Stay With Me by Maya Banks Read Free Book Online Page A

beseeching.
    “Once, I could understand. Hell, a dozen even. But you’ve made it your practice to put me second.” She broke off with an indelicate snort, one that bordered precariously close to tears. “I doubt I rank anywhere as high as second. I’ve spent the last few years begging, craving your time, your love. I’ve been patient. I’ve been understanding. I’ve smiled and nodded when I was screaming on the inside. I accept that it’s my fault. I let it go on way too long, but you know what? I don’t have to do it any longer. You speak of an anniversary dinner and one cancelled trip, and God, I wish that was all it was. Would that it were that simple. You’ve made your lives without me, without regard to my feelings or my wants and needs. Well, it’s time for me to step up and be responsible for my own happiness.”
    She stood, no longer able to remain still, to sit there calmly and rationally. She couldn’t pretend to have a civil breakfast conversation when her entire life was falling apart.
    “Cat, wait,” Rhys called as she ducked out of the alcove and hurried down the winding paths.
    “Catherine, damn it, stop.”
    Logan was close. She couldn’t outrun him, but she wouldn’t go meekly to the slaughter. Her spine stiff, she continued at a fast clip until his hand snagged her elbow and pulled her up short.
    He yanked her around, pulling her close until she collided with his chest. His other hand cupped her face, and he slanted his lips over hers, drinking deep, tasting her, devouring her like a man starving.
    “I won’t let you go,” he vowed. “You can say what you want. You can rail at me. You can hit me, hate me, but I’m never letting you go.”
    “You don’t have a choice. You can’t make me love you, Logan.”
    It was a sorry thing to say even as angry as she was. Hurt flashed in his eyes, and he looked…devastated. Her heart contracted as he stared at her.
    “Are you saying you don’t love me anymore?” he asked in a tight voice.
    She closed her eyes as a tear slid down her cheek. “You know I love you.”
    “Prove it,” he challenged.
    She yanked her arm angrily away from him. “I don’t have to prove anything to you,” she spit out.
    “Come back to the room with me and Rhys and listen to what we have to say, Catherine. Give us a chance. Let us try to make you happy again.”
    She glanced over his shoulder to see Rhys standing in the pathway, hands shoved into his pants pockets. He looked tired and defeated.
    “Please, baby,” Logan said softly. He reached for her hand, curling her fingers into his. His thumb stroked over her palm, and he brought her hand up to his mouth to kiss her knuckles.
    “No sex,” she said solemnly, knowing damn well they’d both use any means necessary to press their advantage. “Sex won’t fix what’s wrong.”
    Logan scowled.
    “Talk. You’re supposed to talk to me.” As much as she wanted them to touch her again, to take her, to possess her—she’d spent the last months aching for them to do just that—they had to talk about the problem, not disguise it with sex.
    Rhys chuckled in the background, and Logan only scowled harder.
    “Jesus Christ, Catherine, when did you become one of those let’s talk about our feelings girls?”
    “When you stopped talking to me,” she replied.
    Not giving him a chance to respond or protest, she walked around him and back toward the hotel. Rhys fell into step beside her, but she ignored him as she made her way to the lobby.
    She punched angrily at the elevator button, impatient when it didn’t immediately respond. Rhys quietly took her hand and held it close to his body while they waited for the doors to open.
    He couldn’t know how much it hurt her to be this close, to feel him touch her so lovingly. If he did, surely he wouldn’t do it.
    He ushered her into the elevator, Logan crowding in behind them. She backed away as he closed in on her. His hands cupped her shoulders, and he kissed her