“You have nothing to apologize for.”

“I do.” I kissed his t-shirt over his heart, doing my best not to inhale the scent of imprisonment and cheap detergent. “And I might as well apologize for this, too.”

He pulled away, searching my eyes. “For what?”

“For this.” Standing on my tiptoes, I pulled his head down to mine.

My lips slotted over his, and I held on, linking my fingers tight around his nape as he tried to yank away. “Kiss me.” I fed into his mouth. “Trust me.” I poured down his throat.

We needed this now more than ever.

We’d ripped off scabs over old wounds. We needed to heal them rather than let them scar.

“Elle—” His hands landed on my hips, holding me firm. “Stop...” His voice said one thing, but his mouth said another. Slowly, he turned from stiff to pliant, unyielding to full participant.

His head tilted, angling me closer, kissing me deeper.

My anxiety quickened then lessened. My need thickened then loosened.

This was our night.

I wouldn’t let him steal it.

“If we do this, there’s no turning back...you understand?” He broke the kiss, whispering so soft my ears strained to catch it. “You let me have you, then you accept that I might never get out of here. That you’ll forever be restricted to a lover who can’t touch you, hug you, hang out and watch movies with you. If you stay, that’s it...the sum future I can offer you.”

He brushed his lips over mine. “I’m giving you a way out, Elle. Say the word, and I’ll let you go. It will fucking kill me. You’ll rip my heart out, and I’ll die in here, but at least I’ll be happy knowing you were free. Leave me, Elle. Don’t let me get away with stealing yet more from you.”

He was so open, so ardent.

He didn’t have a clue he just glued me to him for the rest of my life.

My lips twitched. I hid my smile for as long as I could before it crept over me. “Tell me one thing. Then I’ll make my choice.”

He swallowed hard as if bracing himself for me to walk out of this room and take him up on his offer. But even in his terror, he nodded with shoulders braced. There stood Nameless, not Penn. The man in the hoodie who drove off two men to protect me. He’d drive himself off, too, if it meant protecting me from him.

That’s what he’s trying to do by refusing to sleep with me tonight.

Well, it wouldn’t work.

He was mine. Simple.

“Tell me you don’t love me.” I placed both palms on his chest. His muscles beneath my fingertips rose and fell with rapid breath. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t love me and I’ll go. I’ll leave you alone.”

He crumpled. The answer blared so loud and bright it filled the entire room. It didn’t matter he’d said it already with admitting he’d fallen for me three years ago. I let him verbalize, so we both knew he could never take it back. That he willingly admitted that despite wanting to live in an ideal world with picnics and vacations and lazy Sundays in bed, we might never have that. This might be our world with precious conjugal visits and achingly hard visitation.

But love would overcome that.

It had to.

Because I didn’t want, couldn’t stomach the thought of loving anyone else.

Finally, his shoulders realigned into confident, not angry. His spine unlocked. His face shed its mask, and his voice said what his eyes had all along.

“I can’t tell you that.” His hand cupped my cheek, his thumb running along my bottom lip. “I can’t tell you I don’t love you because that’s not true. It’s never been true.” He tipped forward, kissing me so, so soft. “I love you, Elle. I’m obsessed with you, consumed by you. You make me crazy and not necessarily in good ways. But I can’t lie to you anymore. I love you. So fucking much it kills me.”

My smile was sunshine and hot days as I kissed him back. “Then trust that. Trust that I love you, too. Trust that whatever happens, we’ll fight it together. Turn off that voice inside you that’s trying to screw everything up. Just trust like you’ve told me to do so many times before.”

He nuzzled into my neck. “You’re bossy as well as nosy.”

I laughed softly. “You bring out the worst in me.”

His eyes filled with intensity. “Yet you bring out the best in me.”

“Guess that means we’re perfect for each other.” My lip trembled, happiness overflowing.

Penn frowned, kissing me gently. “Suddenly, you don’t look convinced.”

“I am convinced. Completely. I’m just—” More truth bubbled, and I blurted, “I’m so afraid of losing you. That I’m the reason why you’re in here, and I don’t know if I have the power to get you out.”

“Hey...” He captured my cheeks with both hands, holding me tight. “You have power over me. That’s all you ever need.”

“Does that mean I can command you to spend the night with me, and you have to obey?”

A sly grin transformed him from serious to player. “Are you asking me to fuck you, Ms. Charlston?”

I nodded. “Again and again, Mr. Everett. Multiple times. Will you?”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Penn

I’D TRIED TO do the right thing.

I really fucking had.

The thought of having Elle in this place turned me right off, but kissing her blueberry-glossed lips and knowing she had nothing on underneath her skirt scrambled with my right and wrong.