Cain pulled away from her and she could feel his stare through the layer of darkness. It was if he was trying to see into her very soul. She opened her mouth to speak when the sound of toenails skittering across a floor caught her attention. A soft woof filled the air before a cold, wet nose thrust itself in her hand.

Katie jumped and then laughed, glad the sensual spell was broken. Talk, she reminded herself. They needed to talk. Needing a moment to compose herself, she greeted Gabriel and rubbed his ears and back. In dog heaven, he stretched out on his back and she accommodated him by scrubbing his belly. All the while, she could feel Cain watching her. Waiting.

Finally, he ran out of patience. “Gabriel, kitchen.” Gabriel whined, but with one last lick to Katie’s hand, he trotted back to the kitchen.

Katie took off her coat and hung it by the door, aware of Cain’s presence as never before. Taking a moment to compose herself, she picked her purse off the floor and hung it next to her coat.

“You seem nervous, Katie. Why?” He walked towards the living room, not glancing behind to see if she was following him. She trailed behind him, determined to get him to talk to her.

It was now or never. “Why didn’t you tell me you were E. S. Investors?” Katie waited for him to explain that he was afraid it would have hurt their relationship or that he hadn’t wanted to hurt her. She waited. And waited. She anticipated every response except the one she got.

“It was none of your business.” Cain’s voice was calm and cool as he stood by the fireplace and waited for her reply.

Katie was shocked to her very core. Then she got angry.

“Not my business.” She stalked up to him and poked him in the chest with her finger. “Not my business,” she repeated. “It was my workplace you were affecting and you knew it because I told you all about it. And worse, you let me and didn’t say a thing.”

Cain turned and walked to the corner of the room. Bottles clinked and then the sound of liquid being poured into a glass followed. He returned to her side with two glasses filled with an amber liquid. The smell of scotch wafted up to her nose as he pressed one of the glasses into her hands.

“Drink up.” He took a sip from his own glass before continuing. “There’s no need for this dramatic scene. It simply isn’t any of your business.”

“How can you say that? I thought we were building something special.” She could feel the tears welling in her eyes and her throat tightened as she did her best to fight them back. She had promised herself she wouldn’t cry.

“Just because we’re sleeping together doesn’t mean I’ll let you dictate my business practices. It made good sense to buy the building, so I did. End of story.” He sounded bored by the whole subject.

“I don’t understand.” Katie desperately tried to make out his features in the dark, but he kept to the shadows.

“No, I can see that you don’t.” He paced towards her like some huge jungle cat on the prowl, his eye glittering in the darkness. “Did you think you could manipulate me with sex? Did you think that professing your love would get me to change my mind?” His voice was cold and mocking. “Better women than you have tried, Katie.”

Katie couldn’t believe the hurtful things he was saying. “How can you even think anything like that, let alone say it?” She was shocked by the conclusions he had drawn. It had never occurred to her that he might view her actions in such a way.

He reached out and caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger and leaned down close. “Because that is what people do.” He spoke slowly and clearly as if instructing a child.

“Not when people love each other, they don’t,” she quietly responded.

Cain laughed bitterly. “Love. I’ll tell you about love.” He turned away and began to pace the room. “Do you know where I was?”

“You know that I don’t.” She remained still, not wanting to distract him.

“My mother, my last living relative finally died and I went home to take care of the legal work.” He stopped and turned to glare at her. “Home. What a joke.”

“I’m sorry about your mother.” She reached her hand out to him and dropped it immediately as she sensed his growing anger.

Cain erupted, flinging his glass against the fireplace. It shattered into hundreds of pieces as it crashed into the stone. Shards flew into the air and Katie jumped back in reflex.

“Sorry…” Cain’s voice lowered to a harsh whisper. “Don’t be sorry, I’m sure as hell not. My parents beat the hell out of me when I was a kid for no other reason that they were unhappy, miserable people. They never really wanted a kid and they made that fact known until I got too big for them to hit. Then they got afraid of me as I grew bigger and bigger. And do you know what I did?”

