Page 69 of Unwrapping Deviance

Cold, numbing fingers cross over the flame of happiness, crushing the spark in my chest.

I doomed him.

How could I be so stupid?

I slap the water off, grab my towel and bolt, still dripping into the bedroom to find the door open and Daniel still on my bed. His hair is damp strands pushed back from a freshly shaven face. He’s no longer in his boxers, but dark jeans and a long-sleeved top. Everything about him is perfect and devastating, and I want him so badly it hurts.

But I’ve already caused so much damage I have to fix.

“I take it back.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

MIRA

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He doesn’t ask for clarification. “No.”

Annoyance hardens my tone. “You don’t even know what—”

“I love you.”

My heart tightens in my chest, a cruel blossom of warmth I don’t deserve. “Stop it.”

He shakes his head. “Not saying the words out loud won’t make them less true, Mira. I can tell you you’re the reason I wake up in the morning. I could tell you the only thing that gets me through the day is coming home to you. It would be the same thing. I love you is just an encompassing term for everything you mean to me.”

Tears, hot and relentless carve down my cheek, plummet off my chin. “Stop.”

The corner of his mouth quirks. “You first.”

He knows that’s not possible. He knows I would die before I stop loving him. He’s not playing fair.

“Daniel.”

“Come here, baby,” he says, eyes fixed on the hand I have twisted in the soft material of my towel, keeping it in place.

I go to him because I’m weak and I need his arms around me when I’m adrift in chaos and pain. And he doesn’t disappoint. They pull me to him, to everything I love and I am immediately overwhelmed by that rich, spicy scent of him that makes me forget everything.

He’s wearing that damn cologne. It’s on his freshly scrubbed skin, coming off him in a subtle hint that makes my head swimwith desire. My body thrums with the need to nuzzle every inch of his skin and breathe him in.

When he captures my waist and drags me into the wide V between his knees, I sway straight into his chest. My fingers forget their grip on the only thing covering me and move to slide over his shoulder and around the back of his neck. I graze his sharp jawline with my nose and inject him deep into my soul.

The rough tips of eight fingers glide the bumps running down my bare spine in gentle strokes. I’m well aware that I’ve lost my towel; the damp fabric is a heavy puddle around my ankles. I’m aware that I’m standing in his arms completely naked and wet in a way that has nothing to do with my shower. I’m aware I’m ready to crawl into his lap and ride him if he doesn’t stop touching me.

“You might want to leave,” I murmur into the warm skin of his neck.

His mouth skims the slope of my shoulder. “Do you want me to leave?”

My chuckle is humorless, shaky. “No, but ... I need...”

The fingers dip lower. They extend across the curves of my ass and squeeze just hard enough to arch me up onto my toes and flood me with a new rush of heat.

“Need what, baby girl?”

I’m relieved my face is firmly pressed into the side of his neck, away from his eyes when I have to tell him.

“My toy.”

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