A wrinkle appeared between her brows. “My old life is over. It was never real, anyway.”
“I can make it real for you,” I swore. “I’ll make sure you father doesn’t fuck with you. You’ll be separate from all this violence and cruelty.”
“Why are you doing this?” She pressed her palm to my cheek, commanding my full attention and honesty. “I know you want me. I know you care. Why are you pushing me away when I want you too?”
My fingers encircled her wrist, but I couldn’t find the strength to pull her hand from my face. “Because I don’t deserve you.”
Her lovely eyes drew tight, as though she felt my pain in her own chest. “You do deserve me, Mateo. You deserve me, because you earned me. When you first took me as your hostage, you claimed the right to my body and imprisoned me in your house. You could have done anything you wanted to me, but you chose to take care of me. You…made me better.”
She guided my hand to press against her thigh, right over the expanse of flesh where she’d cut herself to earn her father’s love.
“You’ve taken care of me, and you’ve never asked for anything in return. Even now, you’re trying to push me away because you think it’s what’s best for me. But it’s not. You’re what’s best for me. I know who you are, and I know what you do for Adrián. I still want to be with you. I want to be yours, Mateo.”
Mine.
My hunger for her twisted my insides, my denied craving causing me physical pain.
“I showed you what it means to be mine,” I ground out, wrestling against my consuming desire to take what she offered without question. “It frightened you.”
“Not all of it,” she admitted. “It was just a lot to take in. You didn’t present it to me in the subtlest way, either.” She caressed my cheek. “But I trust you. You would never hurt me.”
“Never,” I vowed.
Holding me steady with her gentle touch on my face, she leaned in and pressed her lips to mine. My mouth remained firm beneath hers for the space of a few seconds, but I didn’t have a chance of resistance. Not when Sofia offered herself to me.
Not when she refused to take no for an answer.
I’d rejected my sweet Sofia to try to spare her, knowing my withdrawal would hurt her. But she’d managed to overcome her crippling fear of rejection to stand her ground and fight for me. For us.
There was no going back for her now.
My fingers slid into her hair, tugging her voluminous curls, so I could kiss her more deeply. She shivered and melted in my arms, giving me everything I demanded and offering more.
Like the greedy bastard I was, I took it all. I toyed with her body, teasing and petting in the places she liked best. I savored her little tremors, her gasps for breath, her needy whimpers.
My cock strained against the slacks I wore. They were less confining than my jeans, but that didn’t make my denied craving to bury myself in her wet heat less agonizing.
She shifted in my hold, her hand snaking between us to caress my dick. The slacks provided a barrier between us, but even that light touch was shocking enough to make my entire body jerk beneath her.
I grabbed her wrist, pulling her away more harshly than I intended.
“You can’t do that, florecita,” I warned. “I can barely control myself as it is. Don’t make this harder on us both.”
She stared up at me, her emerald eyes wide and earnest. “It doesn’t have to be hard. I want you, Mateo. I want to give myself to you. Not because you’ve staked a claim over my body, and not because Adrián gives his permission. This is between you and me and no one else.”
I pressed my forehead to hers, grounding myself so I wouldn’t be tempted to madness. “I want you, too, Sofia. From the moment I first saw you, I’ve wanted you. But I can’t put you at risk. If I defy Adrián and force him to break his word, the truce we’ve established falls apart. Things will get bloody. You could get hurt in the fallout.”
She wrapped her hand around the back of my neck, anchoring herself to me. “I know Adrián is important to you. He still frightens me, but I won’t betray him. No one will know if we’re together, Mateo. I’m not going to tell anyone. And once Ronaldo isn’t a threat anymore, we won’t have to hide it.”
“If you were to get hurt because I couldn’t keep my dick in my pants, I would never forgive myself,” I rasped, wanting so desperately to give her what she asked.
Her eyes began to shine, imploring. “Please. I know I’m asking a lot, but I want this to be my choice. Knowing that my virginity was traded like a commodity has been devastating. I need to do this on my terms. I need you on my terms, Mateo.”