Page 20 of Yearner

“But I love you so much,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I want you to be mine already. I want to kiss you so badly I can barely breathe. Let me, please.”

His voice grew increasingly strained as he spoke. His gaze shifted from her eyes to her lips and back again, as though he were waiting for the smallest sign that she might change her mind.

Allison pressed her hands more firmly against his chest. “No. I don't want to kiss you.”

Yet Silas still didn't move away. His lips hovered so close to hers that the slightest movement would have brought them together.

Allison looked him straight in the eyes, her anger mounting with every passing second. “Are you really not going to listen to me? I thought you had more integrity than to do something like this to me,” she said, her voice growing sharper with each word.

Silas's expression changed. His gaze shifted from her lips to her eyes, and a low growl rumbled in his chest.

“I'm already losing my sanity over you. What does integrity even matter anymore?”

The raw desire in his eyes clashed with the anger burning in hers. Allison could see how hard he was struggling to hold himself back, but she refused to let that intimidate her.

“If you kiss me right now, I'll leave you again, and I'll never come back.”

Fear flashed across Silas's face.

For a moment, he was no longer standing in front of her in the bathroom. He was back ten years ago, remembering how he'd searched for her, only to discover that she had vanished without a trace. He had searched relentlessly until he finally learned that she was living somewhere in Europe, tucked away in a village, with Shane as her only secret connection to her former life.

He had never understood why she had left Manhattan. All he knew was that she had disappeared from his life, leaving him with questions that had haunted him for years.

He had waited for her to return, forcing himself to be patient even as each passing year made him more desperate to find her. There had been countless moments when he had wanted to go there himself, drag her back to Manhattan, and demand to know why she had abandoned him. Yet he had held back, knowing that if she ever discovered how far he had been willing to go, she might hate him even more.

Then, just when he had nearly lost his patience and was seriously considering bringing her back himself, she had walked straight into his office and asked him to protect her brother.

The memory only made his frustration worse. After waiting for her for so many years, he could hardly bear the thought of losing her again.

Silas abruptly pulled away from her. His expression darkened, revealing a storm of emotions he rarely allowed anyone to see. His jaw clenched, and he took a step back, slipping his hands into his pockets as though he needed every ounce of restraint he possessed to keep himself from reaching for her again.

“You're threatening me,” he said, his gaze fixed on hers.

Allison's expression hardened. “Yes, I am. I'll leave you. The moment you cross a line, I'll be gone.”

The moment the words left her mouth, Silas's restraint snapped.

He reached for the back of her neck, drew her toward him, and captured her lips in a rough kiss.

Allison's eyes widened in shock. She immediately planted her hands against his chest and tried to shove him away, but he held her close, unwilling to let the kiss end so soon.

She turned her face aside, trying to escape his mouth, but Silas followed her, catching her lips again. His kiss was desperate, almost frantic, as though he were determined to make her feel even a fraction of what he felt for her. He kissed her with a hunger that had been building for years, his hand cradling the back of her neck as he tried to draw her into the kiss rather than let her pull away.

Allison struggled against him, pushing at his chest. But Silas kept kissing her as though he could somehow make her want him if only he could make her feel how badly he wanted her. He wanted her to enjoy his kisses, to stop fighting him and kiss him back, to discover that she could feel something for him too. That desperate hope only made him more insistent.

When he finally pulled away, it was only far enough to look at her. His breathing was ragged, his eyes burning as he searched her face for some sign that the kiss had affected her the way he wanted.

“Do you like it?” he asked, his voice rough.

“No,” Allison answered immediately.

She was still catching her breath, but she forced herself to meet his gaze.

Silas's expression tightened.

He leaned in and kissed her once more, more desperately this time. Allison tried to turn away, pressing against him with both hands, but he followed her lips, intent on drawing a response from her. He kissed her as though he could pour every ounce of his longing into that one moment and somehow persuade her heart to answer his.

But Allison continued to struggle against him, refusing to give him the response he was so desperately seeking.