Page 75 of Hero Unbound

There was something weighing on Eva that she needed to get out. He didn’t want to press or make it harder, so he hadn’t asked for details. When she’d told him this morning to come over this afternoon so they could talk, he thought he was finally going to find out whatever it was that she needed to say.

Naked Eva, with a sexy pout on her face, was not what he’d been expecting. This was a complete one-eighty from how she’d been acting last night.

“Hi,” she said in a husky voice he almost didn’t recognize. “What took you so long?”

“I guess I didn’t realize what was waiting for me here.”

She closed the distance between them. “I’ve been thinking about you all day. I’ve been thinking about this all day.”

She wound her arms around his neck and ground her body up against him. He couldn’t help but let out a groan as his hands landed on her slim hips. “Why don’t you let me take a shower real quick. I taught a couple self-defense classes this afternoon, so I’ve been rolling on the ground and getting sweaty.”

“No.” She pressed her lips against his, her hand fisting his hair and pulling almost to the point of pain. “I want you to take me right here. Bend me over the table and take me hard.”

Theo froze, trying to measure exactly what was going on. On the one hand, he had no problem doing exactly what she’d just asked. On the other hand…something wasn’t right here.

She let go of him and stepped back, that sultry smile still on her face.

“Evie…” He didn’t move closer. He wasn’t sure what to do.

“I want you. Is that so wrong?” She turned and walked the couple steps until she could place her hands on the huge dining room table. She arched her back and looked over her shoulder at him.

He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. The curve of her hips and back pressing her ass out like some damned beacon. His fingers itched to grab her and do exactly what she was asking for. He could barely drag his gaze away from the sight before him.

It was so sexy that it almost caused him to miss her eyes. Those beautiful green eyes were almost blank. He stiffened.

“Take me, Theo. Hard. Fast. I want it rough.”

His chest tightened. She hadn’t asked for rough and hard like this since the first night. Hadn’t acted like this since the first night. The opposite, in fact. In all their lovemaking, the slower and more thorough they were, the more passionate she became.

Not that their lovemaking was always tender and gentle—they’d definitely had their wild moments. In the hot tub. The back of his truck when they couldn’t wait even the ten minutes it would’ve taken to get home. Up against a tree a couple of afternoons ago. Hell, right here on this very table.

But not like this. There was always a connection between them. Even when their lovemaking was hard and fast, it was connected and intimate. Not like what she was asking for now.

With those blank, distant eyes.

He forced his gaze away from her body and up to her face, but not before he noticed the nasty scrape on her elbow. He stepped over to her, careful not to touch her in any way except to cup her arm. “Hey, what happened here?”

For the first time, real emotion blinked into her gaze. He couldn’t read exactly what it was—fear?confusion?—but it was better than the blankness.

“I— I—” She could barely seem to get words out. “I fell. Every day, I’m always so clumsy.”

That goddamn phrase again. He hadn’t heard that sentence in over a week. Something had triggered Eva. Something bad enough that she was reverting to whatever that place was in her mind where she went when she wasn’t in full mental control of herself.

Theo’s hands tightened into fists, and he had to force himself to relax them. He didn’t knowwhatwas going on, but he knew he needed tohandlethis delicately.

Had she been triggered by the thought of whatever conversation she kept saying they needed to have? If so, he would rather go his whole life without knowing what she washiding. Not if telling him was exacting such a high price from her.

“Hey,” he whispered. She was still gripping the table, so he ran a hand gently down her neck and back, reaching for her fingers with the other hand. “Let’s take a breath for a second.”

She still wouldn’t turn around. “I want you. I want to have sex with you.”

At least she’d dropped the wordshardandrough.

“And I want to have sex with you too.” He kept his voice low, calm. “Pretty much every minute of every day. But more than that, right now, I’d just like to hold you. It’s been a long day, and I could really use your arms around me for a few minutes. Is that okay?”

“You—you had a bad day?” Her voice was sounding less like the sultry siren and more like the Eva who had entrenched herself in his heart.

He hadn’t had a particularly bad day, but if this topic was bringing her back from whatever mental place she’d been, he was willing to use it.

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