“You did hurt me,” she accused, and as if to prove her point, she pulled on her hand once more.
“Ryleigh,” I said, frustration making my voice tight.
“Just let me go,” she said softly. “Please. I won’t tell anyone about you. Just let me go and leave me alone.”
“I wish I could,” I said, a little desperately.
Fuck, but how many times had I wished she didn’t captivate me so badly?
How many times had I realized Judge Hudson’s daughter was going to be my downfall?
And even knowing all of this, even knowing I was as bad for her as she was for me, I couldn’t fucking leave her alone.
“I tried,” I told her.
Not hard enough, but I had tried. When I realized I couldn’t kill her, that I was incapable of it, I tried to walk away. Let her live her life, and I would go about mine.
There was no room for love or relationships in my life.
What did I know about providing a stable, happy environment for someone like her?
A man like me shouldn’t have even touched her with my dirty hands. But I hadn’t been capable of letting her go, and now it was too fucking late.
She looked up at me with those stormy gray eyes of hers once more, holding me in a trance. Thick, dark lashes surrounded the pale-colored irises, and I was hit with the sudden urge to kiss away her misery.
To remind her how good it was between us.
It was complete shit the way we started, and I had been hiding a big part of my identity from her, but there was one thing we were so fucking good at.
Sofuckinggood at it.
We didn’t say anything for a beat. Our faces were so close to each other it felt like we were sharing the same breath.
Her eyes darkened, and I knew my desires were reflected in those eyes of hers.
Knew that whatever force that was pulling me toward her, she felt it too.
She could call me a monster all she wanted.
She could call me her stalker… her hunter.
But she couldn’t deny that she was my willing prey in this moment.
So I did the only logical thing left.
I slammed my lips against hers in a brutal kiss and took in her taste, knowing there would never be a time when I didn’t crave her.
Fuck.
She struggled against me at first, but I grabbed her waist and pulled her into my lap, lining us up so she could feel how hard I was against her.
She gasped when I pressed in against her, and I took full advantage and plunged my tongue inside her mouth.
Her fists pounded against my chest, trying to push me away.
I deepened the kiss, gliding my tongue across hers and taking in her taste, a low groan working its way up my chest.
She shook her head, but I followed her lips.