He didn’t wait for her to answer, but kept right on talking. “I used that fear to make them let me go live with my mother’s father. My grandfather, Elijah Stone, was the only person who ever cared for me. I was eighteen when he died.” Anger rolled off him in waves. “I’ve been on my own since.”

Katie backed up as Cain stalked towards her. A bead of sweat ran down her back even as she shivered. Deep down, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her, but right now he was a frightening sight. His face was a shadowy mask of rage, contorting his features. She’d forgotten how large a man he truly was until he began bearing down on her. His massive chest heaved with every harsh breath he took, and his hands were clenched into giant fists.

“Love. My parents claimed they loved me even as they did everything to destroy me. Love doesn’t exist.” Cain loomed over her as he finished his tirade. He raked both hands through his hair in agitation. “So you can see, Katie. I can’t be controlled or manipulated by anyone or anything. I do as I choose.”

Katie tried to stop herself, but she could not restrain the tears that fell from her eyes. The images Cain’s words conjured broke her heart. She could picture a young, dark-haired boy being abused and knew that far worse damage had been done to his heart. She reached out to him, wanting to do no more than comfort him. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t you dare feel sorry for me.” Cain gripped her by the arms and pulled her close to him.

Katie knew Cain would never have told her any of this if his mother’s death hadn’t ripped open a wound that had never healed. All his old memories and hurts had boiled over and he’d been unable to contain them. If she hadn’t demanded to see him tonight, his defenses would have been firmly back in place and she might never have known anything about his mother or his childhood.

“Don’t you dare,” he muttered between clenched teeth before leaning down and kissing her hard.

Katie could feel the anger and pain in his bruising kiss, so rather than fight him she gave in to him. His lips ground hard against hers and she forced them to soften. Opening her mouth, she invited him in. His tongue thrust into hers and she responded by wrapping her arms around him. Immediately, his kiss softened. He gently sucked her tongue before licking her swollen lips in silent apology.

When his lips licked up a salty tear, he used his thumbs to carefully wipe her tears away. He took a deep breath before slowly releasing it. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Katie sniffed back her tears and, although she knew she shouldn’t ask, her heart needed to know. “Is that what happened to you?” She brushed the side of his scarred face before he could withdraw.

He quickly captured her hand and drew it back to his lips for a kiss. “No. That was an apartment fire when I was in college.” Cain wrapped his arms around her and they held on tight to one another, two people spent by the outpouring of emotions. The dark was like a protective cocoon, protecting them from the rest of the world. Katie took these few moments to try and digest everything she’d just learned about Cain. She sensed his growing restlessness and knew their moment of respite was coming to an end.

Cain pulled back from her embrace, drawing his protective armor back on as he went. Spreading his legs apart, he braced himself as if for a blow. “So where does that leave us?”

“I don’t know,” she honestly replied.

Cain laughed and it was a hollow sound. “So much for loving me.” His voice was laced with sarcasm as he poured himself another drink, gave her a mock salute, and took a large swallow.

“That’s not fair.” Katie’s thoughts were totally disjointed, but she suspected that Cain didn’t know what love really was. If his childhood was as bleak as he’d painted it, and she suspected it was even worse, then it was up to her to teach him about true love. Having made her decision, her next action was easier than she expected.

Padding silently across the floor to Cain, she found his hand and gripped it in both of hers. Without saying a word, she tugged at his fingers, urging him to follow her. She knew she couldn’t move him without his cooperation, but she needn’t have worried, for he put down his glass and followed her unquestioningly.

Katie gingerly picked her way up the darkened hallway and into Cain’s bedroom. He stopped right inside the door and wouldn’t budge. Instead, he tugged her around to face him.

“There’s no going back, you know.”

“There never was.” Reaching up to him, she tugged his head down to hers and kissed him, holding nothing back. She poured all her pent-up feelings and emotions into this one kiss. Love, tenderness, and passion all mixed together in this heady embrace. Katie gentled him with her hands, massaging his scalp with her fingers before moving downward to rub the tense muscles in his back and his shoulders.