Page 32

I pushed it open, hard, making her stumble back. The door slammed shut behind me, the sound echoing like a gunshot. I grabbed her wrist, yanking her into me. Her body crashed against my chest, her soft curves meeting my taut muscles, igniting the fire I had been holding back.

"You blocked me?" My voice was low, dark, dripping with barely controlled rage. "You think you can just push me away?"

Her eyes widened, fear and stubbornness flashing in them. She tried to pull free, but my grip was like steel, locking her in place.

"Let me go!" she snapped, her voice shaking but angry. "You don't get to barge into my place! You don't get to do this to me!"

"Do this?" I sneered, my other hand grabbing her chin, forcing her to look at me. "You forgot how you begged for me last night? How you said you wanted me?"

Her face flushed, tears brimming, but she clenched her jaw, glaring. "That was a mistake! You're a liar!" She broke free, snatching her phone from the table, her hands shaking as she shoved a photo in my face. "Look at this! Don't tell me that's not you!"

I glanced at the screen, and my blood boiled. It was Ginnie, her overdone face pressed close to mine, red nails digging into my chest, the club's dim lights in the background. I could still smell her suffocating perfume, feel her clingy hands before I had shoved her off. Someone had snapped that moment and sent it to Cassie. On purpose.

"All this over a photo?" My voice was ice, fury burning hotter. "You didn't even ask me?"

"I saw it!" she choked out, tears falling, her voice raw. "That woman was all over you! You said it was 'urgent business.' You think I'm an idiot?"

"You don't trust me." I narrowed my eyes, my voice low, dangerous. "You'd rather trust some photo than give me a chance to explain?"

"Why should I trust you?" she yelled, tears blurring her eyes. "You made me feel like a fucking joke! The flowers, the words—were they all lies?"

Her words cut, but her lack of faith fueled my anger more. I didn't explain myself—never had, never would. But her tears, the pain in her eyes, twisted something in me, mixing rage with a pang I didn't want to name.

"I don't explain," I said coldly, tightening my grip on her chin. "You don't deserve it."

Hurt flashed across her face, but I didn't give her a chance to respond. I slammed her against the wall, my lips crashing onto hers. No gentleness, just raw, possessive need, fueled by anger and hunger. I forced her mouth open, my tongue claiming every inch, like I was trying to devour her.

She fought back, fists pounding my chest, but it only drove me harder. My hand slid to the back of her head, fingers tangling in her hair, holding her still as I deepened the kiss. Her resistance faltered, her body softening, her hands clutching my shirt, her response turning fierce, desperate.

"Fuck, Cassie," I growled against her lips, my voice rough as sandpaper. "You think you can run from me? You're mine, got it?"

Her breaths were ragged, her chest heaving against mine, each press driving me wild. Her eyes, half-open, shimmered with tears and desire, her lips swollen from my kiss.

"I don't want," she gasped, her voice breaking, "to be hurt again."

"Hurt?" I gripped her waist, pulling her tighter, my voice low and dangerous. "I never meant to hurt you. I want you, Cassie—every fucking part of you. You think I'd let you walk away? No chance."

Her body trembled under my hands, not from fear but from the fire I had sparked. Her eyes were hazy, caught between reason and need, but her body was honest—she wanted me as bad as I wanted her.

No more waiting. I grabbed her sweater, ripping it open, buttons popping like gunfire in the quiet room. Her gasp was swallowed by my next kiss as I lifted her, carrying her to the bedroom and tossing her onto the messy bed. Moonlight spilled through the curtains, painting her curves in silver, her red hair splayed like fire on the pillow.

"You're mine, ???????," I said, my voice hard, commanding. "Don't even think about leaving."

Her eyes widened, tears falling, but there was a flicker of surrender in them, mixed with something that made my blood race. She bit her lip, her body arching slightly, a silent invitation.

Tonight, I wasn't playing soft like the night before. I needed her to know she was mine, always. I yanked off my belt, the metal buckle clinking sharply. Her breath hitched, her pupils dilating with a mix of fear and anticipation.

"Gennady," she whispered, her voice trembling, pleading. "Don't."

"Don't what?" I leaned down, my lips brushing her ear, my breath hot against her skin. "Don't make you remember who you belong to?"

I grabbed her wrists, pinning them above her head, and looped the belt around them, tying them to the headboard. Her breath caught, her body tensing, but her eyes burned with need.

I was gonna make her lose herself in this fucked-up, perfect night.

Her body sprawled beneath me, moonlight carving sharp shadows across her curves, her red hair a tangled, fiery halo against the sheets. Her sweater hung in tatters, ripped apart by my hands, the lacy bra beneath barely clinging to her skin, frayed and useless. Her chest heaved, flushed a furious pink, and those eyes—fuck, those eyes—blazed with defiance and a raw, reckless surrender that ignited something primal in me. The belt I’d clamped around her wrists bit into her skin, chaining her arms to the headboard, her body taut, exposed, and entirely at my mercy. I was teetering on the edge of rage, every nerve screaming, my blood roaring with the need to claim, to break, to own.

I knelt on the bed, my hands seizing her thighs with bruising force, shoving her skirt up to her hips. Her breath hitched, a choked whimper escaping as my fingers grazed the soaked lace between her legs. She was dripping, her body betraying her even as she yanked against the restraints, the leather creaking under her struggle. I smirked, but it was sharp, cruel, fueled by the storm raging in my chest. I leaned down, my teeth sinking into the soft flesh of her inner thigh, hard enough to draw a gasp and leave a red welt that would darken into a bruise by dawn. She writhed, her hips twitching, but I pinned her down, my grip unrelenting.