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I imagined him ripping Oscar’s head off, teeth bared like a primal beast. I shivered at the idea. Ash was protective as hell, and it was attractive. It turned me on that he was so serious about looking after me, and the idea that he wanted to avenge me made me feel better.
“It shouldn’t make me feel better that you want to do that,” I said.
“Why not?”
“He’s the man I loved.”
“He’s the man who sold you.”
He was right. I didn’t love Oscar anymore. Funny how that could change in a snap. One little act had wiped everything away.
Then again, it had been more about going through the motions with Oscar in recent times. Cat had tried to tell me again and again what I already knew. I’d just refused to see it.
Oscar wouldn’t change. He was a lying son of a bitch who’d only used me to get what he wanted.
I looked at Ash. His eyes had changed again—they were like a lake now. They changed with his moods. I didn’t know how to read him, but as we stared at each other, the atmosphere shifted. I was aware of how close he was, his musky scent. His large frame reminded me of how small I was.
He was magnetic, and I was drawn to him like a moth to a flame.
My body swayed, and I leaned closer. I breathed him in, and my eyes fluttered shut for a moment. He was a drug, and I wanted more.
Ash leaned in, too. I expected him to kiss me—I wanted the feel of his lips on mine again. I wanted him to touch me and kiss me like he had before. He’d started something when he’d brought me here, and he hadn’t finished it.
He’d left me wanting.
I wanted it now. I wanted him to finish what he’d started.
Ash’s eyes grew darker and darker, his eyes becoming deep enough to drown in. They slid to my mouth. He parted his lips, but he didn’t lean in to kiss me. Instead, he looked at me again, and I watched him shut down. He shifted away from me.
My heart sank.
“I never said thank you,” I said softly, looking into the hearth where the embers still burned around the new wood Ash had stacked there for me.
“For what?”
“Saving me.”
He nodded. “You’re welcome.”
I hesitated, not sure what else to say. The atmosphere had become strained, but the sexual tension wasn’t gone yet.
Ash turned his face to the fire, and I stared at him. His profile was almost godlike, with a sharp nose, high cheekbones, and the dark hair that framed his perfect face. His skin was like marble, and those eyes were almost cerulean as he stared at the embers, his eyes reflecting their glow.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to do,” I blurted out.
Ash looked at me with a frown. “About what?”
“One moment, you want to consume me, and the next, you treat me like your sister.”
Ash pursed his lips. “I can’t be with you.”
“Yeah? Do you have a good reason for that?”
Ash nodded.
“Are you going to share it with me?” I asked when he didn’t say anything.
He hesitated.
