She’s furious, waves of palpable rage rolling off her, stirring my blood and making my cock twitch.
“You’re so fucking crazy! What, were you standing outside the door and listening or something?”
“I was simply waiting for my invitation, and that offer still stands.” I arch an arrogant eyebrow. "But you're not fucking around with this asshole.”
I walk toward him, but Romi’s quick to step in between us. I don’t like the way she fucking defends him. It only further sours my mood.
“I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but who I fuck is of no concern to you.”
“It has everything to do with me. I don’t know if I made myself clear, but just because you wanted to play a little cat-and-mouse game by kicking me out doesn’t change my intentions toward you,Cattivella. As for this less-than-average-looking man, you can throw him out within the next thirty seconds, or I’ll kill him and dispose of the body.”
I begin to count back from thirty.
“Are you fucking crazy?!” she whisper-shouts.
“Try me. Twenty-five. Twenty-four.”
The man is moaning and groaning as he crawls toward the door. At least he’s a wise man, even while disoriented. She watches him, her mouth agape. Once he’s out, I slam the door shut behind him, and her eyes go wide.
“What is wrong with you?!” She hiccups.
When I step into her space, I can smell the vodka, but I know that’s not the only influence she’s under tonight. This seems to be a part of her avoidance pattern, one I’ve become very accustomed to.
“You’re not allowed to be here! I kicked you out!” she screams, shoving me. I barely take a step back, and she shoves me again. I let her push me again and again, seeing that scared, angry little animal inside of her crying out in pain.
It taunts my own demon. Except, where I might’ve once wanted to wind her up while she’s in episodes like this, I now want to be the calm to her storm. There’s an invisible string between us that continues drawing us to one another, and I’m just waiting until she admits noticing it herself.
She shoves at me again, and my cock twitches, excited by her punishment and the way her gaze sears me.
“I haven’t been absent for that long, and look at what mischief you get up to without me here,Cattivella. It would appear I should watch you more carefully.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? You’ve been watching me. Every. Single. Day.”
I smirk, pleased that she noticed me, just as I’d hoped. Outside of my work, I was orbiting around her. How could she not notice my obsession?
“You don’t own me. I can’t believe you just threw my hookup out the door.” She begins to tear at her hair.
“You didn’t want to fuck him,” I say as I slide into her space, forcing her back against the wall and threading my fingers through her hair to tilt her face up to mine. She takes in a sharp breath, and I can’t help but graze my nose against her throat and along her neck, embracing the scent of her that I’ve missed this past week. This woman is definitely furthering my insanity. “Did you?”
“Whatever was between us is done.” She breathes hard as her gaze meets mine. I rub my nose against hers, smirking as her body syncs with mine so naturally, even she can’t deny how perfectly she was crafted for me.
“On the contrary. Everything we’ve done before was only foreplay, sweetheart.”
Her gaze drops to my lips, and I can’t help but smile, because I know for a fact she's interested in me. It’s only that scathing little mouth that gets in the way, and yet it’s my favorite part about her.
“You get cocky when we fuck,” she berates, and I feel like I’ve already won. Especially considering she’s no longer trying to shove me away.
“That’s the part you like about me the most. I’m not sharing you anymore. Do you understand?”
She scoffs but doesn’t look away. “I don’t belong to you, Dante Moretti.” I love the way my name rolls off her lips, dripping in venom. “I don’t like any part of you. That’s why I kicked you out.”
My smirk only widens. “Then explain to me why that little cunt of yours is needily grinding against me.”
Her gaze rapidly scans mine, her breath becoming short and choppy. I want to know what’s running through that busy mind of hers, and what the trigger was to make her drown herself at the bottom of a bottle again. But I know trapping this little beast is a delicate matter, letting the wounded animal come to me only when she feels safe.
As safe as anyone could feel in my presence, anyway.
She brushes her lips against mine, taking me by surprise. From the moment I met her, Romi has shunned intimacy. So have I, but I've been willing to take whatever she’ll give me.
