Page 124 of I Am Sin

Emotion is coiled in my belly, threatening to spring forth into something I may not be ready for.

That doesn’t matter. Because it’s here.

It’s here, and I can’t tamp it down any longer.

Feelings, such strong feelings.

They have me anchored in place—unable to stop what’s inevitably going to happen.

It’s happened before, and already I know this time will be that much more passionate, that much more primal.

I reach toward him, brush the shirt off his broad muscled shoulders.

My gaze automatically drops to his pierced nipples, the massive dragon tattoo covering nearly his whole chest. The colors as they swirl together like fire and ice.

That’s what Dragon is, after all. He’s fire and he’s ice.

He’s capable of so much more than even he knows. He’s a hard and passionate lover, yet he holds back.

My God… What if he didn’t?

Will he truly tie me up the way he says he wants to? Will he spank my ass until it’s red and hurting?

I want to know.

I want to see Dragon unleashed.

Dragon on fire.

Not the Dragon who holds himself in ice, who is afraid to let his true self out.

He thinks he’s sin. He thinks he’s evil.

But I don’t believe it. I believe this man is good inside. I believe he did give that prostitute money, and for his good deed, he was punished.

“Why?” I ask softly.

Dragon blinks a few times, and the glaze in his eyes dissipates. “What do you mean? Why haven’t I left?”

I shake my head. “Why did you give that young woman money? If you had just gone away, if you hadn’t been moved by her pleas—which were probably lies, by the way—you could have avoided getting arrested.”

He doesn’t respond, not that I expected him to.

I stand up. “I want to understand, Dragon. I want to understand you.”

Dragon casts his gaze to the floor. “No, you don’t.”

“Who are you to tell me what I want and don’t want?” I place my hand over my heart. “If I say I want to understand, then I want to understand. Not everyone lies.”

He shakes his head. “I’m not saying you’re lying, Diana. I think youthinkyou want to understand. But if you could see inside my head—if you could see the darkness that’s inside me—you wouldn’t say that.”

Christ, are we on this hobby horse again?

“Tell me one thing. That’s all I ask. Why did you give her money?”

He draws in a breath, stares at me a moment, and then— “She reminded me of someone, okay? Satisfied?”

“Who did she remind you of?”

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