Page 51 of Desire Me
“I—”
He counted to ten, and when she still didn’t speak, he leaned in. Rae’s breath washed over him as he brought his face close. “You want to know; I know you do. Tell me yes, Rae.”
“I—” She swallowed so hard he heard it. “I won’t believe you.”
“Yes, you will. You know why?”
She hesitated, her eyes wide. Shook her head.
“Because you can feel the truth every time I touch you,” he whispered inches from her mouth. “Because yes, I lied about us living together—to keep you safe—but I haven’t lied about how I feel. And my body can’t lie when I touch you. You know that.” He narrowed his eyes on her. “That’s why you’re running away, isn’t it? Not because of a lie. It’s because you’re afraid of what you feel.”
Rae scoffed weakly. “No, it’s definitely because of your lies.”
“Uh-uh.” He risked bringing his hand up, digging his fingers into the mass of her curls above her ear. The tug of his touch made her eyes soften with hunger. He felt the same softening around his aching heart. “It’s not. I know you’re afraid. You want the truth about the man in front of you, the man you want. And I can give it to you. But not if you run away.”
She shook her head again, pulling the tangled curls surrounding his fingers. “I can’t. I already—”
A buzz filled the room—the alarm. That was the signal for the gate. Dread and anger tangled in Saint’s chest just like his fingers in Rae’s hair. “What did you do, Rae?”
“I— I called Leah.”
How? But he didn’t ask; all he got out was, “Shit.”
The alarm sounded again, and Saint straightened. Carefully untangling his fingers, he stared hard into Rae’s eyes. “This isn’t over.”
“Yes, it is, Saint.”
“Bet me.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“How the hell did she contact you?” King asked as Remi led the way through Saint’s front door, his girlfriend, still in her scrubs, right on his heels.
Saint took a stand at the mouth of the foyer, blocking the way into the living room. He and Remi were about the same size, both of them heavy with muscle, and no doubt they would be evenly matched in a fight. Not that Saint wanted a fight. But that didn’t mean he wanted to give the biggest Agozi brother free rein of his house, either. “Why are you here?”
Leah stepped around her boyfriend when he stopped. “Do you really need to ask that?” She rolled her eyes. “Men can be such idiots.”
Remi looked amused. Come to think of it, the man seemed awfully at ease for someone Saint would have imagined to be on the offense after what Rae had likely told them.
Remi raised an eyebrow down at Leah. “Can we?”
Leah glared. “You damn well can.”
Remi shot her an indulgent glance before turning to Saint. “She’s not wrong.” He dropped the arms he’d crossed over his wide chest. “We need to talk.”
“I’m not involved with her attackers, Agozi.”
Leah snorted. Remi sobered. “If I thought you were, I wouldn’t be here alone. I’d have already attacked.”
“What?” Leah gasped. “He lied, Remi.”
“Calm down, lev sheli.”
Leah’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you ‘my heart’ me.”
Remi wrapped an arm around his girlfriend, drawing her stiff body against his side. “If he’d wanted to hurt her, he could have done so at any time. Think with your head, not your heart.”
It was the same argument they’d given Rae, but having an outsider see it had some of Saint’s tension easing.
