“I’ve always loved you.” A shudder worked through him, and he pulled her closer. “I’ve always wanted you. They don’t have a word for how much I need you. Everything good I am, everything good I’ve ever done…it’s all you. You make me a king. Without you, I’m just another psychotic thug.”

“I should have told you. I guess I...wanted you to know. I wanted you to know what I needed, but maybe you couldn't understand that what I needed was you.""Do you need me?""I can survive without you, but it's only that. Surviving. I want to live.”

“I’m gonna hold on to my self-control as long as I fucking can. And when I can’t…”She held her breath until her lungs burned, but he didn’t elaborate. “When you can’t? What happens then?”His mouth brushed the sensitive spot where her neck joined her shoulder. Teeth grazed her skin. “Then Lord have mercy on you, Lexie love. Because I won’t.”

“You want it rough and raw,” he rasped in a low whisper. “I’ll give you that, love. I’ll give you the fucking world.”

“I’ll be any man you want. A king or a beggar or a farmer or a killer. But I’ll never be the man who can let you walk away.”

“He knows what’s his.”Lex’s knees went weak. “Do you know, Dallas?”“Every fucking thing I see,” he replied, close enough for his breath to stir the hair at her temple. “But you most of all. You above everyone.”

“I can’t do this without you. I can’t be Dallas without Lex.”