Chapter 23

• Amara
• Amara's whole body burned as Leo kissed her. His kiss was deep and tender, the type of kiss that had her dreaming of not only sex with him, but life with him. It wasn't the type of kiss you gave someone if all you wanted to do was fuck them and then discard them. But still, it managed to ignite her nerve endings, making her body thrum. It made her feel like asking Leo in, taking him upstairs to her bedroom, and fucking the living daylights out of him if she was being totally honest with herself.
• Something still held her back, though. She knew she and Leo had had a great time tonight, and Leo had been nothing but nice, but she wasn't ready to fall into bed with him physically, and thus fall into his trap mentally. She was incredibly attracted to him; there was no denying that. And the more she got to know him, the more she realized it wasn't physical alone. That didn't mean, however, that she was ready to drop her defences and be open and vulnerable with him. Not yet. She wanted to get to that point; she really did, but she hadn't gotten there yet. It was going to take more than one good date to undo years of pain, and despite everything, there was still a part of her waiting for the other shoe to drop; waiting for the old Leo to resurface, to begin making comments about her looks, her figure. To belittle her and attempt to make her feel bad about herself.