Page 34 of Dash

“Agreed.”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. We faced off across the room. I was still having trouble accepting his help, the fact that he was willing to risk his own life to help me.

“Help me understand.” I paused to gather my courage. “Why did you come back? Knowing that your life would be in danger, why risk it?”

“I had to.”

“Father said in his letter he knew you were going to agree to do this. How did he know?”

“Your father was a shrewd man.” He braced on his cane. “He knew me. Hell, he tried to raise me. He always knew that if he appealed to my sense of duty, I’d do what he asked of me.”

“Yeah, your overdeveloped sense of duty has been always been… well, overdeveloped.” I hesitated then forced myself to ask. “Father mentioned in the letter that you had three good reasons to do as he said. What are they?”

He settled his hands over the cane’s pewter knob and looked away. “I’m doing it for Nix, of course. I gave him my word.”

“How so?”

“I promised him that if something ever happened to him, I’d take care of his sisters. It was a pact we made when we joined the Marines, and I won’t break it now.”

“If that’s the case, then the second reason you’re here is for my sisters,” I ventured, inching forward. “Am I right?”

“You’re correct.” His biceps rippled as he squeezed the cane’s knob. “It’s also why I need to find them, stat.”

“Weneed to find them,” I reminded him. “What about the third reason?”

“The third reason is the main reason, the most important one of all.”

“Let me guess,” I said. “To protect the Astor empire and legacy?”

“Hell, no.” The sadness that gleamed in his eyes made me want to cry. “That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?”

“You don’t know?” he narrowed his gaze, meeting my stare. “You really don’t know?”

“I… um…” The way his eyes took in my bare legs and liftedto my lips had my pulse racing and my pussy squeezing. For lack of words, I ended up shaking my head.

“I see.” His voice caressed my ears, tantalizing the whole of me. “Then let me show you.”

Chapter Nine

Thena

I froze in place, one woman, fractured into three. Part of me was grateful for his help. The second part wanted to confront his betrayal once and for all, to unleash my old anger on him until he fell to his knees and begged for forgiveness. The last part of me had darker and more urgent desires. Dash was looking at me as if he wanted to drink me. His gaze laid bare the need flaring between my legs and the flames spreading through me.

His eyes dropped down to my chest. His stare sharpened my nipples and swelled my clit. My heart picked up speed and my desire for him was so strong I wavered on my feet.

Don’t give into him. He’ll destroy you all over again.

I made a superhuman effort to follow my good advice, but my cells continued to vibrate with unbridled desire and my juices flowed in anticipation of the forbidden. Planting his cane with each step, he approached me carefully, slowly, as if giving me all the time in the world to escape. Or to say no.

But I didn’t escape. I didn’t say no. Instead, as he neared, the color in his eyes lightened. I got caught in the gleam of his eyes, lost in the whiskey hues that illuminated his irises, an extraordinary shift I’d always associated with lust and desire. My skin rippled with goosebumps. My body trembled with urgency. My mind cried in alarm but, eager and needy, my treacherous body leaned toward him. I fell into his orbit even before he touched me.

With a last step, he closed the small gap between us and stopped before me, radiating need, exuding desire, warming the air between us with his heat. He towered above me, tall, fit, and gorgeous. When he took a deep breath, his chest strained the hold of his T-shirt. My eyes dropped to the spot where hiserection tested the strength of his zipper.

Lord, help me.

I remembered the pleasure we’d discovered together, the days and nights I’d spent connected to him, full with his passion. An erotic tremor started in my pussy and spread through me, challenging my knees’ ability to keep me upright.

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