Page 26 of Twisted Pact
“Tell me what you need.”
“More. I need more.”
His hand drifts down my stomach until it finds the waistband of my jeans. Two fingers flick the button open, then ease the zipper down. His touch is rough and sure, with every glide leaving a trail of heat that coils tightly inside me.
And then, he stops.
“What?” I breathe.
He pulls away and sits up. “We can’t do this. I’m here to protect you, Zaika.And this isn’t protection.”
“What are you talking about? We were just?—”
“I know what we were doing,” he says, “but it’s wrong.”
I push up, tugging my shirt down with shaking hands. “You’re the one who kissed me.”
“And I shouldn’t have.” He exhales hard. “If I’m going to keep you safe, I need my head clear. Getting involved with you clouds my judgment.”
I let out a disbelieving laugh. “So, this is about control again? You think pushing me away gives you that?”
“By not making this situation more complicated than it already is.”
He stands with his hands raised in surrender like he’s afraid I’ll do something reckless.
And with the ache still throbbing between my legs, I just might.
“You’re here because someone’s threatening your family,” he says. “Because being with me paints a target on your back. Adding sex to that equation is stupid. Reckless.”
The rejection slices deeper than it should. “Fine. Then I’m leaving.”
He moves fast, crossing the room in two long strides. “No, you’re not.”
“You just said?—”
“I said we can’t sleep together.” His voice is low. “I didn’t say a damn thing about letting you walk into danger.”
I stand and head for the door, but he’s there before I can reach it.
We square off in the middle of the living room, both of us breathing hard—for entirely different reasons now.
“Move,” I demand.
“Sit down.”
“I’m going to my classes and my advisor meeting. I’m going to live my life whether you like it or not.”
His jaw clenches, and his eyes burn into mine. “The hell you are.”
I shove past him, but his hands clamp my shoulders and hold me in place.
“Let me go, Alexei.”
“Not happening.”
“You can’t keep me here forever.”
“I can keep you here as long as it takes to keep you alive.”
