Page 7 of Love Me

“There’s more to it.” His fingers danced along my collarbone, tracing down to the center of my chest. “To punch the air out of someone. To cover their mouth, pinch their nostrils shut. To hold someone’s life in your hands.” He laid his palm flat between my breasts, staring at it, as if he could see my heart beating. As if he could make it stop.

“You’re starting to creep me out,” I said.

“That’s the point.” He flashed a mischievously playful smile, but I felt uneasy. He must’ve seen it in my face because he added, “Was that too much?”

“That kind of stuff scares me,” I said. Especially when it was compounded by the borderline harassing texts from your ex, I thought.

“I enjoy taking you to the edge of fear and safety,” he said. He squeezed my shoulders. “I want you to trust me with everything, even your life.”

It was hard to trust myself, let alone trust another person to take care of me. His green eyes peered down at me like I was his jewel, fragile and precious. I wanted to trust him.

He pulled me to my feet and our bodies pressed against each other. His cock stirred, twitching against me, and I closed my eyes, then stood on my toes to kiss him. His lips were powerful, sucking me in, making each word from the stranger slowly drip out into nonexistence. Out of respect, I would hear the stranger out, but I wouldn’t let it change my feelings about Owen. Not until I knew the truth. If there was something there, I would confront him about it before I made any decisions.

He pulled my hair in his fist and I moaned. A primal growl escaped his lips.

“You’d never do that to me, right?” I breathed. He pulled back from nibbling on my neck and gave me a questioning look. “Choke me,” I explained.

“Only if you wanted me to,” he said.

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