Page 55 of Scarlet Wars
Gods, this was humiliating. My poor heart wascrashingagainst my ribs.
And then Caden Coltsnorted. He actually snorted.
“Let me get this straight, you’re asking me if I’mattractedto you?” His tone was thick with incredulity, and something else, something that stung like a bitch.
I felt my face burn hotter. “Fuck you, Caden. You could just say no. You don’t need to act like a superior ass about it.”
His eyes widened. In…shock? “Wait, you’re really asking me?”
Oh wow. He wasthatsurprised?
Well, that wasn’t great for the ego. My throat turned suddenly dry as the realization hit like a punch to the gut.
Oh my gods.It really had all been in my head.
I took in a deep breath, trying to steady my emotions.
No weakness, Emma.
“Don’t worry, Caden, it won’t affect our friendship.” I forced a lightness into my statement I didn’t feel. “You simply don’t seeme like that, which is fine. I would never want you to feel bad or guilty for not feeling a certain way?—”
I didn’t even get the sentence out.
He moved,fast.
One second I was talking, the next I was against the wall, his hands gripping my waist, his body pressed flush to mine. My breath left me in a rush, not from pain, but fromhim. His heat. His size. Hispower.
“You think I’m not attracted to you?” His voice was low, rough, and shaking with restraint. His eyes were wild. Black with fury. “Are youout of your mind?”
I couldn’t move. Could barely think. The only thing I could feel washim, his breath on my mouth, his control unraveling inch by inch.
“I’m restraining myself every second of every damn day,” he snarled, “so you can have your fairytale ending with your screwed-up little Leader.”
I sucked in a breath. “You are?”
“Oh my gods.” He dragged a hand down his face like he was physically trying to contain himself. Then his focus snapped back up, and whatever restraint he’d held on to, shattered.
His hand slammed against the wall beside my head, trapping me in the heat of him. Too close. Too much. My pulse skittered as though it wanted to escape my body, but I couldn’t move. Not when his stare pinned me in place, burning hotter than the deepest pit of hell.
His other arm shot up, capturing my wrists and lifting them above me, locking them effortlessly in one broad grip.
I gasped, breath catching, body burning, unable to look away.
He leaned in, breath brushing my lips, and spoke in a low, razor-sharp rasp. “Let me be very clear about this, because I don’t do the fucking miscommunication trope.”
The hand on the wall slid to my hip, the heat of his palm scorching through the thin fabric of my shirt.
“I’m not just attracted to you. I’m fuckingobsessedwith you—your body, your mind, your godsdamn soul.” His grip flexed at my waist, dragging fire in its wake. “And if you’d let me, I’d worship every inch of all three, every damn day, for the rest of our fucking lives.”
A shiver ripped down my spine. Pressure coiled low in my stomach, molten and unbearable.
His eyes dropped to where our bodies nearly touched. When they lifted again, they wereobsidian. Pupils blown wide with hunger. With want. With something raw and starved and only barely human.
Like he’d been holding this back for too long.
For me.
How the hell had I missed it?
