He took one step, pressed his forehead to mine and weaved his hand in my hair, swaying to the rhythm, and urging me to do the same.
“Don’t run,” he muttered, repeating the same words he said all those months ago. “I won’t do anything you won’t let me.”
A tingling sensation started in the pit of my stomach, while the lustful gaze of his cinnamon eyes sparked a flame in my core.
“What do you want from me?” I asked, careful not allow hope to burst through the metal door of the small jail that I locked it in.
Thomas’s eyes shone with a sort of glint—the same one I saw the night we agreed that we were more than just friends with benefits. My heart rate accelerated when hope fled its prison. The beat dropped, but this time I anticipated Thomas’s move. He pressed my back flush to his chest, one hand on my collarbone, the other flat against my stomach.
“Close your eyes.” His lips brushed against my ear. “And imagine we’re alone.”
A wave of goose bumps erupted on my skin; muscles in my stomach contracted when I spun back around. It was easier to read him when I could see him.
“In my head, we’re always alone.” My voice was calm, hiding that inside I was an emotional wreck. “The look on your face makes me want to stay… Lie to me.”
His gaze fell to my lips. “I don’t want you to stay.”
I knotted my fingers on the nape of his neck, my legs no longer moving, my heart no longer beating.
“Lie better.”
He cupped my face pressing an affectionate kiss to my forehead.
“I don’t love you, baby doll.”
Butterflies took off in my stomach; calmness seeped through the walls, bringing them down, leaving just open space—room for my lungs to breathe and room for regret and guilt to disperse.
I crashed my lips to his, parting them with the avidity of a bumblebee that spotted the first clover of the season. Thomas cupped my face and deepened the kiss, letting me savour what tasted like redemption.
“I’m sorry,” I breathed into his mouth. “I’m sorry, baby.”
He broke the kiss, resting his forehead on mine. “You apologised enough. Now say I won’t ever regret this. Say I won’t lose you.”
Instead of assuring him he had nothing to worry about, I explained in three simple words why he didn’t need to worry.
“I love you.”
He dug his fingertips into my cheekbones. “I want to hear you say that every day.”
I devoured his lips again, and he picked up where he left off, one hand in my hair, the other on my cheek.
“We’re getting out of here.” He bit my lower lip. “There’s nothing I need more than to watch you fall asleep in my bed.”
He took my hand, laced our fingers and squeezed gently, leading me out of the club. The pace of his steps rushed; the pace of my heart close to a cardiac-arrest range, but my body weightless.
“I’m not sleepy,” I said once we walked out the door.
Thomas pushed me against the wall and closed my parted lips with a lustful kiss.
“You will be once I’m done showing you how much I missed you.”
CHAPTER 18
THOMAS
Again
Running a marathon and crossing the finish line after over four months of celibacy had the same probability of success as my resolution not to forgive Nadia.