Page 184 of Never Fall for an Angel

I push through the doors into the hall leading to his bedroom, scrubbing at the angry tears that slip down my cheeks.

“Like what?” I whirl on him, finding him only a foot away from me. “Like how I’m not enough? Not impressive? Not happy enough for you? Don’t fit into your little protective box where you can lock me in your big fancy lodge in case you decide to show up?”

Shoving at his chest, I turn to storm away, but his arm wraps around my waist, tugging me back to his front and locking anarm around me. His hand covers my mouth, and I dig my nails into the skin, hoping to God it draws blood. He deserves it for what he said to me.

Leather, whiskey, and the forest coats my senses, and despite myself, my body yearns for him. To feel him the way he was last night. Dominating yet controlled. Needy, like I’m breakable, but his to break.

He turns me around, his hand sliding up to fist my hair and tug my head back at a harsh angle. His eyes consume me, his lips so close I can taste him. His lips skim mine, and we share each other’s air. Neither of us moving.

Then he releases me, and I stumble away from him while he scrubs a hand over his face.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” he rasps. “I can’t fucking think around you.”

Silence falls over us, bitterness coiling inside me like a venomous snake. His breathing is ragged, matching my own, and when his eyes meet mine, there’s something dark and pissed off and bleeding.

And I realize he doesn’t want me to leave.

In fact . . . he’s desperate for me to stay.

“Why did you leave me in LA?”

“Mila—” he grits, trying to evade the question again.

“No,” I growl through the tears in my eyes. “You married me. Then you left.” My voice cracks, and his eyes come to mine, and his jaw ticks, his gaze flaring with heat before it’s quickly masked by something else. Something dark and wounded.

That makes two of us.

“I loved you. I would have done anything for you. You made me think you cared, and then you left like I meant nothing to you.”

Still no answer.

“Goddammit, Christian, answer me!”

“You want to know why I left?” he chuckles darkly, and the bitter laugh sends a shiver down my spine.

“Yeah, I do.”

“I left because your mother asked me to.” I freeze, the weight of his words sliding over me. “Because she told me to stop Parker from marrying you off and I made sure no one would ever get the chance.” He takes a step towards me, throwing his arms out at the sides. “You think I didn’t care. But you fail to realize you meant fucking everything to me. Still fucking do.”

I fall back a step. My mother . . . My mother made him leave.

Christian takes another step towards me. “You are the only fucking thing I have ever wanted,” he growls. “Fuckingyou.You can think you care about me? I promise you’ve never been in this as deep as me.”

I blink, and a tear slips down my cheek. Christian watches it’s descent like he despises it.

“So, why did you marry me, then?”

“I don’t know, Mila,” he growls, throwing his arms out at his sides. “Maybe because I’m fucking in love with you?” My heart bottoms out in my chest, each heartbeat ticking like the hands of a clock. “Did you ever stop to consider that?”

I open my mouth to speak, but the words get stuck on my tongue.

“You can’t mean that?”

“I can’t?” he challenges, his voice rough like sandpaper. “You want to know the truth, Mila? I knew a man like me would never get a woman like you to marry him unless he found a way to cheat the system. So, I fucking did. Was it wrong?” He shrugs. “Idon’t fucking know. I know it kept you from a far worse fate and that’s what I cared about.”

“You were engaged—” I breathe, unable to finish the sentence.

He steps towards me, and I back up to the wall. His body cages mine and the heat rolls off him in waves, sending a shiver up my spine. His heavy scent is intoxicating as it slips over me, and my nipples harden to sharp points.

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