I stayed put. I barely heard his retort as I raised my chin. “I will be a cancer to you.”

“Shut up.”

He still advanced.

I tuned him out. He wanted to hurt me, but we both knew I was the one who was really hurting him.

I lowered my head and said, “My mom was murdered, and my family abandoned me. I’m toxic. I’ll never be what you want.”

He was right in front of me. His eyes were still blazing, and his nostrils were flaring.

I didn’t move or retreat. The urge was there, but I just looked up and met his gaze, holding his eyes as fiercely as I was holding my ground.

“You think you’re fucked up?” His eyes were smoldering.

“I know I am.”

“Well, get in line, honey.” He bent, and his hands found my waist. “I listened to my brother die. Think that was a piece of cake? My publicist/manager betrayed me. Then I had to go and identify his body. Also another piece of cake, right?”

I didn’t react, but shivers of pleasure shot through me at his touch.

He straightened, lifting me with him.

I closed my eyes. What was I doing?

He was carrying me away, and somehow he seemed to know exactly where to go. We were just outside the hot spring. He stepped through the tree line, into the clearing, and he kept going. He went all the way into the water, clothes and all, and I was shivering, but it wasn’t from the cold.

My teeth were almost rattling together.

My limbs were shaking.

I had no idea what was going on with me.

I glanced down at myself, and it was like looking at a stranger’s body.

A single beam from the moon fell onto the water, and I could see how my nipples were erect. My legs had wound themselves around his waist. When he shifted so my back was resting over a rock, he didn’t move to retreat. He leaned over me, his eyes glittering from the moonlight, and his hand caught the side of my face.

His thumb rubbed over my cheek. “Your eyes are dilated. What are you thinking right now?”

That I had no idea what was happening.

I always wanted him. I understood that feeling, but there were others swirling around in me—feelings I had never experienced before. It was as if he pulled down the divider inside me, and the other half I thought dead was spilling free.

I shook my head, only able to gasp in sound.

He ran his hand down my throat, circling, and moving down my chest until it lay flat between my breasts.

My heart drummed stronger, trying to press against his hand. A soft smile lit up his face and he looked back to me. “You feel that?”

I was feeling too much. That was the problem.

I could still only gurgle out a sound.

I felt like I was dying.

I started to shake my head. I didn’t want this. It was too much, too overwhelming, too powerful.

It made me feel weak.

It made me feel vulnerable.

I hated this.

I began to push him away.

He tightened his hold on me. “Morgan. What’s wro—” He was frowning as he stepped back, but his hands were still on me.

My legs were still wound around his waist.

I was thrashing.

I had to get away from him, and I began to pound on his chest.

“Morgan!” He caught my wrists and pushed them down until my hands were pinned to my sides. His head was right above mine. There were only a few inches of space between our lips.

But I was raging on the inside.

I was panicked, but I knew my legs were still locked around him, my anchor. I couldn’t let go of him, but I wanted to be away. My insides were tearing in half—ripping and shredding and sending quakes through my whole body. I couldn’t even form words.

My mom was there. I was seeing flashes of her.

“Morgan, honey.”

Her voice was so soft, so warm, so loving.

She knelt in front of me, pulling me to her while he pounding against the door.

I felt her fear. She was shaking as badly as I was.

I felt her tears on my shoulders as she whispered, “I want you to grow up and be strong. Be bold. Be loving. Be fierce. I want you to have children of your own, and they will make you proud.” She pulled back, framing my face with her hands.

She knew she was going to die.

I had forgotten this memory.

The tears were coating her face. “You have already made me so proud. You’re so intelligent. You’re beautiful. You’re a leader. You will do amazing things one day.” She tapped my forehead, more tears sliding free. “And I can’t wait to see what you do.”

The guy at the door wouldn’t go away.

She hugged me again, burrowing her head into the crook of my neck and shoulder. “I love you so much, Morgan. And I will always, always be with you.” She pressed her hand right over my heart. “I’m right here. I’m in there with you.”

I returned to that rock, with Brody looking at me with such concern.

“Morgan?”

I pulled my hands from his and framed his face like my mother had done to me. “I’m here.”

He collapsed on top of me, his head falling to where hers had been. “God.” His body shook with fervor. “I was freaking out. You looked like you were having a seizure or something.” He lifted his head back up and smoothed my hair back. He kept repeating that movement to calm himself. “What just happened?”