“Yeah? Well, what about the blood from the other day? How did that happen? Do you expect me to stay in the house the whole time while we’re here? You go out and do whatever you please—and I know damn well Krew does too. So why can’t I—Oh wait, is it because I’m a weak woman—because I’m not strong? Well, get this through your head, Decker Moss. I. Am. Strong.” I punctuated each word while pointing at myself.
“It takes more than strength to be strong. You have to listen too. Damn it, your strength isn’t going to stop a bullet.”
I was so pissed that I couldn’t see the point Decker was trying to make. “You know what? You don’t get it. I’m going inside, and you can just go fuck off,” I shouted and tried to move around him.
“Fuck off?” In a flash, Decker was inches from me, so close that his hard puffs of breaths fanned across my face. “Did I hear you right?”
“Yes, but I’ll say it again. Fuck off.” I refused to back down. He wasn’t going to intimidate me.
“You want to know where the blood came from? Alright. Listen up, princess. There were hired killers out there wanting to shoot you dead. The blood came from them. They came here to put a bullet in your and Krew’s heads, but I got rid of them—for you and him.” He pointed a finger toward the house, before he moved it to my temple. “Is it worth all these vegetables now?” He shot a hand out, smacking the basket out of my hands.
Decker was hulking over me like some snarling dog, ready to take a bite. I stumbled back, both from what he said and the enraged look in his eyes.
Fear and something foreign trickled into my body, and I was terrified and excited at the same time. God, I was sick. The need to run was followed by a shot of lust as an image of Decker hunting me down and fucking me in the garden had my pussy slick and ready.
Before I did something utterly stupid like taunting him into chasing me, I shouted in his face. “Step back, Deck.”
Decker moved, giving me room to escape. I quickly raced to the front of the house, but I heard him following close behind.
“You’re not going to shout in my face and then take off like a coward, Regi—not after you spouted so much about being strong.” His taunt and maniacal laughter added layer of mortification to my now sour attitude.
“Leave me, alone.” Damn it, I was whining. But Decker was right. I was a coward, and I wasn’t strong. No amount of strength was going to stop a bullet aimed at me.
It was foolish to stand up to him, knowing full well that I’d never be tough enough to face any man, least of all Decker. I wasn’t before, and I’d just proven that fact again.
“I can’t believe my girl had the balls to tell me to fuck off right to my face.” He chuckled, like he approved of my verbal retaliation, which was all confusing. One moment, he was raging at me about safety, and now he was acting like this was all funny.
I barely made it around to the front of the house when Decker’s words hit me like a sledge hammer. Did he call me his girl? Because I wasn’t. I was nobody’s girl, especially not his.
“What do you think, Krew?”
I nearly tripped over my feet, halting in front of the door, where Krew stood, arms folded across his bare chest.
“Are you being a dick again?” Even though he glared at Decker with open hostility, Krew made no move to shield me.
“No,” Decker said.
“Yes,” I countered at the same time.
“I think you two need to work this out on your own.” Krew spun around and strode back into the house, closing the door—leaving me open mouthed and shocked. He had left me with this jerk.
I took a step toward the door, when Decker’s fingers gripped my upper arm and spun me around. He almost made me trip in those damn flip flops. My back was pushed against the clapboard house, and his body pinned me in place.
I gulped, realizing Decker’s sizable erection was pressing against my lower abdomen. I stood there, attempting to ignore him and the escalating excitement coursing through my veins. He was turned on as much as I was.
Gaa! Stop this before it’s too late.
“Do I have your full attention now?” Decker clipped out as he ground his hips into me. His granite shaft was a contradiction to his lips, dipped into a deep frown. They were a inch away from mine.
My heart was racing from the rush of heat that pooled in my core. I didn’t want to be turned on by his aggressive touch. My body didn’t seem to care, which made me even angrier—at me, for being all hot and bothered by this jerk treating me this way.
“Step back, Deck,” I repeated. My eyes never looked away from his fiery blue ones.
“No,” he snarled in a whisper. “I want to know what the hell’s going on with you. And why aren’t you taking my precautions seriously?”
“There’s nothing going on with me,” I said, wanting to knee him in the balls just to make him back off. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want him even closer. His mouth on me, his hands all over my body, his?—
“Liar.” Decker angled his head slightly, his eyes narrowed, like he was trying to read my mind. Then the tip of his tongue slipped passed his lips, and I followed the trail until it met one corner of his sexy mouth.
