Page 12 of Cold Hearted Baren

“Hey,” I greet her softly, my smile faltering slightly as I notice the tension in her posture. "Is everything okay?"

“Yes,” she responds coldly as she rises to her feet. “It will be. I’m going to bed, goodnight, David.”

I clasp my hand around her wrist before she can walk away and stand up so that I can look at her face. "Hey, little bird, what's wrong?" I ask, hoping the new nickname will put her at ease.

“I'm fine,” she replies, not meeting my gaze.

“No, you're not,” I counter, tugging gently at her hand. “You're definitely upset, so please talk to me.”

“I said I'm fine!” She snaps, jerking her hand away from my grasp. “Can you just take me at my word, please?”

“No, I can't, baby,” I reply, feeling my chest close up in frustration. “There's no word to take because you're not saying anything. Something is definitely wrong and I'm not going to let you convince me you’re fine when it’s obvious you aren’t.”

She scoffs loudly and turns away from me, folding her arms over her chest. I gape at her with a mixture of shock and confusion. Her sudden dismissive attitude catches me off guard, and I find myself momentarily at a loss for words. Tara's never snapped at me like this before. It feels like a punch to the gut, and I struggle to comprehend what could have caused such a sharp change in her demeanor.

“Tara, what's going on?” I ask in a much softer tone, genuinely worried. “Please, talk to me. Does this have anything to do with me being stuck at the office for the past two days?”

She swirls around, pinning me with an accusing glare. “No, David. The problem isn’t that you were away for two days. The problem is that you didn't communicate with me at all in those two days. What am I? A piece of furniture?”

“Tara, I…”

"You don't talk to me, David," she interrupts in a soft, broken voice. "You never talk to me about anything. I read the DailySpark article. I know what you’ve been dealing with for the last few days, how much it must hurt to have your image thrown around like it’s nothing. But you don’t include me in anything! You keep everything locked away from me. I feel totally useless to you.”

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, and I'm at a loss for what to say. I never realized how much my lack of communication was affecting her, and how much it made her feel neglected and unimportant. Guilt floods over me as I see the pain in her eyes.

“I'm so sorry, baby,” I whisper, reaching out to touch her arm. “I never meant to make you feel that way. The truth is I'm not used to this… to caring about someone and having them care about me. It's all new to me and I'm still learning but I promise to do better. I'll communicate more and include you in everything. Please, forgive me?”

She sighs softly, her expression softening. I reach out to pull her into my arms and the time, she melts into my embrace. I hug her tightly, closing my eyes and reveling in the warmth of her body. The thought of losing her got so real for a second and it terrified the hell out of me.

When we pull apart, she raises her hand to my face, gently cupping her palm over my chin. “I want to know every part of you, David,” she says, her thumb caressing my skin. “I don't want to doubt you. It hurts.”

“I'll never do anything to hurt you intentionally, Tara,” I whisper fiercely, and she nods.

“I think… I think I do know that, but you have to talk to me. I missed you so much,” she says, snuggling back into my chest.

“I will, I’ll be better about all of it, little bird. I missed you more than I can say. So much that I wanted to leave everything behind and come running home to you.”

She chuckles and loops her arms around my waist, her beautiful green eyes taking on a hint of mischief. “So…” she drawls, blushing lightly. “Seeing as we just had our first big fight, what do you say we make up with a kiss?”

I splay my hands on her ass and squeeze roughly, pressing her closer to me so she can feel my hard-on.

"I don't think I can stop at just a kiss this time," I say, smirking when her eyes grow huge with awareness. "You test my control beyond limits."

Her face grows bright red in that adorable way it always does when she's embarrassed, but she doesn't look away. Instead, she cocks her head and gives me a suggestive smile.

“What if I don't want you to stop, Mr. CEO?”

“You're playing with fire again, Tara.”

"I told you I'm not scared of fire," she says, slowly wrapping her arms around my neck. She leans upwards, standing on her tiptoes until our lips are just inches apart. "Kiss me, David."

I lower my lips to hers, needing no further urging. Her mouth opened beneath mine, hot and ready. She presses her body further into mine, letting out a long moan as I push my tongue into her mouth.

Chapter Nine

Tara

Somehow, we make it to the bedroom, and the moment the door closes behind us, David immediately pulls me against his body. Burying his fingers deep in my hair he tilts my head to the angle he wants, and takes my mouth with searing possession, tasting me with slow, deep licks.

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