Page 170 of The Casualty of Us
It’s the difference between knowing she isn’t capable of stopping and seeing it firsthand.
“Fuck,” I choke out, frustration and fear mixing to tighten up my chest. “You promised you wouldn’t keep something—”
“And I won’t,” she jumps in quickly with panic playing out over her own face now. “I’m sorry, okay? I swear I will tell you if anything more comes—”
“More?”
Her mouth snaps closed with my demand before she whispers. “Give me till the end of Christmas break and I’ll tell you.” She drops her eyes, reaching out to give my tie a pull before looking back up to add, “I promise I’m not in any more danger than usual, and I’ll know by then if it’s even going to work.”
My brows drop at the request, the rest of my body strung tight and making me a tad more sympathetic to Ollie’s fit over her summer running habit because I’d sure as hell love to have one myself right now. The sick feeling in my stomach is telling me that whatever she’s hiding is probably going to have me wanting to hire fucking teams of additional bodyguards. But I also know this is probably the best I’m going to get without resorting to extreme methods, and even then…it’s hard to make O give before she’s ready.
In fact, I’m pretty sure the only breaking point in her is the one in her own head.
“Please.” She gives my tie another pull, vulnerability filling and leaving her eyes in the span of a blink that decimates me. “Please, Hayes, I swear to you, no more lies, but just give me till the end of the month.”
“Swear it on my life.”
Because she seems to care about that so much more than her own.
She pauses, breath hitching at my demand and making other parts of me perk up in appreciation of our proximity before the promise leaves her softly. “I swear.”
Fuck. “That’s my girl.”
I drop my lips to hers, brushing them quickly across and loving the way her eyes fall shut immediately. The way every part of her starts to soften when I press my body into hers before nipping at her bottom lip. Wanting to make sure she remembers the point here.
And her gasp does something to my panic that has me sayingfuck itas long as she remembers this.
I slide my cheek against hers while bringing my mouth to her ear. “I need you to care a little more about your life, okay?”
“Hayes—”
“No,” I growl, tightening my grip on her hip and dropping my lips down to press them against her pulse. “You are not allowed to play God with something that ismine.”
Sucking on the skin there and dying to make that very fucking visible as she gives a hard pull on my tie, breathing out shakily, “Hayes, fuck, please.”
I let the skin out with a pop, immediately teasing her. “Please what?”
Using my grip to press myself harder against her, she drops her head back against the bookcase and gasps, “Let’s go back to the dorm.”
“No.” I lift up until my lips are a breath away from hers and wait for her eyes to crack. “I am not asking you to change who you are or turn your back on that.” Using my free hand to snag her under the thigh and hook it over my hip, I make sure she can’t escape before lowering my voice to push. “I am asking you to take two seconds to remember your promise to me before throwing yourself directly into the path of whatever psycho you happen to come across.” Her mouth opens like she’s going toargue, and I nip at her lip again. “Because you don’t get to finally let me love you only to act like my fucking heart wouldn’t die right along with yours.”
Her eyes widen with shock, and I drop to my knees before she can get a second wind. Tossing her thigh up over my shoulder with the move and turning my head to kiss the inside of it before speaking against the skin there.
“You may have your needs, but I have mine, and making sure you’re okay will always be one of them.” I glance up at the breathy sound that fills the air to find her looking down at me with her chest rising sharply and the need pouring off her. “So we can do this the easy way or the hard way, but that’s my line in the sand.” I push her skirt up another few inches before running my mouth over the newly exposed skin. “No more secrets. No more lies.”
I bite down gently and breathe in something that’s all Ophelia. Something sharp and sweet that contradicts itself even as it somehow makes sense. Like wine and honey or pomegranates or something. Something that has my cock pulsing hard with the need to bury myself in her and not leave for the foreseeable future.
Since that’s not on the table, though…
I drop my hand from her hip to give her ass a light smack before looking back up to find a blatant curiosity in her eyes that has me pushing her skirt up those last couple of inches. Holding her gaze and loving the way her breathing turns jagged. Tempting me with all the possibilities of what would happen the longer I make her wait, but this isn’t the place for that game.
Doesn’t mean I’m not absolutely making the most of this, though.
“Now tell me and be honest.” I brush my lips across the front of her panties, and her heel digs into my back. “Do you want me to stop, baby?”
“Fuck, no—” She gasps, hand immediately going to my hair. “I mean, we could—” I bite down on the silk under my lips, and a soft noise leaves her as she drops her head back against the bookcase again. “No—don’t stop, don’t stop.”
I drop my eyes at the permission, finally looking down to find a pair of blue panties waiting that have a groan slipping from me. The wet spot I can see a little further down on the silkbecauseof me immediately making me take a deep breath—trying to fight for some semblance of control—but it only has me drowning further in her instead. Pushing me to reach up with the hand on her thigh and quickly pull her panties to the side. Exposing her to me and swallowing hard at the sight of her spread out vulnerably.
