DARE-TO-LOVE-TRUTH-AND-DARE-DUET-COLLECTION-by-Lylah-James-pdfarchive

“No, I should have found you sooner.” I kissed down the
length of her scars, brushing over every inch of raised and
marked flesh. “If I knew you were out there, I would have
come looking for you.”
Lila let out a small cry and pulled my head up. Her lips
found mine, and I tasted her salty tears through our kiss.
Don’t cry, little dragon. Don’t cry.
Her tears were my undoing.
Her pain decimated me.
My heart withered, as she cried softly against my lips.
She kissed me like I was the oxygen she needed to live, like
I was the very air she breathed.
Our kiss, filled with torment and desperation, burned
through my soul and branded me from the inside.
Hours later, I stayed awake, watching Lila sleep. My
thumb caressed her bare hips, feeling her soft skin. I
couldn’t stop touching her, couldn’t bring myself to pull
away and disconnect our bodies.
My lips feathered across her cheek. “I know you don’t
need a knight,” I said, listening to her slow, even breathing
as she slept. “But I want to be your knight. There’s a need
inside me. A fierce need to protect you. To keep you safe.
An intense need that seems to push me to be a better man.
It’s my driving force. You are not the damsel in distress, but
I still want to be your knight, Lila.”
I wanted to protect her… but by protecting her…
My Lila knew me too well. She could tell something was
wrong, but I couldn’t tell her.
Not now, not yet. Maybe not ever.
Some truths were better left unsaid; some lies were
better told to protect, and some secrets were better meant
to stay secrets.
I needed more time with her, to love her longer, before
everything would fall apart…
Because if she ever found out the truth, Lila was going
to hate me.