Page 7 of Rebellion

They were all about business.

Sofia was pleasure.

Well. You wish she was.

He hated that she was keeping things from him. What if she needed help? Would she tell him if something was wrong? Or would she hide it?

This isn’t your business.

She’s not yours.

No, she belonged to that Russian bastard, Oleg. That asshole wasn’t worthy of being a pile of dog poop at her feet, let alone being in her bed every night.

That thought made him feel ill.

Face it. You’re jealous.

Jealous of the fact that he gets to be with her and you don’t.

Colm took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He reached out to grab her wrist without thought. He tried not to touch her. It was too much of a temptation. Because once he touched her, he didn’t know whether he’d be able to stop. If he’d be able to keep to the fragile boundary that they’d created between them.

She belongs to someone else.

And he really didn’t seem to care about that much.

Sofia hissed with pain, jumping away with a yelp, shocking him.

What the fuck was that?

She turned, holding the wrist he’d lightly touched with her other hand. The fear on her face floored him. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe.

Was she scared of him?

“Fuck, Sofia, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to touch you that hard. I would never... You know I could never hurt you.”

She just stared up at him, her shoulders hunched, her breathing too fast and shallow. And he realized he wasn’t asking her the most important question of all.

“Are you all right?” he whispered. He wanted to grab hold of her hand to inspect her wrist for bruises.

But he held himself back, scared of making things worse.

Fuck. When was the last time he’d feared something? He couldn’t remember. But this woman had the power to make him afraid, to bring him to his knees.

To make him do anything she desired... give her whatever she wanted.

Right now, she probably wants you to leave her alone.

The one thing he didn’t want to give her.

Why wasn’t she speaking, though?

Fuck. What should he do?

“Sofia?” he spoke softly, not wanting to startle her. “Did I hurt you? I’m so sorry,Mo leannan.”

Crap.

Did he really just call her ‘my sweetheart?’