“Eric, don’t . . .” She almost couldn’t look at him. “This isn’t going to solve anything. What’s done is done.”
He took hold of her face and forced her stare into his. The anguish and lack of self-confidence there wrenched at her heart. Since she’d gone, she knew he worked too many hours and drank too much when he was off duty. She’d heard that he plowed through dozens of women, as if trying to prove that he was no less appealing than Tyler.
Fighting Eric physically was futile. Since regaining his mobility, he’d clearly been working out. He’d never been in better shape. Her only choice was to try to fend him off with words. And if she could give him any peace, maybe this would stop and they could all move on with their lives.
“Babe . . . Did I—I matter to you? Really?”
There was his painful insecurity. He hated it, and the vulnerability always made him so angry that he got mean. She had to talk fast. “Of course! I married you. I lived with you. I bought a house with you. I took care of you when you were shot. I loved you.”
“But you never once responded to sex with me the way you did to Tyler that night.” Self-doubt clouded his eyes.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” she tried to argue. “What we had is over.”
“Because of him. And I hate the way we ended, babe. I want to remember what you feel like again.” Eric bent toward her.
His gaze caught hers, fused her stare with his as he came closer, closer. Before she could shove him away, he pressed their lips together, then nudged her mouth open and dove in. In the background, she could hear Tyler growl, his handcuffs rattle against the stainless steel. But the nervous roar of her heartbeat filled her ears. Eric tasted like whiskey and desperation. Aversion filled her, and she tried to wrench away, wishing she were anyplace else. But he couldn’t stay in this emotional limbo where he both wanted and hated her, where he seemed determined to punish all of them for the past.
Del pushed against the hard granite of his chest, dying a little inside. Two years ago, she would have been so grateful for any sign that he didn’t hate her. Now, everything inside her rebelled. She pushed again, but Eric didn’t notice, merely dragged her closer, fitting his hard body against her curves and moaning into her mouth.
“I’m going to make you come, babe. It’s going to feel so good.”
No chance of that happening. She gave him a little shove.
“Del! Goddamn it, no!” Tyler shouted.
When Eric tried to take her mouth again, she bit his lip. He yelped, and she broke away.
“What the hell are you doing? You want to play rough? Is that how you like it now? Fine by me.” Eric licked at the little cut she’d made in his lip and began to unbutton his shirt, looking at her with nasty promise in his eyes.
Her belly flipped, turned. Nerves set in, but she forced herself to try to stay calm. Both men were damn near rabid with anger. If she lost it, too, this was going to get ugly fast. Tyler getting in the middle of it was only challenging Eric more and making him ratchet up faster. She gave Tyler a little shake of her head. He had to understand that they’d get nowhere finding the flash drive or healing their past unless Eric could get some confidence and closure.
“It’s not easy to watch, is it?” Eric gloated. “Seeing me kiss her? Wait until I put my hands and lips all over her, then get my c**k deep inside her and f**k her breathless. How furious and helpless do you think you’re going to feel then?”
Chapter Eleven
FUCK no. His inability to help Del brewed a raging fury in Tyler that he felt to the very core of his being. “You begged me to have sex with Del. I didn’t ask for this shit today.”
“When you demanded she come for you repeatedly, then knocked her up, you absolutely did,” Eric assured.
“Eric . . .” Del protested. “I don’t want this. You’re forcing me. If we were any other two people, you’d arrest the bastard for what you’re doing to me now.”
His former friend just shrugged, seemingly determined to prove something to everyone in the room, especially himself. Del sought to defuse the situation, but the way he’d worked himself up, Tyler doubted that saying anything to the stubborn bastard was going to do a damn bit of good.
Eric freed the last of his buttons and shoved his shirt off his shoulders. He’d always been in good shape, but now his body was leaner, harder, roped with more muscle. Bigger. Del’s breathing turned ragged. Her eyes went wide with fear.
Anger pumped through Tyler’s veins. Dread kicked him in the stomach. Again, he yanked on the cuff. The refrigerator was heavier than a motherfucker, and it screeched across the hardwood floor another inch or two. His wrist throbbed like a bitch. Drops of blood burned their way down his forearm. He didn’t care. Whatever it took to get to Del.
“Come here, babe.” Eric brushed his knuckles across her ni**les, tweaking one hard enough to make her whimper.
“Get your f**king hands off her,” Tyler demanded, grabbing both handles of the refrigerator now and trying to drag it close enough to kick Eric’s ass. The heavy-duty plug tethered to the wall prevented him from going any farther.
And Tyler couldn’t unsee the way his former friend manhandled her, the way she struggled against him futilely. The vision burned into his brain. A violent urge to pound Eric into the ground roared through him.
Then the bastard upped the stakes and yanked off Del’s shirt in a few swipes of his hand. She screamed and shoved at him, fighting the panic dawning on her face. “Eric, don’t. Please. Listen to reason. This is wrong and you know it.”
“No means no!” Tyler roared.
Eric ignored them both and clawed her bra off, even as Del fought, kicking and slapping. In seconds, she stood half naked, backing away. When she tried to cross her arms over her bare br**sts, he grabbed her wrists and held them together at the small of her back, forcing her to arch closer to him.