“Why would you help me?”
It’s dangerous to touch her, but I’m incapable of stopping myself. I brush a few curled strands from her face, tucking them behind her ear. She shivers beneath my touch, only encouraging the hunger coursing through my system. It’s not enough—it never is, but it’s all I can give right now.
“Because I feel so much for you, Sawyer.”
I allow myself one little taste and lean in until her scent envelops me. She smells of the salty ocean and something sweet. A tiny gasp feathers across my lips, and I know what she’s thinking.
Moving my hand to the back of her neck, I grip tight to hold her in place, though she has gone completely still anyway.
“Don’t move,” I warn her, a shaky exhale her only response.
My mouth brushes against hers, and I dart out my tongue to lick the bow of her upper lip, nearly groaning from the minty taste on her breath.
Moving to the side of her mouth, I place a gentle kiss on the corner and then another farther up her cheek.
“Is it hate?” she croaks, trembling beneath my touch.
“I don’t hate you,” I say. Another kiss.
“And you deserve to have a life. A real one.”Kiss.
“Come back with me,bella.”Kiss. This one is salty from the single tear that has slipped from her eye.
“Is that what you really want?” she asks, her voice hoarse. “What will I do then? I have no way to support myself wi—”
“You’ll work for me.”
She jerks back, staring at me with bugged eyes. “Absolutely not. I will not get in the water with those… thosebeasts.”
The laugh bursts from my throat before I can even think to stop it. It causes us both to freeze, but fuck, if I’m breaking the rules tonight, I might as well break all of them.
She lifts up, her fingers smoothing across my lips with wonder.
“Do that again.”
“Absolutely not,” I say, though the lingering grin refuses to disappear completely. There’s a glimmer in her eye, and it’s the first time I’ve seen it since I’ve met her. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Sawyer is actually happy right now. And the way that collectively makes my chest tighten and want to laugh like a maniac just to see it brighten is concerning to say the fucking least.
”Despite what I did to you on the boat, I have no interest in turning you into shark food.”
With the reminder, her hand slips away, and a shadow falls over her face.
“That was really shitty.”
“It was,” I agree, feeling the regret I swore I’d never feel. “Most would say shittier than you deserved.”
She raises her brows. “Wouldyousay that?”
After a pause, I admit, “Yes. You didn’t deserve that.”
Her eyes narrow. “Then say you’re sorry.”
My gaze falls to her parted mouth, those pink lips puffy and smooth, before returning to her baby blues.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur, letting her see how genuine I am. Because Iamsorry. I assaulted her, and we both know that. I imagine if my mother stuck around, she would’ve left me then if she knew I treated a woman like that.
She smiles, wide and bright, like the sunshine peeking through storm clouds after a massive storm.
“I don’t forgive you,” she quips, quickly rolling out of my embrace and taking advantage of my stunned silence. Then, she’s backing away and bumping against the round table, leaning against it with her fingers laced. There’s a beast inside me that’s on the verge of lashing out and trapping her beneath me once more.