Breathe You In (Sweet Torment 1)
Behind me, Roman clenched his teeth so hard I could hear it.
“I’d really like that.” I hugged her back and was sadder to leave than I would have expected.
Regina opened her mouth, maybe to try once more to convince us to stay. But when she glanced at Roman, whatever she saw shut her down.
“Well, you two drive safely.” She patted my cheek, and the small endearment made my whole chest feel a little less hollow. My own mother didn’t even care to see me, while Roman’s looked truly upset to watch us leave.
“Son,” Michael said and shook Roman’s hand.
“Thank you for dinner,” Roman said to his parents. And that was it. A cool, short parting marked by cutting politeness and tense undertones.
Roman rubbed my back while escorting me out the front doors, but didn’t say a word. Once we hit the fresh air, I went to take a deep breath, but Roman beat me to it. His chest struggled for a moment, then calmed. It was so quick, I wasn’t sure if it had really happened.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine,” he said and cleared his throat.
He led me to the garden around back. The estate was beautiful. An old, massive home
on sprawling acres of land. The white wood and columns, complete with a wraparound porch, made me envision politicians gathering here to create laws. It looked so picturesque. Trees lined either side of the long driveway, and just past the manicured lawn was a dense forest.
“It’s beautiful out here,” I said.
He held my hand as we walked through the garden, making our way to the car that the driver already had running and ready. The smells of maple and grass danced in the fall air, and I wanted to curl up and take it all in. Yet while I felt free and peaceful out here, Roman looked more wired than I’d ever seen him. Tension and rage hummed from his body.
“What is going on?” I finally said, and stopped to face him.
“Nothing. Let’s go.”
“Wait,” I said, literally digging my heels into the ground. “You haven’t seemed yourself today. Did something happen between you and your mother? Because things are…”
“What?” he snapped.
“Weird. You’re acting weird.”
“You really want to talk about this?” Something in his expression changed. A darkness swept over him and devoured any sign of the sweet Roman I knew. A tremor raced up my spine, but I nodded.
“Yes. I want to know you. What is so bad about this place, about your mother, that you’re acting the way you are?”
He closed the distance between us. His presence surrounding me, taking over the very air I breathed. He ran his hand from my neck down to my breasts, stopping between my legs to cup me roughly. The shock of his attentions didn’t stifle the small moan that slipped out.
“You’re going to need to be naked.”
“What?”
“And in a place of my choosing.” He pinched my nipple through my dress and I gasped. The sting of his touch lingered and spread shivers through my whole body.
“But that’s for when we talk about…”
How to say that which cannot be said? It was like a riddle, and now my skin was burning so badly, crying out for Roman’s attention, that it was hard to focus. But he knew what I meant.
“That deal was made for if and when I had questions about our relationship.” I drowned the urge to air quote the last word. “Not to talk about your past.”
“I’m changing the rules.”
“You can’t honestly think I’m wired,” I said, challenging the ridiculous notion he’d used before to support his “naked talk time rule.”
He simply shrugged.