“I can still feel you, Eva. Still taste you. I’ve beenhard since you left, through two meetings and oneteleconference. You’ve got the advantage, stateyour demands.”

“You forget who submits, Eva,” he said gruffly. “I’ve given up control for you. I’ve bent and adjusted for you. I’ll do anything to keep you and make you happy. But I can’t be tamed or topped. Don’t mistake indulgence for weakness.”

“You think you can say a few words and end us? There is no end, Eva.”

“I WAS seriously hurt because of you. Seeing you in another guy's arms, kissing him... It shredded me, Eva. Cut me open and left me bleeding. I kicked he ass in self-defense.”

“Love can be lost and found again. But that won’t happen for me. I won’t survive without you, Eva.”

“I don’t think you do. This” –he gestured impatiently at himself– “is just a fucking shell. You’re what drives me, Eva. Can you understand that? You’re my heart and soul. If something ever happened to you it would kill me, too. Keeping you safe is goddamned self-preservation! Tolerate it for me, if you won’t do it for yourself.”I surged into him, knocking him off-balance and onto his back. I kissed him hard, my heart pounding and blood roaring in my ears.“I hate to freak you out,” I murmured between desperate kisses, “but you’ve got it real bad for me.”

“I can let you in, Eva. I’m trying. But your first response when I screw up is to run away. You do it every time and I can’t stand feeling like any moment I’m going to do or say something wrong and you’re going to bolt.”