Page 74 of She will Always be Mine

He shakes his head, never stopping the chase. He backs me into a corner, away from the bedrooms, so I can’t run and lock myself in there. Not that it would have stopped him.

The darkness has fallen and since I haven’t turned on the lights, the soft moonlight flickers over his chiseled face. I find it rather fitting for the hunter stalking his prey.

My eyes narrow when he pulls to a stop, a ghost of a smile appears on his lips but before I can take a relieved breath, my back collides against the couch.

Fuck! I’m trapped.

He beckons me closer with his finger and my stomach hollows while my core betrays me by clenching. Even silent, he’s every bit as commanding. Every bit as demanding. He doesn’t need words to make his presence known or to make people kneel at his feet.

My wide eyes look anywhere but at him, seeking a way to get away before his control snaps and he grabs me.

“Don’t deny me, Nyra. I told you I was going to be by your side the second you returned.” His voice comes out as a low growl. “No more hiding. No moredistance.”

I don’t think, I just run past him.

I don’t even make it two feet before I’m lifted off the ground by his arm around my waist. A soft cry slips past my lips as he pushes us against the glass wall of the balcony and lowers me until I’m standing on my own.

I don’t dare touch him, afraid I’ll never want to let go.

His musky and addictive scent invades all my senses. The familiarity making me feel nostalgic.

I shut my eyes when his hand circles my throat and tilts my head backward, pressing on my pounding pulse. His touch sears my skin and I want to moan at the pleasure he evokes. I want to cry from the satisfaction when I don’t flinch at his contact.

I was afraid Zain had broken me. Because until now, I felt repulsed by my own skin.

Only a single touch from Riaan and it all goes away.

I know it’ll return once I’m alone and that brings me sadness. I’m forgetting Riaan isn’t mine anymore. He can never be.

“Look at me.” He grip slides to my jaw and his fingers stroke my bottom lip, where I’m biting too hard. He rubs his fingers back and forth and soothes the sting away. I feel his forehead touch mine as he says so reverently and hungrily, “Please, baby.”

Each word is spoken with a soft kiss on my eyelids and I can feel his stare burning into mine. Hating the ache in his voice, I slowly open my eyes and meet his dark ones. Our breaths mingle as we become lost in each other.

It’s as if we’re seeing each other after years and not just two months.

“Do you know how much I’ve missed holding you like this? To have you in my arms again? To see your beautiful face that haunts me every night in my dreams?” His voice lowers, and I can hear the rough edge in it as he growls, “Did you really think I would waste another second in coming after you the moment I knew you were back? Tell. Me.”

“No. I knew you’d come,” I say as a tear slips down my cheek, but he roughly pushes it away. “But you shouldn’t have because nothing’s changed. I… I still can’t be with you, Riaan.”

“I used to love the sight of your tears as you shattered in my arms. But now,” He confesses, his lips curling downward as his thumb rubs another away, “I hate them more than anything. The only tears you deserve are the happy ones. You deserve to smile, laugh, and feel all the pleasure in the world, Nyra. Let me give them to you.”

His palm cups my face and my hands instinctively fist his shirt as my feet almost give out from under me at the impact of his vow. But he’s there to catch me so I can lean on him. Always close, and never leaving me alone. My body molds against his, fitting perfectly like I belong there.

Only, I can’t make my home in them.

Not with so many secrets and lies between us. It hasn’t even been minutes and I’m already losing my fight. I’m slowly crumbling.

All he has to do is make a tiny crack on the walls I’ve erected, and I feel my resolve shattering. Brick by brick.

Can’t let that happen.

I try to pull away, unable to handle his quiet intensity, but he tightens his hold.

“You need to leave,” I try to appear strong, but my voice doesn’t come out firm.

When I push against him again, harder this time, he slides his hand around the back of my neck in a tight grip. I feel his mouth inch lower to my ear, and I shudder when he nips my earlobe between his teeth.

All trace of softness vanishes from his body as he holds me hostage for another second before pulling back, staring down at me.

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