Page 230 of Ignite

“Let me worship you now. Let me show you the other side to me. Let me take care of you.”

I can see she’s holding back tears.

I hold my breath, waiting for her answer.

“Okay. Deal.” She smiles softly.

And my heart nearly beats out of my chest.

I’ve got the rest of the night to try to show her how much I care.

How much I fucking need her more than I need air to breathe.

This is the real us.

And I will worship every inch of her until she realizes just how much she means to me. Until she knows how sorry I am for ever hurting her.

That Conan is gone.

I need to prove to her the man I can be.

I roll over,expecting to find Hallie to pull against my chest. But I’m met with empty sheets.

Panic claws through me.

I sit up and switch on the side light.

And there she is—tugging on one of my sweaters, looking like she just got caught sneaking out of class.

“Are you really slipping out in the middle of the night like I don’t mean anything to you?”

I can’t hide my irritation now.

She won’t give me a chance to explain, but she’ll let me fuck her senseless.

She let me make love to her, for hours, until our bodies gave out.

She let me believe there was a small chance of redemption.

“You don’t,” she fires back.

I flinch but try to hide how much that hurts.

I know what she’s doing.

She knows last night felt too real, and she’s scared.

Scared to let me back in.

And I don’t blame her.

But it doesn’t make this any less agonizing.

“Turn around and look me in the face and tell me that, trouble. Tell me how much you hate me. Because last night, you couldn’t get enough of me. So say it again, and I’ll believe you. I’ll leave you alone.”

I regret the words the second they leave my mouth.

I can’t leave her alone.

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