Throne of Truth (Truth and Lies Duet #2)(70)

That’s what he’s trying to do by refusing to sleep with me tonight.

Well, it wouldn’t work.

He was mine. Simple.

“Tell me you don’t love me.” I placed both palms on his chest. His muscles beneath my fingertips rose and fell with rapid breath. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t love me and I’ll go. I’ll leave you alone.”

He crumpled. The answer blared so loud and bright it filled the entire room. It didn’t matter he’d said it already with admitting he’d fallen for me three years ago. I let him verbalize, so we both knew he could never take it back. That he willingly admitted that despite wanting to live in an ideal world with picnics and vacations and lazy Sundays in bed, we might never have that. This might be our world with precious conjugal visits and achingly hard visitation.

But love would overcome that.

It had to.

Because I didn’t want, couldn’t stomach the thought of loving anyone else.

Finally, his shoulders realigned into confident, not angry. His spine unlocked. His face shed its mask, and his voice said what his eyes had all along.

“I can’t tell you that.” His hand cupped my cheek, his thumb running along my bottom lip. “I can’t tell you I don’t love you because that’s not true. It’s never been true.” He tipped forward, kissing me so, so soft. “I love you, Elle. I’m obsessed with you, consumed by you. You make me crazy and not necessarily in good ways. But I can’t lie to you anymore. I love you. So fucking much it kills me.”

My smile was sunshine and hot days as I kissed him back. “Then trust that. Trust that I love you, too. Trust that whatever happens, we’ll fight it together. Turn off that voice inside you that’s trying to screw everything up. Just trust like you’ve told me to do so many times before.”

He nuzzled into my neck. “You’re bossy as well as nosy.”

I laughed softly. “You bring out the worst in me.”

His eyes filled with intensity. “Yet you bring out the best in me.”

“Guess that means we’re perfect for each other.” My lip trembled, happiness overflowing.

Penn frowned, kissing me gently. “Suddenly, you don’t look convinced.”

“I am convinced. Completely. I’m just—” More truth bubbled, and I blurted, “I’m so afraid of losing you. That I’m the reason why you’re in here, and I don’t know if I have the power to get you out.”

“Hey...” He captured my cheeks with both hands, holding me tight. “You have power over me. That’s all you ever need.”

“Does that mean I can command you to spend the night with me, and you have to obey?”

A sly grin transformed him from serious to player. “Are you asking me to fuck you, Ms. Charlston?”

I nodded. “Again and again, Mr. Everett. Multiple times. Will you?”





Chapter Thirty-Two


Penn


I’D TRIED TO do the right thing.

I really fucking had.

The thought of having Elle in this place turned me right off, but kissing her blueberry-glossed lips and knowing she had nothing on underneath her skirt scrambled with my right and wrong.

My brain had had its chance at ending this.

Our fight had had its opportunity to push her away.

Our connection hadn’t ended, and she hadn’t gone.

That left only one thing to do.

“When it comes to you, Elle, I’ll do whatever you damn well want.” I kissed her softly, keeping my desires in check this time.

I couldn’t believe how quickly I’d pounced on her before. I’d been a fucking animal. She’d arranged this for us. The least I could do was make it good for her rather than a three-second humping against the wall.

“How long do we have?” I murmured as her hands slid around my waist, gripping me close.

My tongue massaged hers. My heart thundered as she moaned. “Twelve hours.”

“Really?” I could do so much to her in that amount of time. It would be the longest we’d ever spent together consecutively. Which, in the scheme of how many months we’d been ‘dating,’ was an embarrassment.

She pulled away, looking up. Eyes shining, lips bruised, skin flushed. The tank she wore showed the lacy indentations of her bra, revealing the pinpricks of her nipples, encasing her tiny waist in cotton just begging me to rip it off her.

My throat burned. “Christ, you’re so beautiful.”

She shook her head. “You’re the beautiful one. Do you know that’s what made me say yes that night? I thought you were so pretty. I couldn’t say no.”

“So you only agreed to sleep with me because of how pretty I am?” I kissed my way down her throat, adoring the way she shivered.

“I said yes because even then I think my heart knew. You reminded me of him. You put your hands in your pockets like him. You had demons like him.”

I didn’t doubt her. She could’ve cut off her long blonde hair, got piercings, indulged in tattoos, and put on weight, and I would still have recognized her.

It was one of those serendipitous things that couldn’t be explained.

Our kiss turned into a conversation on its own, rolling like waves on a beach, sometimes deep, sometimes shallow, always rippling with power.