Fists dropping, I gape at him, the meaning of his words clear. He’s going to strike a deal. That realisation causes a miasma of complex feelings that I’m too overwhelmed to even dissect right now.
Using my teeth, I tear off the Velcro on my boxing gloves then toss them aside. Fighting isn’t helping.
“I have to find Gracie,” I grind out.
“I know, Em. We will.”
“Even if she’s dead… I need to know. Then I can kill Gael knowing he isn’t taking her location to the grave with him.”
“And I promised to help you,” he confirms with a nod. “You know by now, I never break my word.”
The fire ants that pull at my skin haven’t eased. If anything, sparring with him has worsened this intense feeling of pressure. Every inch of my skin is alight with a battlefield of burning fires.
I feel so fucking powerless.
And I need him tofix it.
Closing the last step between us, my hands curl in the soft material of his dark shirt, twisting the fabric tight. Not even I can fathom what I’m searching for in his cautious blue stare.
“You swore to look after me. To protect me. To help me.”
His throat frantically dancing, Warner nods again. “I did.”
“What if I told you that I need more than you’re willing to give?”
“Please, love. Don’t do this again.”
“You kissed me, Warner.”
“That was a mistake,” he insists weakly.
“It sure didn’t feel like a mistake.”
Allowing myself to be sucked into the near-iridescent ocean that fills his gaze, I sink to the crushing depths of that watery expanse where he can’t possibly drag me back to the surface.
“When I’m with your team, this gaping hole in my chest feels just a little smaller,” I admit in a small voice.
“Em…”
“I can breathe again. It doesn’t feel like it’s going to suck me into a vacuum and crush my bones to ash.”
My head tilts, allowing me to search his conflicted expression. He may be fighting this, but I can see where desire collides with duty in his eyes.
“This isn’t a game, Warner.”
“Then why are you treating it like one?”
“I’m not. This isn’t me trying to tear apart your family. Truthfully, I didn’t mean to feel this way for any of you. I didn’t want to. But…”
“But?” He sounds like his throat is coated in gravel.
“But… I still do. I want what I can’t have. I want more than I should have. And I want it with all of you.”
Cursing under his breath, he grabs my wrists to prise my hands away from his chest. The incoming rejection only makes me cling onto his shirt even harder.
“I told you I can’t do this, love.”
“Because you can’t, or because you don’t want to?”
