“I do.”
She inhaled a sharp breath just before I slanted my mouth over hers. A soft whimper slipped from her lips as our tongues touched.
My heart raced. Heat surged through my body as she kissed me back. My tongue was in her mouth, and I wrapped her braid around my fist.
But her arms hung loosely at her sides. Her mouth was mine, but something had shifted between us, something was broken, and it was my fault.
“Don’t do this,” I whispered against her lips. “Please.”
For a moment, she didn’t speak as tears fell from her beautiful eyes. “I do need you, but I’m not enough for you.”
“Micki, you’re all I want.” I wiped the tears from her face with a brush of my thumb across her cheek.
“Would you give up the Hellers? Give up the patch?”
Besides McKelle, I’d never wanted anything more than being part of the MC. “Is that what you want?”
“No, because you’d hate me if I asked you to leave.” She dipped her head. “But I’ll hate myself if I stay.”
When she lifted her face again, I felt the hurt in her eyes deep in my chest. My gut clenched, and a poisonous fear tainted my blood. My throat tightened, and my knees weakened.
No. Fuck this. We weren’t done. The thought of losing her knifed through my heart. The last twenty-four hours had gutted me. She needed to be reminded of how good we were together. I backed her against the wall, split her legs with my thigh, and crashed my mouth onto hers.
I claimed her, sucking her tongue, biting her lips, and grinding my thigh against the heat of her pussy. Myfucking pussy. Every part of her was mine, and I wasn’t letting go, not without a fight.
Fighting was what we did best.
She rocked her hips, grinding her pussy against my thigh. The kiss turned feral. Her piercing glided along my tongue, teasing my memory and my dick with the way it always was between us. I couldn’t kiss her deep enough.
Together, we were fire.
With desperation, she ate at my mouth as her fingers clawed at my shoulders, climbing me like a wild tiger. But then her hand was on my chest, pushing me away.
“Micki, I’ll do whatever you ask.” I rested my forehead against hers.
She gasped for a breath and touched her tongue to her upper lip. “Cruz, this is where we’re good. It hurts to say, but this is all we have.”
Her words slipped like ice through my veins. A prickle at the base of my skull was a warning. I was losing her. She was my oxygen, my gravity, she was the only person on the whole fucking planet I cared about.
“I want you to leave.” She stared into my eyes. “I want you to leave me alone. I can’t…I can’t see you. I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Micki—”
“Cruz, please.” Her voice was whisper-quiet and broken. “It’s the only way I’ll get over you.”
I closed my eyes, breathed deeply, and released a shaky exhale. “If you want me to go, I’ll go.” The bitter aftertaste of the words clung to my tongue. I needed one more kiss. I grasped her braid, running the silky strands through my fingers. I brushed a soft kiss against her lips. “I promise, I’ll give you space. But don’t shut me out. Unblock me, yeah?”
With a barely a nod, she agreed. “But don’t call me.”
“Can I text?” I needed something, a lifeline to her.
“Only if you don’t blow up my phone.”
“Whatever you need,” I said. “I’m not giving up on us.”
I started to spin away, but she grabbed my hand.
“Don’t do anything stupid, okay?”
