Page 85 of The Art of You

“Who makes you come from now on is most definitely the second. And in case I’m not being clear . . .”

That cliffhanger was delivered brilliantly. The man was a quick study. Forget shivers rolling only down my spine, they encompassed every square inch of my body. “Only you?” Was that his way of letting me know without directly saying it that he wanted us to move forward?

Instead of his hand, which I’d have preferred, fear clutched the front of my throat. This was his version of anIn case something happens to mespeech before riding off to battle. No, no, no. There would be no leaving me. No operating solo.

“You’re good. You—you had me there,” I sputtered, then pushed away from his chest to try and break the spell he’d put me under. “But, no.”

One brow lifted in question. “No, what?”

I spun away from him, clawing at my hair as I tried to convert the mush he’d made of my brain into something solid and usable. He was a damn good interrogator. But unlike mybrothers who preferred to play with knives in getting people to open up, Hudson definitely took the bees-with-honey approach to get people to bend to his will.

“You’re not leaving me.” I moved the gun box for the 9mm to the side and sat down with aharumphof frustration falling from my lips.

“I’ll come back for you.” He’d said those words so innocently, and I latched on to that “for you” in hopes it meant what I wanted it to. That we’d be together one day. Not riding off into war, but into the sunset.

Just maybe not on a horse. My ass had a long memory, and it’d yet to forget the literal pain riding one had caused me.

That thought helped me move past the darkness so I could remind him this was a two-way street. “I’m sorry, but if you get control over my safety, and my orgasms, I get control over yours. Works both ways. Fair is fair.” I stared at the floor in a daze, chewing the side of my lip.

“You do, huh? Is that how this works?” The touch of humor there had my attention, and he reached for my arm and urged me to stand before him.

“If by ‘how this works,’ you mean a relationship, then yes.”

I had to stick to my guns so he didn’t take off by himself with actual ones. Worried he’d melt me with one look and have my nerves folding out from under me lightning quick again, I hurriedly added, “I won’t let you become a damsel, or whatever the dude version is, in distress.”

Watching him fight a smile gave me hope. Perhaps I was managing to gain strategic ground in our little war, edging closer to claiming a victory. It was time to swoop in and remind him he wasn’t alone.

“You’ll go, get yourself in trouble, then we’ll have to swoop in and save your ass at the last minute. It’ll be soooo mucheasier if we just have your back from the beginning, don’t you think?”

He hung his head at that.

“You know I’m right. This isn’t like the books you read. This is real life. And if you take off like some stubborn lone wolf, there’s no guarantee it ends well. Do you really want to be responsible for single-handedly ruining my life?” I’d gone from a teasing tone to about to cry in the space of a second. “Because if something happens to you, I’m done.” Breathing hard, tears pricked the corners of my eyes as I considered that horrific possibility. “You’re not just Constantine’s best friend. You’re mine. And maybe love comes and goes for people, but a friendship like ours is forever, and I?—”

“Fuck.” Hands flying to my face, he matched my deep breaths and rasped, “I’m trying so hard not to love you, and you’re making it so goddamn difficult for me.”

His mouth fell over mine, and my lips parted like a sea for him, allowing him safe passage right to the kingdom of my heart.

His hands went from my face down to my arms as he ravished me with his hungry kisses, letting me taste the wordlovehe’d dropped.

Pressed up against him, gathered in his arms, the towel dropped from the friction between us, and he stole his lips away from mine and stared at my eyes as he stood naked before me.

“Stop trying so hard not to do something you so clearly want to do,” I whispered, my voice nevertheless still breaking. I wasn’t sure why he was fighting it so much, especially now that he’d cleared the air around his past and Constantine gave his blessing, but the fight was still there. Right in the way he was staring at me now, and it scared me. “Just love me instead.”

His forehead tightened as he thumbed away a tear. Heopened his mouth, but shut it when the sound of a text from somewhere in the room chimed.

He bowed his forehead to mine at the interruption. “That could be Alfie with a location.” His low, guttural voice ripped through me.

“You should check it, then,” I said between sniffles as he skated his hands down to my wrists, then let me go and moved backward with hesitant steps.

As much as I wanted to remain tethered to this moment, that fear in his eyes pulled me in with the same impact. So much so, I couldn’t even shamelessly check him out when he knelt to pick up the towel.

He tightened it around his hips and went for his phone. “It’s him. He sent me coordinates.”

I turned to see him typing, probably checking for where Alfie planned to try and steal him away from me.

“Looks like I’m going to Spain today.” His words gave me whiplash, jerking my head up in shock.

“Doesn’t that sound problematic? Trappy-like given that we now know the terrorists are probably going to a backup plan to free their boss. And that the CIA may let them so they can try and swoop in and grab them all?” My hand flew to my chest and over my heart. “Probably in Spaaain.” I put as much emphasis as possible on that word in case my guy wasn’t thinking clearly. His head still misplaced in the guilt-blame gutter. Plus, my sassy mouth usually did better at getting through to him than my rational one did.

---