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"Look at aze to his, all the tureous blue eyes

"I want you to take as long as you need to think about it--us But I want you to proo back to The House Not without me Not for any reason Not until this is decided between you and me, and I hope to hell that, even if you don’t choose ine you under anotheryou Do this forme an ultimatum," she said in a low voice "You want me to promise that if I don’t choose you, I’ll deny what my heart wants What I need How is that fair?"

"Love isn’t fair," he said bluntly, watching the flash of surprise in her eyes, how they widened at his statement

He didn’t follow up on it It was certainly too soon to lay that on her, on top of everything else the evening had wrought She needed ti declarations of love that she wouldn’t believe were sincere

"What I’ you for is a chance, Joss Choose me Let me initiate you into the world you want so badly Give me that at least If it’s not what you want, if it turns out this isn’t what you need, then we’ll step back and reevaluate What I want is the opportunity--the exclusive opportunity, if you will Because I’ve already said that I would have suppressed my need to dominate if that’s the only way I could have you You knocked h the door into the co ever since All I want is a chance, honey A chance And I don’t want you going back there Not without me Not with anyone else until I’ve had the chance to prove to you that I’ ofher head

He leaned forward, brushing a kiss across her furrowed brow, trying to relax the lines that had forive you ti You’ve waited this long to act There’s no need to waste further tiiven a lot of thought to You know you can trust e step over any other uy you came into the common room with Because, honey? I care about you and your pleasure Craig doesn’t and he wouldn’t Given the opportunity, I’ll lay the fking world at your feet There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to have you, to possess you I just need the chance to prove it to you"

The longing in her eyes was nearly his undoing His impassioned speech had spoken to the heart of her Of that he was certain

"I won’t take long," she said huskily "I just need time to think This is a lot I o Not only of Carson, but of you as well I felt like I’d been a burden to you for far too long and that it was tiet on with your life I can’t i-ter everything to co you--andon my oo feet And now you want that even more I can’t wrap my head around it, and as I said, I don’t want to ret I care about you, Dash Very much so I don’t think I’ve ever properly thanked you for all you’ve done for me"

"I don’t want your thanks, Joss I want you Simple Just you And your submission But as I said, if it turns out that this isn’t what you want, then it doesn’t have to be that way between us I’d sacrifice a hell of a lot to have you any way I can have you"

Sorrow filled her eyes "I don’t want that for you, Dash I don’t want you to change for me I don’t want you to be someone you aren’t That’s as bad as if I’d expected--de or able to give I would have never asked him for that So I can’t ask you to deny who you are forhers, silencing her She melted so sweetly into his body that it was all he could do not to sweep her into his ar He’d wait for as long as it took for her to be ready

"How about you let me decide the sacrifices I make Didn’t you make sacrifices for Carson? That’s what love is, honey You wanted and needed soive you, but it didn’t ainst hi her head underneath his chin God, they fit Like two puzzle pieces He wrapped both ar the feel of her in his arms in a way he’d never been able to enjoy before Because now she knehere he stood, and she was allowing it She da her not out of friendship, but as a man who very much wanted her heart and soul

"Now about that promise?"

She slowly dreay and looked hiive h all of this It’s been a difficult day forto be, didn’t turn out the way I expected at all I need to process this"

He nodded and started to speak, but she continued on in a rush

"I don’t want to use you, Dash And er So to me But I won’t use you Not you I won’t use you as a crutch or some experiment You mean too much to me Your friendship means too much to me"

He smiled and tenderly stroked a piece of hair from her cheek to behind her ear "But honey, I don’tyou I’ve used all manner of women over the past few years I’m not proud of that fact, but it is what it is They were all a poor substitute for what I couldn’t have at the time You"

"You pretended they were ain, I’m not proud of it But there it is I couldn’t have you, so I slaked er and desire for you with other woes the way you’ll look at me It’s a chance I have to take But I won’t lie to you There have certainly been other woht I was in a position to never have what I most wanted, so I dealt with it"

"I don’t fault you for being with other women, Dash God, how could I? I was married I would have never expected you to be faithful to a wolad," he said simply "Because, honey? Once I have you, there’ll never be another woman And you can take that to the bank"

Her eyes widened in surprise again It was as if it had all just sunk in at once Her eyes dulled and went hazy with shock Her body treether to try to hide the fact that they were shaking

"I want you to stay here tonight, Joss"

He held up his hand when the protest for his thumb down her jawline

"You’ve been thrown one hell of a curveball I get that And I’ht But stay here in the guest room I’d feel better if you weren’t alone I’lland then I’ll take you ho we’ll set a date Dinner Dancing Whatever pleases you Then you can give o from there"

She sed visibly and he could see the indecision in her eyes Her weighing her options and trying to absorb the events of the day

"Stay," he whispered, angling his head to kiss her again

She eue pushed in to taste her all over again Kissing her was addictive Now that he’d kissed her for the first tih He wanted to taste her everywhere Her breasts He wanted to get between her legs and savor every inch of her feminine flesh And then he wanted to brand her Possess her in every conceivable fashion there was to possess a woman Until she had no doubt as to his ownership No doubt that he was the last ain, as he reluctantly ended the kiss and dreay

She sucked in a breath and then exhaled it in a long wave, her shoulders sluht," she conceded "I’ll stay"

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