DANGEROUS TERRITORY

"I want you so much it's driving me insane," he said quietly, his voice rougher now, stripped of control. "Every time you walk into a room, I feel it. Every time you look at me with those eyes..."

His jaw tightened.
"You have no idea how badly I want to lose control with you."
A shiver ran down my spine.
"Then why are you fighting it?" I asked softly, stepping closer.
He stepped back immediately, as if my presence burned him.
"You don't understand," he muttered.
"I understand enough," I said, my voice shaking slightly. "You want me. I want you. So what's the problem?"
His dark gaze snapped to mine.
For a moment, something dangerous flickered in his eyes, something raw and almost frightening.
"The problem," he said slowly, "is that men like me ruin women like you."
The words hung heavy in the air.
I frowned. "You don't get to decide that."
He laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
"If you knew the things I've done... the things I'm capable of..." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "You wouldn't be standing this close to me."
"I'm still here," I said quietly.

That seemed to affect him more than anything else I'd said.
His eyes softened for the briefest second before the wall came back up.
"That's exactly the problem."
Silence fell between us.
Thick. Heavy. Electric.
Finally, he turned away from me as if the sight of me physically hurt him.
"I'm not the man for you, Jessica."
My chest tightened painfully.
"And you don't get to decide that either," I replied, my voice steadier than I felt.
He didn't answer.
He just walked away.