Page 117 of Twisted Revelations

57

Dax

Ipaced, my gaze fixed on her, blazing with heat as she sat with her arms folded across her chest. Her face was set in determination, letting me know my words would hit a stone wall. I decided to speak them anyway.

“Just because you’re afraid….” Her hand snapped up and cut my words off.

“Who’s afraid? Not me. It doesn’t make any sense for us to keep this train wreck we had going on so that it can keep scratching up the tracks. It was fun, different, damn sure interesting, but I need to get back to my life and so do you.”

She’d already put our relationship in the past tense. She was calling it nothing, but I was calling it what it felt like.

“Laura, I live three hours from here, in Dallas. I own a place here in Houston I’d move into. All you have to do is say the word.”

She didn’t answer. She just sat staring at me.

“Laura, I can get any woman I want, anytime. What I can’t get is the fire you set off in me. I can’t get anyone that’s not afraid to stand up to me and force me to view the world through different eyes. Someone that’s not afraid to kick my ego around a bit, so that I remember that I’m human.”

Confusion, interest, and maybe understanding were expressed on her face. I may have been getting through to her.

“No, Dax. I’m sticking to my decision,” she stated as her arms went back across her chest.

“You’re being hardheaded and selfish. Unwilling to stand outside your comfort zone because this is tough, hard, and requires feelings.” After a head shake and a deep sigh, I glared at her. She had me so damn frustrated I couldn’t see straight. “Why in the hell am I even wasting my time on an egotistical lesbian, who’d rather be the man than to allow one to give a damn about her?”

“Finally, you get the fucking point!” She yelled as she stood and stalked toward the door. I moved across the room like a vampire chasing new blood, stopping her before she walked out of the door. I’d intended to get her riled up, but I feared I’d screwed up.

“Laura, please. You know I didn’t mean any of that. I’m not ready to let you go.”

She spun to face me, her back to the door. “So, exactly how long will it take before you are ready? Two more weeks? In another month? I have no desire to be your Ms. Right Now. I have no intention of sitting around waiting for the moment you decide to move on, which is why I have no problem making the decision for you. I’ve appreciated the kind of attention and support you’ve given me, but there is no need for you to keep wasting your time or mine. Now, move your hand so I can walk out of this door.”

I lowered my face closer to her neck and my body instantly flooded with relief. The light mist of cotton candy, her pleasing scent, drifted up my nose. The welcoming warmth that she emitted wrapped around me and wouldn’t let go. A low sigh of contentment escaped before I lowered my head and allowed my mouth to hover just below her ear. “What you do to me Laura. You have no idea.” Just being close to her filled me with everything I’d never had: hope, care, understanding, lust, desire, and love. She gave me everything without even trying. I had to find a way to make her see reason.

“We aren’t just some fly-by-night fling, and you know it.” Her brow hitched at my words, but she remained silent. I fixed my eyes on hers. “I’ve never wanted any woman the way I want you, Laura. You’ve become the voice of my soul. You’re in my head, ruling my thoughts. Traces of you are moving through the blood that flows through my veins. The idea of losing you scares me more than anything. Does that sound like a man willing to give up the most meaningful thing he’s ever had in his life?”

I prayed she didn’t think I was running lines on her because I meant every word. It hadn’t occurred to me until I’d expressed them that I wanted Laura full-time and for good.

My words stilled her as she processed them. Her eyes softened for a split second and I smiled, assuming she’d embrace the possibility of us. However, her expression stiffened, and my heart sank. The sinking realization she’d never go for it hit me before her words did.

“Remove your hand from this door right now,” her threatening glare backed up her words.

I recognized that commanding tone she’d taken, so I removed my hand from the doorknob and lifted my arms from either side of her.

She snatched the door open and stalked out. A deep sigh escaped before I shook my head. Too much. I’d messed up and pushed too much on her, too soon. I’d blown up my chance of talking her into continuing a relationship with me. However, she could say what she wanted, but she sensed our connection as much as I did. She’d made me care about her. She made me respect her. She allowed me to find the beauty within her, and the passion and drive that drove her to act, do, and care for those who didn’t have anyone else.

I’d lost this battle with Laura, but I didn’t intend to lose the war. A wicked smile formed across my lips. I’d staked my claim the first night we slept together. Laura was mine, and I was hers, and she was clueless as to how far I was willing to go to prove it to her.

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