“Maybe I’m not teasing,” she says right before she slides down my body. She sits on my knees, straddling me. Her hair is mussed from sleeping and her face is flushed with desire and maybe a touch of nervousness. She looks like a temptress and it’s all I can do not to reach out and grab her.
“What are you doing?” I ask, watching how each breath she takes vibrates in her body like she’s run a long race.
“Something occurred to me last night while you were sleeping,” she says.
“What’s that?”
“You were sound asleep, but you were holding me close, using your body to almost shield me. I woke up once from a nightmare and even though you were sleeping, your hand brushed through my hair, you kissed me on the temple and hugged me tighter.”
I let her talk. I don’t tell her that she had nightmares all night long—some more powerful than others, and some that didn’t wake her—even though I wish they had. I hate that she was trapped in her own personal hell and there was nothing I could do to help her.
“Torrent,” I begin, but I don’t finish when she shakes her head no. She has something she wants to say and hell, I’m just glad to be here at this point, so I let her go with it.
“I don’t know where this is going to go, Logan. My life is kind of a mess, and I have some things to work through with Wolf—”
I can’t stop the growl that bursts through at the mention of the man’s name.
“He’s been good to me, Logan. He always has. I care for him and my dad loved him like a brother,” she says, her voice going sad. I bite my tongue. There’s nothing to be gained by telling her what I think about the asshole. Torrent has been manipulated by Wolf and maybe even by her father. I hope I can eventually make her see that. “It will be okay, eventually. I need to handle things carefully with Wolf—and I will. But…” She stops talking, biting her lip and those beautiful dark eyes with amber flecks pin me to the bed.
“But?” I prompt, almost afraid to push it.
“I don’t want to lose you, Logan. Last night in your arms, well even before that, I knew.”
“Knew what, Angel? It’s early in the morning and you got my dick screaming hard too. You’re going to have to spell it out for me.”
“Well, I mean I think I knew… or know… maybe… but I know at least how I feel and—”
“Angel, breathe. I keep having to remind you of that. I don’t think you’ve grasped it yet, but you are completely safe with me. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to judge you or even push you in a direction you don’t want to go. I’m here with you because I want to be and because—”
“You care about me,” she blurts out and the shock on her face is enough to make me grin. It’s clear that she didn’t mean to say that. I rush to make her feel at ease.
“I do care for you Torrent—very much.”
“I mean, I thought so. I was pretty sure last night and stuff,” she says with a shrug and I laugh and reach out to touch her face. Her gaze comes back to mine and she smiles with a deep blush on her face. “It’s still really nice to hear you say it,” she murmurs.
“I could show you too, if you’re not convinced,” I offer—praying like fucking hell she takes me up on the offer.
“Well, actually that’s what I was trying to do.”
“What’s that?”
“Show you how much… I care… about you,” she confesses.
I’ve been called many things in my life. Some of them true, some false; some were well-deserved and others not, but one thing I’ve never been is stupid.
“Then show me, Angel. I’m all yours,” I invite and hope like hell she doesn’t back out.TorrentI sound so crazy. I hate it, and I’m probably giving Devil whiplash with the way I war with myself and switch my brain around on him. I’m having trouble being the Torrent I was before all of this. The Torrent who saw what she wanted, took it and to hell with anyone else. I miss her because there are times now she’s replaced by someone shy and timid and that has never been me. I’m afraid to take the wrong step. Still, I know I need to tread carefully. I can’t go through anything like I did with my father, not again. I may hate it, but I am… delicate right now. I’m so unsure of everything. The one thing I’m positive of right now is… Devil.
I’m safe with him.
Everything in me feels that and I’m going to trust in it—even if I have to fight myself to do it.