Page 34 of Without a Trace
“You like this, don’t you, Sunshine?”
Trace’s voice cut through the night, low and sharp—almost bored if not for the way his eyes looked like they might burn holes through me.
I raised a brow. “Like what?”
“This,” he said, gesturing vaguely between the three of us. “The game. The power.”
“I like wine,” I said innocently, sipping again.
Alden let out a breath—hard enough to stir the surface of the water. “Don’t pretend you don’t feel it,” he muttered. “It’s always been yours, you just haven’t figured out how to use it yet.”
Something in Traces expression dropped—like Alden had said too much.
“I never pretend,” I said, letting my fingers trail along the water’s surface like a dare. My hand drifted, slow and unhurried, until it brushed against Alden’s chest. Just enough to count.
Trace shifted, tension tight in his shoulders, eyes tracking every breath I took.
“Alright,” I said, eyes half-lidded. “My turn again.”
They were already bracing.
“What’s one thing you’ve imagined doing to me,” I said softly, “but never said out loud?”
Silence.
The kind that made the water feel deeper. More dangerous. As if it could pull you under.
Trace narrowed his eyes. “Scarlett.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“You want one?” Alden asked, voice rougher now, darker.
I tilted my head. “Desperately.”
He leaned forward just enough that his knee pressed to mine again. “Holding you down so you can’t keep running.”
My breath caught.
Trace’s knuckles whitened on the edge of the tub.
“I think about that too,” Trace said, quieter. “Only mine ends with you begging.”
I was not okay.
But I smiled like I was.
“You boys talk a big game,” I murmured, “for people who haven’t even kissed me.”
Alden’s hand slid beneath the water, curling around my wrist. Not rough. Not possessive. Just a quiet claim.
I leaned between them, heart pounding.
“You both want me,” I whispered. “Say it.”
Trace’s voice was sharp. “You know we do.”
And god, I did. Choosing them wouldn’t just change everything—it would break something open. As if some ancient part of me had been waiting for this moment all along.
