Captive Curves by Christa Wick Read Free Book Online Page B

what it was -- a way station, not a home.  
    “If you’re making friends, opening up--” His attention jumped back to the bookshelf, his right brow lifting slightly.  
    Making a quick mental inventory of my to-be-read pile, I felt a rush of blood to my face. I put my hands on the table, hoping to divert his attention. “Some acquaintances from work. It’s hard to make friends when I’m trying to concentrate on remembering what name to answer to.”  
    Frowning, I tilted my head to the side. “But I guess you know what that’s like, Dino.”  
    The little twitch of his mouth and the way his eyes slid back in my direction told me he was no longer thinking about the hot little romance on my bookshelf.  
    “So, now you’re all up to speed.” I finished with a flat little smile.  
    “You said you had questions.” He tossed the smile right back at me, his gaze still shuttered. “What do you want to know?”  
    My question hadn’t changed, neither had my inability to ask it. Was it all a game or did you want me -- do you want me now?  
    Lifting my shoulders, I looked away. “You’ve answered them already.”  
    “All of them, lit--” He froze and I felt my heart do a back flip.  
    My eyes slowly shut, heat instantly coalescing low in my stomach at the words he had just stopped short of saying. Little dove.  
    “Have I answered all of yours?” I whispered, my eyes still shut.  
    “All the ones I’ve asked.”  
    How the hell could he sound so self-possessed when I was splintering inside? I looked at him knowing I was starting to cry but unable to stop the tears. “What haven’t you asked?”  
    “Do you hate me?” His voice was level but both of his hands gripped his leg, one at the knee and the other wrapped around his ankle, the knuckles white from how hard he was squeezing. “Do you think I made the wrong choice?”  
    I blinked at the question. “Do I think saving me was the wrong choice?”  
    What kind of question was that!  
    “How I saved you,” he corrected. His voice had finally started to crack and he shut his mouth with a snap, his jaw flexing as his teeth started to grind.  
    My expression widened, the muscles around my eyes stretching as far as they could go. “You had another option?”  
    When he shrugged, I wanted to hit him.  
    “Answer me!”  
    His mouth opened then closed, making him look like a fish that had just jumped from its bowl. Seeing him flounder sent a small thrill shooting through me. Whether as Dino or Dean -- Ramirez was a man who knew the right word and when to use it. He’d had mere seconds to save me from Feo. He’d stared down Jefe after the door had been busted in and walked me out of that drug house with a duffel full of the old man’s heroin. He’d clearly fought other battles in the months since we parted and he had survived.  
    Yet here he was…at a loss…at last.  
    I repeated my demand, gently this time. “How can I answer you, Dean, if you don’t answer me?”  
    Dean shook his head. “I don’t know if there was another option, I’ll never know. What I did wasn’t based on training or reason. Fuck, thinking wasn’t part of the equation.”  
    He put his foot on the floor, braced himself with a hand on each knee and stared straight into my eyes. “It was pure impulse spurred by desire.”  
    I gave one slow nod as the answer sank in and then I closed my eyes. I couldn’t look at him and still say what I wanted to say. “You want me to forgive you?”  
    “Yes.”  
    I took a deep breath in, let it out with a glacial slowness. “For stripping me naked and tying me to the bed?”  
    He swallowed so hard I could hear it. “Yes.”  
    “For touching me when I pleaded with you to let me go?”  
    “Yes.” His voice cracked at the admission.  
    “For letting Manny watch?” Finishing the question, I opened my eyes.  
    Dean looked, for a second, like he was going to throw up but then he swallowed and nodded,