Page 55 of Stay for Me

A sound left me then, weak and uncontrollable, as I shifted my hips, moving my ass against his hardness slightly. He said nothing as he forced my head to the side, trailing the tip of his nose up and down the column of my neck, the brim of his hat brushing against my forehead.

“Kill for you, beautiful,” he rumbled, his lips against my neck now. “In a heartbeat.”

“Mags.” His name came out as a plea, the same plea I chanted in the dark hours of the night alone in my bed, when the only thing I had was my touch.

Now, he was here—touching me.

He was holding me.

“You drive me mad, Diana Harper,” he whispered, pressing his lips against my neck.

Mags just kissed me.

My body hummed, my nipples hard, aching to be touched. The inside of my thighs were slick, my panties having been soaked the moment I realized he was here. I lifted my hand, ready to wrap it around the back of his neck, but in a flash, his arm around my middle was gone. He caught my hand in the air and slowly removed his other from my neck.

Wait—what?

I stood there, frozen, as he moved to my front, his dark gaze colliding with mine. Before I could utter a single syllable, he lifted my arm and pressed his lips to the inside of my wrist, the moonlight bright behind him.

“Get inside,” he commanded gently against my skin.

“W-what?” I whispered in confusion.

His dark eyes flicked up as he pulled his lips away, releasing me. The sting of his kiss seeped into my blood, forever tainting it as my arm fell. In an effort to stop the knife from twisting further, I put both of my hands on my stomach, pressing in.

“What are you doing?” I rasped, my voice cracking.

Was he—was he leaving?

His harsh features were impossibly soft now, and his eyes—God, his eyes were filled with agony. His next words came out on a jagged, heartbreaking whisper. “Diana, I need you to go inside now.”

I peeled my eyes from him and looked down, the pain of his rejection hitting me, the knife twisting. As I tried to comprehend was just happened, my heart cried out, wanting another glimpse of what could be. The dream of us was ripped from my hands before I could get a taste.

“This was never going happen between us, was it?” I asked, my voice barely audible as an owl hooted in the distance.

I waited, God, Iwaited, holding onto the hope he would hook his fingers underneath my chin and take it all back. The cowboy didn’t make a sound, didn’t move an inch, but I could feel his eyes on me, watching me bleed out in front of him. I wrapped my arms around myself again, feeling more exposed than I should’ve.

When I finally mustered up the courage to look at him, he gave me an answer.

“No.”

Pressing my lips together, I nodded as the knife sank deeper into my chest. “Right.” I tried to swallow the shard of glass in my throat before I asked, “May have my phone and gun back please?”

His face was unreadable as he pulled out my things. He handed me my phone first, and then, he unloaded the gun as he held my eyes. He handed me the magazine first, then the gun. Tears fell down my cheeks as I took him in, the beauty of him, darkness and all.

“Do you feel it too?” I whispered, my full hands hanging down my sides now. I took a step towards him, silently daring him to answer.

His dark eyes flashed. “Diana—”

“Answer the question,” I ordered. His jaw tightened, but his eyes remained the same: warm and full of agony. More tears formed and fell, soaking my skin, trailing down my neck and over my collarbone. My next question came out desperate, pathetic, and broken.“Do. You. Feel. It?”

Nothing.

A forced laugh left me then, the sound bouncing off the porch walls. “So never, not once in the lastdecade, did you feel it?” I pressed, shaking my head in disbelief. This wasn’t one-sided, it couldn’t be. Not after the way he held me, caressed me. “The least you could do is give me the truth,” I challenged after another round of silence from him. “What about when you found me on the porch on Christmas years ago? Or when my tire popped and you found me?”

“Diana—”

“You have no idea,” I pushed out as a single tear landed on my cheek, “how badly I wanted to kiss you that day.”

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