Silver's shoulders slid down. “Of course.” He relaxed enough to prop himself on the wall, one knee bent—oddly casual. “I'm guessing you didn't come here just to return that.”
“Of course not!” Filling my chest, I threw my arms down. “I told you to leave me alone, but you still keep trying to reach me! More letters, more fucking gifts? I never wanted to see your face ever again, Silver!” Lies. “But I'm here, so talk. Tell me why you're risking your safety by contacting me—me, who you know has been talking to the detective who wants to put you in prison!”
His mouth became a thin line. It was his only reaction.
I said, “I need to understand. I can't handle knowing you're out here, waiting for me... thinking of me... until I know why you came back in the first place.”
His next movements were too fast, his body rushing forward until he had me backed against the polished desk. “You don't understand yet, do you, Pet?”
“Don't call me Pet.” It was a frail demand, so I narrowed my eyes. Fuck, he was too close. His heat was washing over me, and with the sharp edge of the desk behind me, I was trapped. “Hostage is better, isn't it?”
I meant to piss him off. Amazingly, a slow smirk spread over his lips. “I'll call you that if you want. My hostage, I fucking love that. It means you're mine.”
Hot ripples made my lower belly squeeze. No, don't let him get to you. This man was a demon crafted from sexual desire. I had to be strong, I needed to understand what was going on. “I remember everything, you know. That means I remember how you nearly killed me.”
His eyebrows scrunched.
I didn't let him speak, my lips curling back as my anger returned. “You put a gun to my fucking head. I thought I was going to die, Silver! I was ready to go out into the world and live my life and you stole that away from me!”
My muscles bunched, I shoved forward and pushed him off of me. The baffled light that entered his eyes was glorious. I'd never felt so powerful, so... so right.
“I was never going to pull the trigger—”
“How could I know that? Why does that even matter?”
“You weren't in real danger, Pet, I—”
“I said don't call me that!” I jabbed a finger at him. “Because of you, my whole life went off the rails!” Infused by fury, I pushed him back further.
Hard fingers coiled in my hair. My world spun, his force spinning me so that I bounced against the door. I felt the hinges rattle along with my teeth. It didn't hurt, but it left me stunned.
Silver's nose ground on mine, his searing words kissing my ears. “You're accusing me of planning to kill you when you won't even listen to my side.” He tightened his hands, breathing faster—deeper. “You said you wanted to know why I came to this city, why I came back for you.”
Hot tears of exhaustion prickled the corners of my eyes. “Was it to destroy what was left of me? Is that why you've been playing with me, so you could twist me up inside and fuck me over? You broke me, you fucking broke me! Why did you come back?!”
His teeth bruised me as his kiss smothered my mind. Pleasure and pain sponged through my skin. I was ready for war, not for this. I wanted to hate him, and in a way, I still did. But betrayal wasn't enough to lock my senses away from someone like him.
I gasped for air when he freed me. The fervor in his eyes was disorienting, I had the strangest suspicion that he was just as lost as I was. “You,” he hissed out, the word as permanent as a tattoo on his flesh. “I came back because of you.”
My blink was sluggish; I struggled in his grip, yet he just squeezed me harder. “That isn't an answer, I want a real answer!”
His whole face crumbled, I saw his molars as he shouted. “I couldn't stop thinking about you! Is that what you need to hear?”
Quicker and quicker, I was floating away from my own body.
What does he mean?
He spat out more words, each coming hotter—more furious—than the last. “I couldn't get you out of my mind!” Laughing, Silver cupped his temples and backed away. “And then you went and forgot about me.”
I slumped on the wall, my knees giving out until I sank to the floor. “I don't... I don't understand.”
“Neither do I.” Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Silver backed up into his desk so violently it shook. His nameplate fell to the floor, ignored entirely. “Why would a girl I'd met for a few mere minutes be hammered into my skull?”
He wasn't watching me. It was one of the few moments where he wasn't. Able to study the curve of his nose and the way his hair faded down his temples, I thought he looked exceptionally tired.
Then he jabbed his eyes back at me, and I jumped. “Do you want to know what I figured out?” he asked.
“Please,” I said on impulse.