Page 64 of Savage Temptation

That smell needed to come off. The only scent she’d be wearing was mine.

Before she could protest, I stepped into the shower, too, standing an inch away from her, my towering figure protecting her from the cold water as it drenched me instead.

Jamie looked up into my eyes, my face dripping ice-cold water onto hers. I stared into her eyes for a moment, noticing the redness in them. She had been crying.

That notion stabbed at my heart, making me bite down on my tongue in punishment. I had done that.

Fuck she was beautiful in her vulnerability. The water had stripped us both, leaving only bare bones and honesty behind.

I couldn’t hold it any longer. With fury in my veins and something I couldn’t name in my chest, I kissed her. Water mingled with our need to consume each other as Jamie kissed me back with as much passion as I was kissing her. She tasted like damn sunshine and rainbows on a rainy day. Those clouds needed to scatter and I knew I was the one who had put them there.

“I’m sorry.” She repeated, her plump lips a little swollen from the force of our kiss. “I liked seeing the way you reacted to your brother being around me, and I didn’t stop him because of it. Seeing even a tiny hint of jealousy in your eyes just told me that I meant something to you. That’s all I wanted. To mean something to you. It was wrong, I know. Very, very wrong. I didn’t even consider your feelings, and I truly never expected it to escalate the way it did.” She blurted, almost without taking a breath. She moved her eyes back down again, looking ashamed as she continued, “I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I was selfish, I only thought about what seeing you angry meant to me. I never even stopped to think if I was hurting you or what the hell I was doing. And with your own brother! I’m so stupid! I don’t know how I could be so…” Her words were lost again, maybe from the lack of a reaction from me. Her hope was fleeting as she stopped her rant with a final statement, “I’m sorry.”

Jamie tried to push past me, but my feet were like concrete blocks on the floor. I placed a hand on her stomach, pushing her back to the spot she was in before, under me.

Her eyes shot up to mine, waiting for me to speak. I searched her eyes, trying to find any hint of dishonesty but finding none.

They shone with unshed tears and candidness.

Jamie struggled to keep those tears in place and not let them fall while I studied her face and rummaged my brain for the words I’d left my apartment to say.

“I’m sorry, too.” I finally broke the silence, earning a shocked glare from her while her body broke into a constant shiver.

“What? You didn’t do anything, why are you apologizing?”

“I’m sorry because I wasn’t honest with you. I’m sorry I made you feel that you meant nothing after you’d given yourself to me.” I stepped forward, making her back up towards the wall. “I’m sorry for leaving you alone the other morning. I’m sorry for letting you think I kissed Michelle and being happy to see you jealous. I didn’t do it. I couldn’t because of you. I’m sorry for not being able to leave you. And mostly, I’m sorry for lying to myself about the way I feel about you.” I finished, closing the gap between us with each sentence until I was merely an inch away, her back hitting the wall once I was done.

Slowly, I bent down again and captured her lips in the most heartfelt kiss I’ve ever given.

Jamie inhaled deeply as soon as our lips met, her chest filling with the unexpected gesture. She was the heaven I’d otherwise never get to taste.

Breaking the kiss, I leaned my forehead onto hers and laced our fingers, my chest imploding with the need to hear her say she was mine.

“Tell me you forgive me, Jamie. Tell me you want me because, fuck I want you with every fiber of my being.” I kissed her again with a different urgency this time, nibbling on her bottom lip before pleading again. “Tell me you’re mine.”

Chapter 18

Jamie

“I’m yours.”

All the turbulence in my mind quelled once Liam’s lips settled on mine.

There was a different intensity in his touch tonight, a different weight in his kiss. It held more than just lust, even though it didn’t lack desire. This kiss had passion charged with relief, with possession, with a deep connection that claimed every piece of my soul.

On my way over to his apartment I had played out all the possible outcomes of our conversation. From him not wanting to hear a word out of my mouth and shutting the door in my face or facing a Liam with a blank expression that denied being bothered by everything that happened tonight. This scenario most certainly wasn’t on the list.

He kissed me like I’ve never been kissed before. It was so much more than our lips touching. It was like his soul was pulling mine into a heartfelt hug that promised never to let go.

Soft, slow, and lingering, yet harsh and burning at the same time. It made me buzz with exhilaration and, at the same time, gave me a peace I don’t ever remember feeling.

Liam held my face in place while his lips took over mine again and again, his tongue probing into my mouth with a softness that melted every part of my being.

“Stay.” He whispered against my lips between demanding pecks that tasted like devotion. “Stay with me tonight.”

Liam rested his forehead against mine, the water cascading down his back, his green eyes boring into me. It was a soul search that tore down barriers and shattered any illusion I ever had that I could resist my feelings for this man. The warmth I thought I saw in his eyes made me not care for the consequences.

He was fire and I was more than willing to get burned, hurt as it might, the heat and beauty of its embers were more than worthy.

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