Page 210 of Captive Ruin

I close my eyes, exhaling like I’ve been holding my breath for hours, my neck and shoulders finally unknotting.

Her footsteps sound on the stairs.

My door opens and she pokes her head around without coming fully in, a playful smile on her beautiful face. “Did you miss me?”

“Back already? I didn’t know you’d left.” I don’t know why I say it. Such a dick move.

Her eyes narrow and the smile fades. “You’re a bastard, Van Wyk.”

She withdraws her head, pulling the door behind her, and I can’t bear to see her leave.

“Amelia!” I call out, my voice breaking.

The door pauses. “What?”

“Every second without you was agony.” I tell her the truth, speaking to the gap between door and wall, not even able to see her. “I worried something would happen to you. I worried your sister would say something to upset you. And… I worried you…”

The door opens again, and she walks in. “Worried I what?”

I take a breath, letting it out. “Worried you wouldn’t want to come back.”

Her head tilts as she regards me for a long moment. “Did think about it,” she says at last. “But you’d hunt me down, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes,” I growl. I wouldn’t accept any other option. I’m fucked up; fine, I accept it. Doesn’t change a thing.

“Anywhere I go?” she asks, the playful tone back.

I swallow hard, staring at her. She knows. She knows who I am, and she accepts it.

That’s what love is, even if she’s never said it. Except she just did.

“Nowhere you can hide,” I say, voice husky, my heart aching and tears pricking my eyes. She’s so beautiful, standing there, teasing me.

She takes a step closer. “You’d bring me back, wouldn’t you?”

“You know I would.”

“And you’d pin me down…” Her hand finds my knee beneath the bed covers, her fingers running up along my inner thigh.

“By the scruff of your neck, Little Stray.”

She leans in, brushing her lips over mine. “Better get stronger before I get bored waiting.”

I reach for her, but she dances back with a laugh.

“Don’t get stronger too fast,” she says. “Teasing you is so much fun.”

I let my hand fall. “You’ve always pushed.”

“True,” she says thoughtfully, and twists back and forth, the picture of innocence. “Maybe I like it when you lose control.”

“I’ve never lost control.”

“Maybe I hope you will, one day.”

I chuckle, then let out a breath. She doesn’t know what she’s asking for. “Dangerous games,” I mutter.

She reaches down and pats my cheek. “Put it on your list.”