Wolf chuffed his approval. He recognized the sound as pride.
I second that.
He was so turned on that the zipper was biting into his dick until her voice cut through a lower part of the song.
She was chanting insults at herself every time she connected with the bag. When he heard, “I deserved it. I always deserved it.” Prowler was propelled into action.
Closing the distance between them, he scooped her up from behind. She screamed and began punching behind her. He took the abuse.
“Babe, it’s me. It’s me.” After a while, she stopped fighting back.
“Prowler?” He heard the tears before he saw the evidence—the red glistening eyes, the trails down her cheeks.
“Yeah, babe.”
When he felt her body relax, he lowered her until she stood on the floor. Turning her to face him, he cupped her cheeks.
“You deserved none of the bad shit ever done to you. And one day, I will have names. The only thing you deserve is love, Taylor. Love and security.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “And I plan on being the man to give it to you.”
Taylor stared at him for so long he thought she’d never speak again.
When her smile finally came, it wasn’t the beaming one he expected when she was overjoyed. No, it was a cautious one. Like she didn’t trust herself to hope or trust Prowler’s words.
“How can you say that? We’ve fucked around for a few months, but you don’t know anything about me. Hell, I don’t know anything about you either. Like your favorite color or?—”
“Jade.”
“What?”
“My favorite color. Jade, like your eyes.”
Eyes that promptly rolled at his words. “My point is, we don’t know each other. I don’t even know your first name.”
“I know if I kiss you here.” Prowler nipped the area where her shoulder met her neck. He tasted the saltiness on her skin from her earlier exertion. But underneath that was her intoxicating scent of sweet coffee and musk. “Your knees buckle.” As if on cue, he grabbed her hips as her legs wobbled.
“That’s irr?—”
“Riley. Riley Reynolds.” He didn’t need to add the last name. She knew that from the school pick-up slip she signed that was Cassady’s last name.
“You’re just making my point for me.” Her voice came out husky and breathless, and he wanted nothing more than to pound into her body like a madman. He knew that would be a mistake and validate her doubts.
“We’ve never even been on a date. No movie, no dinner. Nothing but sex. I know from experience that sex is nothing to build a relationship on. I’ve got the emotional trauma and restraining orders to prove it. And it wasn’t even that good.”
Prowler let her go and turned as quickly as preternaturally possible. He didn’t want to, but he had to. He felt it coming. Wolf was practically thrashing against him, howling to get out. To kill everyone who came before them.
While he could control the change, he couldn’t control the eyes. They always gave him away. Neither man nor beast would stand for her talking about dick from another man.
“Go answer your front door, Tay.” He spoke without turning around while striding toward the garage door.
“What?”
“Just answer the fucking door,” he said in a singsong voice to mask his rising anger and impending change.
While jogging around the house, he talked Wolf down. When they found the fuckers she mentioned, the abusive one, the one she mentioned in the garage, and anyone else who hurt her, he promised Wolf a kill.
By the time he was ringing her front bell, Wolf was satisfied with their agreement and melted back into the shadows.
The door flew open, and Taylor stood there, still dressed in barely anything, with her arms crossed over her chest.
