that he tries to claim mine, but he doesn’t know how to keep a woman that belongs to a man like me satisfied. And I already know that my eyes, my heaven, roll back in your head, and not from pleasure, but from boredom when he does.”
His free hand slipped along my side, and damn me!, I shivered at the warmth. It was going to be a fierce game of tug of war with my heart, but my body had already surrendered to the enemy’s cause. It ached for him to claim me.
“When I fuck you, you’re going to go psycho, archer. Your mind is going to go mad for me. Your skin is going to burn for me. Those nails are going to claw me until I have stripes. That mouth is going to bite me until I bleed. You’re going to demand to mark me. It’ll be my heaven to own that entire body of yours.”
“You mean my heart?” I said. “You’re going to try to steal my heart to make Scott suffer. Your heaven will be his hell. What did he do? I deserve to know that much since I’m nothing but a pawn in this game of yours.”
“He stole from me first, and no one steals from me.”
“You’re getting even.”
“You’re the only person he’s ever truly loved, apart from his family.”
“He stole your heart,” I said.
“I don’t have one of those,” he said. “All the same, he stole something vital.”
So if Scott hadn’t been in love with me, it would’ve been a hard pass on Keely Ryan for Cash Kelly. He wouldn’t have given me a second glance, but since Scott was in love with me, truly in love, I was as good as Kelly’s.
Even if this was about revenge, and nothing more, he still couldn’t deny the attraction. His dick was pressing hard into my belly, and we’d hardly touched.
I couldn’t deny the lust, either, and I hated him even more for it. When he looked at me, heat crept up my neck. I’d only ever felt that when I was angry or upset, but never when a man looked at me. And when he touched me? Fire against paper.
There was something between us that felt wild, instinctual, almost...right.
“After you get your revenge?” My voice came out soft. “After you steal his heart, me, what then, Marauder? Where does that leave me?”
His eyes were hard on mine. “With me for always. As long as I live, he’ll never touch what’s mine again. What he’s sure is his. Love doesn’t just disappear, darlin’. We might move on and breathe, but that love forever marks us. What I’m stealing from him will forever mark him, as what he’s done to me scars my lungs. There are days the hurt is so great I can’t breathe. There’s no return for men like us.”
“For men like you,” I said.
“There’s a thin line between good and evil. Scott Stone walks the line every day, just like I do. We just choose different paths on a regular basis.”
“So poetic,” I whispered. My eyes were turned up to his, and I wanted to glare at him, but instead I kept blinking, ready to close my eyes, waiting for his lips to meet mine.
Kiss me. Kiss me. Kiss me. Steal that kiss, Marauder. Because I knew once he did, he would realize how strong the pull was between us, and that he wasn’t going to get out of this without a few more stripes, or maybe even scars.
He moved us until my back hit the wall of Harrison’s house. He stared down at me with eyes that were too beautiful for a soul like his. His entire physical being was too good for what he was, but somehow, it made him more appealing. A man all the girls wanted to tame.
As a woman, I’d turn into his kind of wild before I expected him to change. Because a tiger never changes its stripes.
“You think I don’t know what you’re up to, archer?” His breath fanned against my lips. “You want me to kiss you, to claim your mouth, so you can mark me, like I’ve already marked you.”
“Hah.” The noise was meant to be a bark, but it came out breathy. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with. I might want to kiss you, but I’ll be damned if I let you kiss me. I’m not going to give you what you’ll no doubt try to steal anyway. It’s called work, Kelly.