Page 112 of Untamed

“I can’t—this is too much.” I shake my head, stepping back from the window. I can’t stop shaking.

I can’t stop the flood of memories that assault me. It seems the harder I push them away, the harder they attack.

I’m brushing tears from my eyes and shaking my head.

Maybe book boyfriends are safer.

Maybe being alone is safer.

“Ember.” Rodion watches me carefully, his hands hanging loose by his sides.

I can’t look at him. Not now.I can’t.

Because the thoughts claw at my mind with vicious pain.

What if Shawn really is watching?

What if I’ve made a terrible mistake?

What if thereisno escape?

I swipe my phone off the nightstand, ignoring Rodion’s look of concern. The messages stare back at me, but there’s another now.

White always suited you

But I preferred you in red.

Rodion steps closer. “What does it say?”

I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“The hell it doesn’t.”

I turn away. “You can’t just fix things by… byclaimingme, Rodion.”

A part of me fears I’m pushing him away because I don’t know what to do with all these pent-up fears, and he’s the closest target.

Another part tells me I have to test him; I have to make sure this is real before it all goes up in smoke and vapor.

“That’s not what this is, Ember.”

“I’m not just a prize you can parade around.” I back toward the door. The words hang in the air between us when I remember what he said before.

“Wait. When you first came in here. You said something about my heart rate?” He looks away and clenches his jaw. “Rodion. How do you know that?”

With a frown, he reaches for his phone and shows me. “Biometrics, of course.”

“You checkmy biometrics?” It seems like a violation.

“Of course. How else was I supposed to know you were okay when I wasn’t there?” He says it as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.

Seriously?

I stare, abashed. “What else have you been checking you conveniently decided not to tell me about?”

Rodion smirks, slipping his phone into his jacket pocket. His eyes hold that infuriatingly hot glint, the one that makes it impossible to tell if he’s being playful or deadly serious.

The one that made me fall in love.

---