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There it was.

“You think I should go.”

“No. Christ, Mouse, that’s not what I said.”

“It’s what it sounds like.”

He reached for me with his free hand, then stopped before touching me.

“I believe what’s between us is real. I believe it so much that the thought of you walking away from me makes me fucking sick.”

The words stopped some of the anger building inside me.

“But I also know how we got here,” he continued. “We met in a dungeon. You were my way out, and I became yours. Since then, every time your world falls apart, I’m the man standing there telling you I can fix it.”

The worst part was that he had touched a fear I already had.

I loved being safe with him. I loved his hands on me, his voice, his bed, the way the world seemed manageable when his arms were around me. I had no idea yet how much of that was simply Lachlan and how much had been forged while we were trying to survive.

The question frightened me, but acknowledging that it existed was not the same thing as letting him answer it for me.

“You think I might confuse loving you with what happened to us.”

His expression changed at the word loving, but he didn’t interrupt.

“I think you deserve the chance to know the difference without wondering someday whether you stayed because I was the first safe place you found.”

I swallowed. “So what are you suggesting?”

He was quiet long enough that unease crawled higher.

“I think I should step back for a while. Give you room to sort through all of this without me influencing the answer.”

For a moment, I could only stare at him.

“I didn’t ask you to step back.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you deciding that’s what I need?”

“Mouse—”

“No. Listen to yourself.”

I pulled my hand from his.

“Nik convinced himself he was protecting me when he made a decision that should have been mine. Now you’re so determined to make sure I’m free to choose that you’ve decided I need distance from you before you’ll trust whatever answer I give you.”

“That isn’t what I’m trying to do.”

“I know it isn’t.” My voice rose anyway. “That’s what makes this so maddening.”

I wiped the new tears from my face.

“If you want my choice to be free, stop telling me what I have to do before you’ll believe me.”

He had no answer for that.