“Only you could take care of my kids like they were your own.”
More—more of everything.
“Only your fierceness could be enough to tame me.”
“Only your strength could be enough to own me.”
SO. FUCKING. CLOSE.
“I hate you,” I kiss her, trying to hold our orgasms back for a couple more seconds.
“And I hate you.” She nips at my bottom lip.
It’s now or never.
Say it!
NOW.
“I—I lov—”
Her lips press against mine, hard.
Our tongues swarm each other. Our breaths combine. Our bodies slam together as we reach our climaxes.
We shake from the aftermath, tremble in each other’s arms.
Our lips are still locked together, so I gently pull them apart.
I failed.
I didn’t get her to say ‘I love you,’ and I didn’t say it myself.
She smiles up at me, and the moment is over. Her brain is working again. If I say ‘I love you’ now, she’ll just think I’m crazy, and she won’t say it back.
I have to find a different way.
She’s expecting the worst, not for me to tell her I love her.
She’s prepared for the nightmare, not the dream.
I consider my options. Liesel is a stubborn woman who will refuse to admit her love for me. She’s scared, and I’m not even sure she realizes what her feelings are for me. She says she’s not capable of falling in love with anyone.
“What?” She frowns up at me, her eyes searching mine for what’s going on in my head.
I lick my lips, trying to buy myself time, trying to think of another way—I can’t. I’ve tried everything else. I promised I wouldn’t hurt Liesel, but sometimes the only way to reveal the love in a person’s heart is to cause their heart to bleed.
“I’m sorry,” I say, knowing what I must do.
“Do your worst,” she says, and then she kisses me hard on the lips.
Oh, huntress, you have no idea what my worst is. You call me killer for a reason. I’m about to murder your heart and hope that when you are picking up the pieces, you realize your true feelings.
24
Liesel
We just made love.