That’s not the case. I wanted her to give herself to me so I could keep her—I was just too selfish and wrapped up in being with her to remember that Sam refused to let me enjoy an ounce of happiness. That my ex-wife’s threat of taking me down, and Sienna along with me, was so real
Sienna clears her throat, ripping my thoughts away from my Sam and back to her. “And now you want me again?” she demands, her voice breaking.
I tighten my hold on her because she’s trembling, but also because I am too. “I’ve always wanted you. It just took me awhile to tell the shit holding me back to f**k off.”
“Sam?”
I nod. And when I’d told Sam that she was holding me back from living, she’d cried. She’d begged. And finally, after months of going back and forth with her, she’d calmly agreed to back off—as long as I agreed to her terms.
I dip my face down until my nose touches the tip of Sienna’s, which is damp from tears. “If you were with me, she’d try to ruin me. She’d try to ruin you because she knows I love you. You’ve got to know that. You’ve got to know what she has on me—”
But when she cuts me off by putting her fingers over my lips, I’m relieved. What the hell was I even going to say next?
You’ve got to know what she has on me would take me away from you, from everything. And I don’t think there would be any going back.
“Damn you, Lucas,” Sienna says, but she’s wearing a soft smile. Her hand slips from my mouth down to my neck, and I turn my head slightly to kiss her wrist. She shivers but doesn’t let go of me.
“I know you’re angry,” I say. She’ll probably be that way for a long time—months, maybe even years. “And I know that it’ll take work, but I just want you to try. To give getting through my f**k-ups together a chance. I need to know that you can give a shit about me again.”
For the longest minute of my entire life, her face is an emotionless mask. A hundred thoughts—each shittier than the last—roll through my brain before she moves her head to each side incredulously and mumbles something that sounds like “dumbass.” She lays her head on my shoulder, and her tears seep through my tee shirt.
“A lot can happen in the two days I owe you,” she whispers. “But you’re right. You are an idiot if you thought I ever stopped loving you.”
“I love you too, Sienna,” I growl. Then my hands are all over her as I bring her close to me. Her lips part willingly and her tongue darts into my mouth. She tastes sweet, and I make myself a promise that I’ll never lose the taste of her again.
I’ll fight to keep this woman beside me.
Her eyes are still squeezed together when she pulls away, but when I press her hand up against my cock, they open and she glances between our bodies before clearing her throat. “If we weren’t at your Gram’s house,” I say, and she leans back, rubbing her hand across her chest.
“She’s not—” But then she shakes her head and runs her palms nervously down the front of her shorts. “There are hotels just a couple of miles away from—”
“Come with me.”
“What?”
I gesture to my parked car. “Two days. I want those two days now.” It’s a bold ass move, but she doesn’t immediately shoot it down.
She chews on her bottom lip. “Right now?”
“Yeah,” I say, stroking my thumb across her lips to stop her from nibbling them. Keeping her eyes focused on mine, she bites the tip of my finger instead, and I groan in frustration. Why does she have to do shit like that? “I’m sorry, Si, and I need a chance to prove it.”
She backs into the house, motioning for me to follow her, but I remain in the doorway. “I’ll have to go pack my things.” She jabs her thumb over her shoulder at the staircase. “And I’ve got to call Gram—she’s not here.” Her face is flushed, and I can tell she’s mentally making a list of what all needs to be done before she can come with me. “Lucas, you’re not going to—”
And there goes the pain in my chest again. She doesn’t trust me, and it about destroys me. But what can I expect?
“Nothing will happen to you while you’re with me,” I promise. Then I lift my eyebrows and add, “Nothing bad. I’m going to do what I should have done before. I need you with me because there’s no music without you.”
It is that promise that completely wins her over.
She tugs me to her by the collar of my shirt and cups my face in between her hands. Her lips are rough and demanding, making me reconsider what she’d started to say earlier about the hotels. I drag myself away from her, putting a good amount of space between us.
“No more of that or I’ll f**k you right here in this doorway.”
“Give me an hour to get ready,” Sienna whispers, walking backward into the house. “I promise I won’t be long.”
It only takes her half the time. After I load her luggage into the trunk of my car, which I’ve driven closer to the cabin while waiting, she slips into the passenger seat next to me. Dragging in a shaky breath, she lays her head back against the leather headrest and then turns to look at me as I put the car into drive. “I love you, Lucas.”
“I love you too.”
She frowns when I slam on the brakes near the top of the driveway, but then I produce a wide red strip of fabric from the center console. The corners of her mouth slide into a smile. “Another one of your attention exercises, Lucas?” she questions as I cover her eyes with the fabric.