Free Possession: Steel Brothers Saga: Book Three by Helen Hardt Page B

hopefully as a last dad too. I didn’t want to think of Talon meeting any other girlfriends’ dads ever. I wanted to be his one and only girlfriend for the rest of his life. But it was way too soon to voice those thoughts.
    “I have so much to work out, blue eyes.”
    “Can’t you let me help you? I want to help you. I love you.”
    He closed his eyes. “I don’t want you going out with Steve Dugan.”
    “Talon, I don’t want to go out with Steve Dugan. But I need to know that you and I are moving forward. That we’re in a real relationship. That what we have means something to you.”
    He opened his dark eyes. “How could you think it doesn’t mean something to me? I told you I loved you, for God’s sake. I’ve never said that before.”
    “I understand. I really do. And I’m so glad you love me. It means everything to me. But what are we to each other? Up until now, I haven’t felt I could tell anyone that I’m in a relationship with you. Are you okay with that? If Steve Dugan or anyone else asks me out again, can I say I’m in a relationship with you?”
    He took a sip of iced tea, seemingly lost in thought. He closed his eyes again. “Jade, I want a relationship with you more than I’ve ever wanted anything. I’ve told you this before. You’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted.”
    “You have me, Talon. So why do I feel like I can’t tell people about us?”
    “This is difficult for me. I’ve never…”
    “You’ve never what? Been in a relationship? You’ve made that clear. What’s the big deal here?”
    He sighed and took another sip of his drink. “I’ve got so many things to work out, Jade. I don’t know if I’m ready to go public with a relationship yet.”
    “Then what am I supposed to tell Steve Dugan or the next guy who asks me out? And Talon, men will ask me out.” I added that last part for Talon’s benefit. Frankly, I’d never been nearly as popular with the guys as someone as gorgeous as Marj was, but it wouldn’t hurt Talon to think I was.
    “I don’t want men asking you out.”
    “How exactly are you going to stop them? This is a small town, and I’m new blood. If you’re not willing to admit that you’re in a relationship with me and men don’t know that I’m taken, how do you expect to keep them from asking me out?”
    “You can just say no. Tell them what you told Dugan. That you just got out of a long relationship and are taking it easy. That’s even partially true.”
    “Or”—I braced myself—“I could just go out with the guys who ask me out.”
    His face reddened. “ What? ”
    “You heard me. Steve Dugan is a good-looking man. He seemed pretty nice and straightforward. What would be the harm in having a drink with him?”
    He stood and grabbed my shoulders, yanking me out of my chair. “You will not have a drink with Steve Dugan or any other man, here or anywhere.”
    “Are you forbidding me? Just like you forbade me to get a tattoo?”
    His eyes blazed with fire. “Goddamnit, Jade, why the fuck do you do this to me?”
    “Do what—”
    His lips came down on mine. His tongue was cold from the iced tea, but still he tasted of Talon—sweet minty cinnamon. This was one of his raw kisses, one of his kisses that said I was his and only his.
    If only he were willing to say that with words.
    I pulled away with a smack. “Talon, we—”
    His lips crushed onto mine again. No use talking to him right now. Talon was showing me something he didn’t have to, something I already knew very well. That I was his. And I was willing to be his, his lover, his life partner even, if he wanted it that way. But I wasn’t about to be told what I could and couldn’t do.
    I tried pulling away again, but his grip was too hard. We were suctioned together. So I let the kiss happen. Kissing Talon was no hardship. I loved every minute of it. Our tongues twirled together as he kissed me hard with passion, with fervor. His kisses were like a drug, something that got