I don’t push on the ‘urgent things’. If it has to do with killing, then I’d rather not know.
Instead, I offer something back. “About yesterday, the only reason I asked you to leave is because I didn’t want an unnecessary conflict between you and Liam.”
“Are you lying to me to save his life?”
I push away from him so his body heat isn’t overwhelming mine. “You can’t go on killing people just because you can.”
“I won’t.”
I eye him suspiciously. “You won’t?”
“I’m tempted to…” At my glare, he trails off. “But I can control myself for you.”
For me.
He’s making an effort for me. Why does the thought fill me with unprecedented joy?
With a scowl, he snatches my arm and yanks me towards him until I’m sitting on his lap. “Now, don’t leave just because you can. That’s not how this works, beautiful.”
I smile despite myself. “You’re weird. Did you know that?”
“I can take weird. I’ve been called worse.”
As his metallic gaze meets mine, I realise for the first time that maybe I’ve been hurting him every time I called him a monster.
You abandoned him like his parents. Nonna’s words play at the back of my head and I feel like the shittiest person alive. I know first-hand how childhood trauma can shape a person’s life. I can’t begin to imagine how Shadow sees the whole thing.
Something in me, an irrational, hormone-driven side wants to make him feel better. I reach out and plant a kiss on his cheek. “Liam is my childhood friend, not my boyfriend. We’ve known each other for more than fifteen years.”
He narrows his eyes. “That long?”
I nudge him. “Nothing happens between us. He’s like my big bro.”
His eyes squint further like he doesn’t believe me. “I still don’t like it.”
“What are you going to do about it?” I taunt.
“Don’t push me.” His voice is steel hard, but his eyes blaze with wild lust. He’s like a predator waiting for the prey to move so he can pounce.
If it’s for him, I’m willing to be a prey any day.
Sick pleasure tightens my limbs and melts with my bones. The familiar rush of adrenaline grips me and I push off him, jerking to my feet.
I run to the door, but the moment I open it, a hand slams it shut. A familiar, larger-than-life presence glues to my back.
All of this is so sick, but I can’t deny the pleasure I derive from pushing his buttons. We both love the chase and the fight. I’m already soaking wet at the thought of a struggle.
He’s warm. Too warm. I can’t help leaning into him even though I’m supposed to fight him.
“Where do you think you’re going, beautiful?” he whispers in hot sultry words in my ear. I can hardly hear him over my roaring heartbeat.
I elbow him and try the doorknob again. “Away from you.”
The dark, deep chuckle fills me with both excitement and dread. “You’re not going anywhere.”
I spin around and puff my chest forward. “Make. Me.”
A gleam shines in his eyes as he pushes into me. His leg yanks mine apart and he rubs an unmistakable bulge against the bottom of my stomach. “Oh, I’ll make you all right. You’ll come over my cock so many times, you won’t be able to move for days.”
Yes, please.
My subconscious erases everything except for the man staring down at me with untamed want. Sometimes, I feel like he wants to hurt me, and while it should send me running for the hills, it has the complete opposite effect. The idea that I have such an impact on a dangerous, wild man like Shadow fills me with overwhelming thrill.
He picks me up and throws me over his shoulder. I yelp, even though my heart is hammering with excitement. I pound on his back, but he doesn’t loosen his hold. On the contrary, he tightens it then slaps my arse.
I gasp at the new, sweeping sensation. “You’re a nightmare!”
“You love me for it.” The amusement drifts wild and clear.
“Humph. Don’t flatter yourself.”
He lowers me on the bed as if I weigh nothing and he’s on me before I can blink.
The intensity in his overcast eyes almost burns me. “You’re mine and will always be. Start getting used to it, beautiful.”
His mouth finds the pulse point in my neck. My skin ignites in a thousand fires, and then he bites down hard. I bite back at his shoulder. The struggle goes on for what seems like forever. Our clothes are half torn