re smiling about him agreeing and not the ripping-me apart.”

“Definitely him agreeing.” I laughed, dropping my hair and punching him in the arm. “And maybe a little bit of him ripping you apart.”

He caught my hand. “That’s not very nice.”

I gave him a cheeky grin. “Sorry?”

“And I don’t think that’s a genuine apology.” He tilted his head to the side slyly and held my arm between us. “Your father is very frightening. I put my arms, my legs and my balls out on the—”

“Oh, my God.” I laughed. “Unnecessary information, Dez.”

“Look, you just need to know what’s at stake.” He tugged my arm, scooting me forward. “I have a feeling I’m going to need my—”

I swung at him with my other hand, but he caught that too. “You are definitely not going to be needing them any time soon.”

“I strongly disagree.” A wicked look flickered in his eyes a second before he tugged me out of my chair and into his lap. He clamped his arms around my waist as I started to wriggle away. “Jas,” he said, his voice dropping low. “You should stop squirming.” Then he paused. “Or not. I’m kind of partial to it, honestly.”

I froze, hands planted on his shoulders. Warmth crept over my cheeks. “You’re terrible.”

“I’m a lot of things right now.” He lowered his head to mine and inhaled deeply. “I bet you can figure out one or two of those things.”

My mouth went dry, and I didn’t dare move. Bad thing was that I wanted to, and the knowledge made my skin stretch too tight. “How can you be gone for so long and act like you haven’t been? Like this was the way it always was between us?”

“How can I not?” he said, and then shook his head a little. “That answer probably doesn’t make sense to you.”

“It doesn’t.”

He smiled slightly as he ran a hand up my arm and then back down. “When your dad announced that he wanted us to mate, I was happy, Jas.”

So happy that he’d promptly disappeared for three years? I kept my lips sealed shut.

His hand slid up again, but this time he guided my head to his shoulder as he spoke. “You were too young then, but I... well, I knew you wanted this and so did I.”

“You have a strange way of showing that,” I muttered, but in spite of my words, I relaxed into his embrace.

“I know. I messed up when I left.” His other hand settled over mine. Slowly, he lifted my hand and threaded his fingers between mine, squeezing gently. “I should’ve said something to you and I didn’t. I can’t change that.”

I wanted to ask him why he hadn’t, but Dez had always been evasive, even when he was younger, so I went a different route. “Where did you go?”

Dez shifted, settling me in his lap so that my legs dangled off his. “Many places.”

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