“Stop,” came the simple command that fell from his lips in the afterglow of intimacy. Sweat-slicked and breath still heavy, he had both arms slung heavily across her torso with his face pressed into her hair. His words vibrated against her skin when he moved his mouth to kiss her cheek.<br/><br/>“I think it's time for you to take a reality check, Lane Barnes, so you stop making excuses for the behavior of those in your past – and possibly present. I also want you to stop second guessing my words,” he continued, voice low. One hand slid over her hip, up her side, then nudged up underneath her chin to lift her face up to his.<br/><br/>He wore an expression of consternation – brow lowered and a slight frown on his face, as if he were trying to figure out the right thing to say. Or at least sift through the obstacles that kept presenting themselves at the forefront of his mind. There was one in particular that kept screaming at him in angry red:<b>you fuck everything up. </b>And<i>don't do it.</i><br/><br/>But he did anyhow. “I think I decided that I would be your next big mistake before I ever opened my mouth. Are you OK with that? Because it's not a matter of whether or not I'm going to use you for sex and leave you high and dry – that's already done if that's what is happening. I think the important thing here is whether or not this is a good idea.”<br/><br/>He grinned crookedly down to her and rolled again so that he lay on his back. One arm remained draped around her, but his gaze had shifted to stare at her ceiling. With his freed hand he plucked one of her own up and placed it on his chest above his heart. The rhythm was erratic, off beat, like someone suffering from arrhythmia.<br/><br/>“It's not,” he answered for them both. “But I don't want to leave you alone. So I'm probably not.”<br/><br/>It was his way of admitting to their connection – regardless of her ancestor, though in part because of that – without going too in depth on an emotional level. For a man who wrapped words around his little finger and strung them along, his tongue always snagged at the most important times.<br/><br/>“What do you want, Lane? Do you want this to be just another conquest in your bedpost?” He tilted his head back down to stare at her, a smirk on his face.