“Come here,ValCarrera. Come tell me how complicated it is, Mr. Drug Lord. Explain it to my face, because I’m dying to hear it straight from your lying goddamn mouth!”
I’d had enough. She’d overstepped the line. Jerking the handle of my gun from my pants, I threw it across the room and out of her grasp. Lunging at her, I secured her free wrist in a strong hold. The stunt she pulled exerted all her stored energy, and in her weakened state, she was no match for me. Collapsing underneath me, I easily wrestled her to the bed and pinned her arms above her head. My own arm throbbed in pain, and after Consuelos’s phone call, I’d been fucked with enough for one day.
“I knew I couldn’t trust you.”
Her eyes went blank. “Just kill me now,” she whispered, her voice hoarse from screaming. “What the fuck are you waiting for? Aren’t you the goddamn boss?”
“Yes, I’m the goddamn boss. You should fucking remember that. Men have died for less than the shit you just pulled.” I didn’t even know what the hell I was saying. She had me seeing red. I had no intention to hurt her, but I’d learned over the years that perception was power.
She turned her chin toward me and blinked. “Then do it.”
“What?” I didn’t know what I expected to come out of her mouth, but that wasn’t it.
With her arms restrained, she used the only thing she had left—her legs—which I currently had myself wedged between. Thrashing, she dug her heels into my lower back. “Just do it, so I don’t have to feel anything anymore or pretend like you give a damn.”
I don’t know what possessed me. Our bodies pressed together and heat radiated off her with a ferocity I couldn’t deny. The fire in her words and the desire that had my balls in a vice since I’d laid eyes on her, all drove me against her mouth. She gasped the moment I licked the seam of her lips, and I didn’t hesitate to dip my tongue inside. Still riled, Eden resisted for a few seconds, pushing her body away, and then against me.
Shifting her cheek to the side, she gulped in a lung full of air, her chest heaving. “Get off me!”
“Well, you might want to arrange a conference between your mouth and body,Cereza.There seems to be a miscommunication. For a woman who doesn’t want me to touch her, you’re pressing pretty close.”
She fought against my hold on her wrists. “You disgust me!”
I loomed over her, my pulse roaring in my ears. “You’re an insane, homicidal bitch!”
“Oh, you’re one to talk. You murder people for a living.”
I knew who I was, but her black-and-white assessment made me wince. A vein throbbed against my temple as I lowered my face against hers with a snarl. “You tried to stab me, what does that make you?”
“A failed mission.”
I should’ve walked away. The heated sparring flipped a switch in me, and after one taste, my need for her shattered. Logically, I knew if I didn’t pull away, I’d do something I couldn’t take back. But before registering the thought, I rejected it and crashed onto her lips again.
Tightening her fist, she attempted to punch me, but the stronghold I had on her prevented any movement. I had no forethought and no game plan. A riotous mix of lust and hate converged inside of me, pouring both into a kiss that took both of us by surprise. With a breathy gasp, she stopped struggling and moaned into it. Her body melted into mine, our tongues tangling at a furious pace.
“I should hate you,” she whispered between frantic kisses.
“I know.”
Bowing her back, she pushed her chest into mine, dropping her chin back and offering her neck. Wordlessly, I accept the invitation, diving in and sucking her skin between my teeth.
“I want to hate you.”
Groaning, I released her neck and followed a path down her collarbone. “Then hate me, but God, let me have what I’ve craved for months.”
At those words, something shattered inside Eden. Reservation died and both legs snaked around my waist, crossing at the ankles, and urging me closer. A long-drawn-out sigh ghosted from her chest on a whimper.
It was that whimper, breathless and sultry with a hint of remaining fear, that broke the hold on my resolve. Lifting my mouth from her chest, I took in the flush painting her cheeks and the want in her eyes. Her lips struggled to form words that never came.
They didn’t have to. Only one made it past a whisper. “Val…”
The sound was my name. The meaning was fuck me.
Reaching a hand in my pocket, I pulled out a small metal key. Holding her cuffed hand steady, I turned the key, springing the lock free. Before she could react, I grabbed her free hand and crossed it over the other one, snapping the lock in place over both.
Glancing above her head, her eyebrows lifted, but my body lit on fire as I stared hungrily at her bare skin. Fusing my mouth to hers once more, I plunged inside, needing the taste of her more than I cared to admit. With her arms bound above her head, her back arched even more and pressed her breasts into my palms.
I wasn’t a man used to waiting for what he wanted. This moment would be no exception.
