The Darkness in Dreams (Enforcer's Legacy, #1)(106)

“Do I have meaning to you anymore?”

“You once told me, Christan, not to look for happy endings with someone as far away from me as you are.”

The floor had heaved beneath his feet, heavy with the cold weight of dread. He looked steadily at her.

“What, exactly, are you trying to say?”

“All I asked was that you teach me how to protect myself,” she said as she turned to walk away. “And you have politely declined. I will go elsewhere for what I need.”

He wanted her mouth on his, her body pooling against him as he made love to her on a bed draped in white linen. He pushed forward, thrust a hand through his dark hair.

“Cara.”

“No.” She said it out loud, would not talk to him telepathically where their secrets were so easily shared.

“I could make you stay,” he had answered, deep in her mind, not even realizing he was speaking in Italian. “I would ask you instead.”

She had hesitated, but the battle had been won—if winning meant losing everything of value.

“Don’t destroy us over this, Christan,” she said without emotion, pausing in the doorway to the bedroom. One hand was braced against the jamb, her back so stiff he thought it might break. “Not this time.”

He wanted to reach out, bury his fingers in her hair and tuck her head beneath his chin. Just hold her in his arms.

But he was feeling a little too dangerous to risk touching her.

And she was too far away.