Page 39 of Toxic Vengeance

“I know. But I was playing with fire every time I met you. I knew it, and kept going back for more anyway. I won’t make that mistake again.”

Refusing to accept that, dying to touch her, Zack took her by the upper arms and turned her to face him. “Then tell me you don’t still feel it,” he challenged, holding her gaze. “Tell me you don’t still want me.”

“It doesn’t matter what I want.”

The hell it didn’t. And that wasn’t a no.

Desperate to get through to her, break through that barrier she hid behind, he cupped her head in his hands and covered her lips with his. She stiffened, her hands going to his chest, but instead of pushing him away she gripped the tops of his shoulders and kissed him back.

It was like a chemical reaction. Just like it had always been between them.

Zack groaned and hauled her to him, pulling her as close as he could while he slanted his mouth across hers, relearning the feel and taste of her. She didn’t hold back, her fingers sliding into his hair as her tongue stroked his, those firm curves plastered to the front of him, making him hard all over.

It had been so long. So damn long since he’d been able to feel her, lose himself in her. The sensual, urgent way she kissed him set his whole body on fire.

“Eden,” he groaned. “I missed you so goddamn much. It tore me up not knowing what happened to you, or what I’d done wrong.”

“Stop talking,” she gasped out.

No way. He’d bottled this up for long enough. Now that he had her in his arms again he couldn’t hold it in. “I want to lay you down right here,” he said between kisses. “Want to strip you and pin you right here in the grass and make you come with my tongue.”

Eden moaned and kissed him harder. She’d never been shy about what she wanted with him. God he missed the way she let go for him, the sounds she made. He would never get enough.

His hands moved over her restlessly, greedy for the feel of her, mapping every curve. Knowing the truth about her had only made the hunger worse.

He wrapped an arm around her hips, locking her to him, his other hand now splayed in her thick curls. This was real. No matter what they’d pretended before, this amazing heat and connection between them was real and all the more intense because they both knew the truth about each other now.

She rubbed against him, seeking more. Zack skimmed his hand up her ribs to cup a breast, triumph soaring inside him when she arched and gasped, momentarily breaking the kiss.

They stared at each other, faces inches apart. He drank in the arousal on her face, the way her eyes slid shut when he rubbed his thumb across the nipple straining against the thin fabric of her sweater and bra.

“Zack,” she whispered, gripping his hand as she pressed her forehead to his shoulder.

The vulnerable edge to her voice pierced him. He gathered her to him, held her close while he kissed her temple, her cheek, the side of her jaw. Her body was taut with a pent-up need he would kill to satisfy, her breathing ragged. “What?” he murmured.

Her fingers dug hard into his back, her short nails pricking him through his shirt. “I can’t think straight around you. I can’t do this again.” She sounded miserable. “I can’t afford to be that weak again.”

He closed his eyes and hugged her tighter, the protective, possessive part of him refusing to let go. “I want you back, Eden. I’ll never stop wanting you back.”

“Wanting’s not enough, and you don’t even know me.”

Yes, he did. She’d just told him he’d seen a side of her that no one else ever had. And that meant everything. “Then let me in so I can.”

She made a frustrated sound and pressed her head harder into his shoulder, her breath creating a warm patch on his shirt. “I’ve never…”

“Never what,” he whispered, wishing he knew what to say, what to do that would make her let go of her fear and mistrust and open herself to him again.

“Only one person really ever knew me, and now she’s dead because of it.”

Her handler. Zack caught her chin in his fingers and tilted her head up until she looked at him. “I’m not afraid, Eden. I want to know you. Everything, good and bad.”

Her half-smile was sardonic, a little sad. “You might not like what you find out.”

He liked both versions of her, for different reasons. The sweet, sexy woman he’d known before, and this strong, fierce one before him now. “Give me a chance. Giveusa chance.”

She searched his eyes, the torment in her face tying him in knots. Time and actions were the only thing that would ever convince her he was for real, but with everything so crazy right now, he might not have much time left to show her.

Eden tugged him back down for another kiss, and he stopped thinking at all. A slow, heartfelt kiss full of so much tenderness, heat and longing it made his heart clench. Because there was no misunderstanding what it meant.

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