Page 11 of Sweet Conviction

"You okay, sweetheart?" I ask instead.

She stares at me, her amber eyes wide. "I should be asking you that."

"I'm fine, Tempest," I promise. I'd endure a hell of a lot worse than a night in a cell to keep her safe. God. Six fucking weeks and one day, and she's completely unraveled me.

"Um, I tried to bail you out last night, but they wouldn't let," she admits, looking away. "They said you had to see the judge first."

I stare at her, my heart pounding like a fucking drum. "Why?"

"B-Because it was my fault that you were there in the first place," she says, still not meeting my gaze.

Bullshit. We both know that isn't why she did it, dammit. Just like we both know she isn't running from this marriage because of any of the crap she spouted this morning.

I step closer, crowding her. "Why?" I ask again, my voice low. Demanding. Just once today, I want the truth from her.

"Because it was my fault you were there," she repeats stubbornly.

"Why?" I growl, clenching my hands at my sides, desperately fighting the urge to reach for her. To drag her into my arms and kiss the truth from that perfect, lying mouth.

"Because I care, okay?" she cries, those gorgeous eyes finally locking on mine. "Because I care about you even though I'm going to be the one who pays for it in the end."

And there it is. The truth.

She isn't running from this marriage for any of the bullshit she said this morning. She's running because she wants me. Because she feels something for my sorry ass, even though she knows I'll probably fuck it up.

She's running scared, just like I am. But unlike me, she actually had the balls to fly out here.

And I fucking let her down.

Christ, I'm an asshole and a fucking coward. But if there's one thing I'm not, it's a liar. I can't lie to her or to myself. She's the only thing I've ever wanted this badly. The only woman who has ever gotten under my skin or even made me want to consider the shit I'm thinking about right now.

Going to jail for her was easy when I'm pretty fucking certain I'd blow my entire goddamn life apart just for a taste of her.

I groan, the sound ripped from deep in my chest as I yank her into my arms, causing her to topple into me. The heat of her body against mine sears me, burning a path right to my fucking heart, lighting me up from the inside out.

I crush my mouth to hers in a bruising kiss, pouring every ounce of pent-up desire into it. Every fucking second of longing. Of denial.

She gasps against my lips, but she doesn't push me away. Hell no. She kisses me back just as fiercely, her fingers sinking into my hair—tugging, demanding more.

She's sweet, so damn sweet. Not even the salty taste of the tears on her lips masks that underlying sweetness. I groan like a dying man, licking into her mouth to steal every fucking taste of it for myself. I want it in the back of my throat and in my lungs, so when she isn't in my arms trying to climb my body, I'm still breathing her in, tasting her on my tongue.

We stumble backwards into her room, a tangle of groping hands and drugging kisses. I can't get enough of her. I break from her mouth only to go back again and again like an addict in need of his next hit, his next high. And every goddamn one sends another jolt straight through my veins to my cock.

I kick the door shut behind us, not giving a single fuck who might see or hear. Let them. It's not going to stop what's happening here. At this point, I'm pretty certain not even the end of the fucking world could stop what's happening here.

She's in my head, in my veins, racing straight for my fucking heart.

"You want me, don't you, baby?" I rasp against the velvet skin of her throat.

She shudders in my arms, a breathy little moan escaping her kiss-swollen lips.

"No," she lies, stubbornly clinging to her defenses as if they'll save her. As if I don't intend to lay waste to every fucking one. But her body tells a different story. I feel her melting against me—soft and pliant and so fucking perfect it hurts.

I bite her throat, a tiny punishment for her defiance. I want the truth, not more lies. One way or another, I intend to get it."Don't lie to me, Tempest," I warn, rolling one hard little nipple between my thumb and forefinger. "I'll punish you for it and love every goddamn second."

Her amber eyes flash molten gold as she meets my gaze. Defiant. Challenging. "Then do it, Dalton. Punish me."

Fuck. I'm so hard it hurts, need pounding through me like a second heartbeat. I crush my mouth to hers in another savage kiss, pushing her up against the wall, pinning her to it. She's trapped. Right where I want her.

---