Page 98 of Twilight of Embers
I squared my shoulders, refusing to cower or let Maddox embarrass me. “From what you’ve shared, sex is a normal piece of this puzzle. Am I wrong?”
That muscle fluttered again. “Not with me, it won’t be.”
I studied him for a moment, looking and trying to truly see. “Because you’re my professor?”
Maddox’s gaze jerked back to the forest. “Yes.”
I let the silence swirl between us for a moment. “You’re lying.”
His fingers balled into fists. “The university would fire me if they found out.”
“I’m sure they would, but there’s no reason for them to know. This is something else.” I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I was 100 percent certain. Maybe it was my strengthening bond with the guys, or maybe it was just that I’d been watching Maddox closely enough to know that he was hiding something now.
“I’m not made for a mate bond, Hayden.”
His words ground into my chest, but I swallowed down the hurt. “Why not?”
Maddox’s gaze flicked to me. “I don’t trust myself.”
I frowned at him. “To do what?”
“Protect you.” The words were ripped from Maddox’s throat as if he had to forcibly remove them. “Yesterday is just more proof of that.”
I gaped at him. “You saved me.”
“No. I almost got you killed.” He ran a hand through his dark hair. “You think I don’t know that you leapt out of that damned car to warn me? You put yourself at risk, and I couldn’t get to you. Not in time.”
Pain coursed through his voice, each word holding agony.
“But we got through it,” I argued. “Together.”
Maddox shook his head, beginning to pace. “That fucker held a knife to your throat. He cut you. Twice.”
I could still feel the bite of the blade against my skin, still feel the terror coursing through me. “I got away. I’m fine. There’s barely a mark on me.”
His jaw worked as he stalked back and forth across the room. “Not good enough. If these idiots had half a brain, they’d send you far away. Leave you with guards and out of our reach. Out of our ruin.”
My heart jerked in my chest, and I swore I felt a roar of agony beneath my skin. “Good thing it’s not up to you, then.”
Maddox stilled, his gaze coming to me, fury pulsing there. “I had someone once.”
Fresh pain swept through me, a different kind of torture. Because there was love and loss in Maddox’s voice. Love and loss that didn’t belong to me.
I shouldn’t have been feeling the jealousy that pulsed through me. It didn’t make sense. Not when I’d only known him for a matter of weeks. But it was there just the same.
“She trusted me. To protect her. To shield her,” Maddox rasped.
My eyes burned. “What happened?”
“The Corbetts took her. They tortured her and left her broken body on the hood of my car.”
I sucked in a breath. “Mad—”
“Don’t,” he clipped. “She wasn’t my mate, but I cared for her.”
“You loved her.”
Maddox turned toward the window again. “I should’ve loved her. She gave me everything she had to give.”
