Chapter 449 The Ultimatum
Chapter 449 The Ultimatum
His heart contracted so violently it felt as though the muscle would tear itself apart.
Every tendon in his frame drew tight, awareness settling in–he was probing her again, pushing against the limits of her patience to see where she would break.
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“I won’t!” Quinn’s answer broke out before she could temper it. “Julius, I’m not the kind of woman who ughters friendship on the altar of romance.”
The words hit him like sleet. His eyes dropped; long ckshes hid the sudden dimming of hope.
Of course, he thought, that was the only answer she could give. He should have expected it.
What <i>exactly </i><i>have </i><i>I </i><i>been </i><i>hoping </i><i>for</i><i>? </i>
No one knew better than he did that her love for him still ran dangerously shallow.
Quinn bit down on her lower lip until color fled from it. She knew precisely the response he craved, yet lying to him felt like poisoning the very soil they were trying <i>to </i>mend.
“But that doesn’t mean I love you any less,” she whispered, cupping his face so their eyes met on the same fragile ne. “Forgive me, Julius–I simply can’t love in absolutes. My world holds friends, family, all iming pieces of my heart, and I refuse to carve them away.”
Julius held her gaze, unmoving. Yes, she was different from him.
Her universe thrummed with countless constetions of people, each demanding its own orbit.
His universe revolved around a single sun–Quinn–and nothing else existed beyond her light.
“If…” Quinn exhaled as though bracing to leap from a cliff. “If your difort is so great you can’t live with it, tell me now.”
She knew that if some contradictions proved impossible to reconcile, she would–however unwillingly–choose to <i>release </i>his hand.
Julius felt as if an unseen fist had punched straight through <i>his </i>rib cage and yanked at <i>his </i>heart. <i>Is </i><i>she </i><i>preparing </i>to <i>let </i><i>me </i>go<i>–</i><i>before </i>I had even <i>shown </i>her how deeply <i>I </i><i>could </i><i>love</i><i>? </i>
Panic closed around his throat, invisible yet merciless, choking the breath from him.
Chapter 449 The Ultimatum
<i>No. </i><i>This </i><i>cannot </i><i>happen</i>.
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No<i>–</i><i>absolutely </i><i>not</i><i>. </i><i>How </i><i>could </i><i>she </i><i>even </i><i>imagine </i><i>loosening </i>her grip <i>and </i>watching <i>me </i>disappear?
Quinn pivoted toward him, rm ring in her eyes. “Julius, what’s wrong? Your face has gone ghost–white. Are you feeling unwell?”
She reached up, intent on brushing his forehead for a fever. Julius caught her wrist with a snap of muscle and will. “So you’re ready to give up on me–for Han?”
Quinn froze, confusion sshing across her features. “What did you just say?<i>” </i>
The eyes
that were once winter–calm now glowed a raw, furious crimson. “I asked if you were going to give up on me.”
Quinn’s throat worked as she searched for steady breath. “I only think that if you can’t stand my heart holding more than one person, then I’ll respect that. I can…”
Her words shattered beneath the sudden crush of his mouth. The kiss was brutal–nothing like the tentative brush they’d shared in the mall earlier—this was a storm breaking against the cliffs.
It raged<i>, </i>a gale intent on sweeping every doubt away, violent enough to tear the air from her lungs.
“M–mm… Julius, you… stop, I…” Each time she pried her lips apart to plead, his descended harder, drowning sybles before they could live.
The kiss drove so deep she thought she might drown on drynd.
Atst, he pulled back. Quinn gulped for air–then stiffened as cold shock rippled through her limbs.
His fingers had already torn open her blouse. His lips roamed–neck, shoulder–leaving a feverish trail of possessive bites.
“Ah!” The cry slipped out when his teeth closed, hard enough to brand a bruise.
“What are <i>you </i>doing? We need to talk–tell me what’s really in your head!” Quinn’s words tumbled out, sharp with panic.
She refused to let another misunderstanding bloom between them.
“You want rity? Fine, I’ll spell it out! You said you wanted us back together–you promised you’d love me deeper every single day–you swore you’d stake your life on it. So why, after a
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Chapter 449 The Ultimatum
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single sentence from me, are you ready to cast me off?”
The voice that was once cool as sleet now rasped, edged with raw gravel.
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Quinn stared at him, stunned. His crimson eyes drilled into her, every question a de of
usation.
“I was just afraid you couldn’t ept it,” she whispered, lips tender from his assault.
Julius panted, gaze still locked on her as though she were thest anchor in a storm–tossed sea
He wanted to keep her–every nce, every heartbeat–solely for himself.
What he coveted was absolute possession, leaving no corner of her untouched by his im.
So the idea of her feelings straying–of being shared–was poison to him.
Yet worse than any jealousy was the terror that she might actually let him go.
How could <i>she </i><i>even </i><i>consider </i><i>such </i><i>a thing? </i>
“Quinn, if you mean to prove you love me, how can you even think of quitting so easily?” His roar shook like a wounded beast.
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She searched his face<i>. </i><i>Is </i><i>that </i><i>fear </i><i>beneath </i><i>the </i><i>fury</i><i>? </i>2
“I just thought if this conflict can’t <i>be </i>mended, then perhaps we should…”
“Stop–don’t finish that sentence! There is no ‘perhaps‘!” he cut her short.