Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
She had to make a change, fully embrace Nash, and trust him the way he deserved. No more holding back. No more letting fear rule her decisions.
Telling Nash the truth about why she’d really left would mean ripping open her most painful wounds. But he deserved to know. And maybe, just maybe, sharing that burden would help them both heal.
She just prayed she found a way to tell him her deepest, darkest secret before it was too late.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Another rumble of thunder clapped as Haisley slipped into the suite she and Nash shared, her throat tight with unsaid words. The need to confess everything warred with the bitter reality that silence was their only safety against surveillance. Her revelation would have to wait until they were free of this gilded prison. Until then, the truth weighed heavy on her chest, along with the fear that, once spoken, it might shatter everything between them.
Nash glanced up from his laptop, tension carved into the planes of his face. His expression remained carefully neutral, but concern darkened his eyes. “Your hair looks nice. Good appointment?”
Her chest constricted. Even here, even now, his first thought was for her wellbeing. He’d crafted an elaborate deception and walked into hell to save her. And how had she repaid him? With doubt. With distance. With secrets and towering walls she’d built to protect herself from more heartbreak.
“The stylist was nice. And…very interesting.” Her voice caught. “We talked about books. That conversation really made me think.”
Lightning slashed across the darkening sky beyond their windows. In that stark white flash, she caught the way his eyes narrowed. His fingers tightened imperceptibly on the arm of his chair, betraying the tension thrumming beneath his controlled facade. “About?”
Her pulse thundered as she chose her words with excruciating care, willing him to read between the lines. “I’ve been…unfair. To you.”
Thunder crashed closer, punctuating her halting confession. Nash set his laptop aside and rose, all coiled power and restrained control. His eyes brimmed with questions that made her stomach clench.
“I don’t like riddles. Explain.” His demand sounded cold, almost cruel, but his thumb brushed her cheek so gently.
Her composure threatened to splinter. She was terrified of revealing too much to their watchers, yet desperate to bridge the chasm between them. “I haven’t fully appreciated everything you’ve given me here. Your protection… Your sacrifices. Your kindness. Everything.” Her voice cracked. “I’ve been too wrapped up in my own fear to give you what you’ve sought. What you deserve.”
His fingers tightened on her jaw. To the cameras, it probably looked like a warning. But his caress was full of reverence. Relief warred with lingering uncertainty on his face, hope battling doubt in those eyes that had always seen straight through her defenses.
Regret twisted her heart. While she’d hidden behind her fears, he’d risked everything to keep her safe. No more.
“And what exactly do I deserve?”
“Me.” Her whisper felt like stepping off a cliff without a safety net. A shiver raced down her spine as every instinct screamed at her to retreat, but she forced herself forward. “My body. My complete surrender. And any other part of me you want.”
Like my heart. Like my future. Like every truth I’ve kept locked away.
Raw hunger flared in his eyes, turning them nearly black. The heat of his body seared her through their clothes as his hand slid to her throat, an outwardly dominant gesture that let him feel her racing pulse. His thumb stroked over her thundering heartbeat. “Any other part? Show me. Prove you mean it.”
Words would endanger them both. But she could speak with her body, with her heart.
Lightning illuminated them as she reached for him, no longer caring about their audience. The last of her defenses crumbled, leaving her stripped bare before him. Finally allowing her to bridge the distance she’d placed between them.
She curled her fingers into Nash’s shirt and lifted onto her toes, brushing her mouth across his softly. The kiss was a confession, an apology.
His hands flexed on her waist, and she felt his surprise before he deepened the kiss with both searing gentleness and dark hunger. She drew his lower lip between hers, telling him with each caress that she wanted him, that she loved him. That she was sorrier than he’d ever know that she’d kept them apart.
When she drew back, questions filled his eyes as his thumb traced her cheek. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing. Everything.” Her voice fractured as she clenched her trembling fingers into fists. The weight of unspoken truths pressed against her. “I just need to…” She swallowed past the guilt lodged in her throat. “I need to give you everything I can. Everything I’m able to right now.”
Understanding lit his face. “I want it all.”
The secret she’d buried sat in her chest like molten lead, but she couldn’t voice it. Not here. Not now. Instead, she caught his hand and drew him toward the bed, willing him to read the raw honesty in her eyes. “It’s yours.”