He hesitated. “I’ve had fantasies for a long time.” His gaze lifted to my restrained hands. “Dark fantasies I never thought I’d act on. I don’t know what I did to you, or what that place did to me, but it scares the fuck out of me.”

“You don’t have to be afraid.”

He stepped back and took in my nakedness with a single glance. “We’ve always orbited each other,” he said, pausing with a shake of his head, “but I never imagined it would lead to…this.”

“Never imagined we’d be so right for each other? Rafe, you already know how I feel about you.”

“You had a crush on me.”

“Is that how you saw me back then? Just an annoying kid?”

“At first, maybe.” His green eyes flickered to my face again. “I felt it too. I won’t deny it, but I’ve got eight years of memory missing, and you’ve been…so fucking scarred by Zach and me, I don’t understand how you’re standing on two feet right now.”

“Technically, I’m on my toes.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “You surprise me. Your strength inspires me, Alex.”

“Don’t mistake me for being strong.” Nighttime always hit hard, when the dark wee hours of morning choked me with loneliness. The scars on my body didn’t compare to the ones no one could see, though I felt them each night, pressing on my chest until I couldn’t breathe. “I’m here in shackles because I’m not strong.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I need you. I’m sick with needing you.” I cursed my trembling lips. “No matter what you do, no matter what you remember or don’t, I’m yours.”

He groaned. “Even if I keep you strung up like that?”

“You’ve done it before, for hours in the dark. Naked, just like I am now.”

“Why did I do that?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Punishment.”

“What the hell did you do to deserve that?”

Hurt pinged through me at the thought of him making me eat off the floor. But that happened before he’d known the truth. I regretted not telling him sooner. “I threw a tantrum.” More like a plate of food.

“A tantrum?”

“Yes.” I shifted my weight to the other foot and pulled at the restraints, though I knew I’d find no escape from the burn in my shoulders or the ache in my feet.

My restless movements caught his attention, and he adjusted his jeans. “Shit, seeing you like this…you have no idea what it’s doing to me. I might not remember, but my body does. I want to hoist those legs up and fuck you raw. My cock is insisting you’re mine.”

“Your cock is right. You should listen to it.”