Save me.
He laughed at my tantrum, but below the surface, I felt it. Stewing anger and resentment. His humor faded at once when I aimed at his forehead and hit the bullseye.
“Would you like the dress too?” I ran to the room I had slept in, yanking the dress off the hanger. When I returned to our room, I lobbed it at his head.
He stared at it for a moment before he flung it to the ground, like it was soiled.
“I’m not claiming to have superior morality. My maturity when it comes to your past is mediocre at best. I have a habit of holding grudges.” All of the women that he—bile rose in my throat at the thought, but at least I didn’t try to assault them all. Or ask him to change his past. It couldn’t be changed. Nothing about jealousy made sense though. I should know. “But do you think it doesn’t hurt me to see pictures—the blonde in Fiji! I see you with her in my mind, knowing your hands were all over her wiggly breasts!”
In fact, the more I thought about it, the less higher moral ground I had to stand on. I wanted to hurt him like he hurt me, because he had wanted her, used her body for pleasures of the flesh. And he was mine!
He put his hands up, making a squeezing motion. “Not really soft, not even wiggly.” He grinned. “They were fake.”
Tears spilled at his words, hot and fast.
“That’s unfair. Crying. You can do it on a dime.” He snapped his fingers. “I can’t.”
I wiped away the rush, hating that he saw. “So is your past. I can’t hurt you like you can hurt me. All I can say is that his tongue felt wet in my ear!”
The noise from his chest seemed to rumble. He came after me and I went for him and we collided. He had to hold me in place to keep me from flying across the room.
“Take it off!” I screamed, pulling at his sweater. I could still smell the perfume. “Take the fucking thing off! It fucking stinks!”
I had become completely unhinged, and in a detached way, I realized that I had lifted the sweater from his head and then took off toward the front balcony. I threw it over the side. When I turned, I smacked into his rock-hard chest.
The sight of his abs distracted me for a moment. They were perfect, coated in silver from the bright moon, and I was hyperaware of his skin. Internally, he was like a furnace, and the air outside was near freezing. Goosebumps spread like snow against sand across his flesh.
He took both of my arms in his hands, forcing me to look at him. “I know the kind of men you are attracted to!” he hissed at me. “You chose me, married me, for God’s sake. The worst of them all! The difference between that bastard and me is that you are MY HEART! With a smartass mouth and a hot temper like yours—he would have already beaten you fucking senseless!”
I yanked my arms from his grasp. “You’re missing the point! I had no life! No life!”
“I didn’t have sex for three fucking years! Yeah, I know what I did after that night in the snow—I kept screwing around. But after we were together, I made a vow to you, to me, that I wouldn’t. I sent you away so you could concentrate on your career!”
“If you want ahoorahfrom me on that account, you can forget it!” I understood about a lot of things, but not that. I was celibate too, waiting for him to make up his damn mind. Though he never asked me to be. He didn't have to. It wasalwayshim.
He knew that too! He sent me off into the world with a constant reminder of how he had claimed me in a way no one else ever could or ever would. He made sure of it.
I just couldn't stand the thought of men getting passes when women didn't. He'd need hisfellasfor a pat on the back for that one.
Shoving past him, I went back into the warmth of the room. After a minute, he followed, but nothing had cooled.
“Stupid fucking me,” he said, eyes blazing hot. “I thought defending my wife’s honor would earn me respect.”
“My honor?” I whispered with venom. “You’ve had my honor since the day I fell in love with you!” I swallowed thickly. “What if I would have kissed Nick Stone when he asked?”
He straightened, seemingly growing bigger by the second, and became exceptionally still. “Scarlett.” My name came out as a serious warning—CODE RED,RUN!
Too bad I couldn’t hear over the screeching in my head.
“What then?” I continued, pushing even harder. “Or hadsexwith Nick Lomas? Would you have still wanted me? Or would I have been too dirty for you?”
“Get undressed.” He rolled one powerful shoulder. “Now.”
I stuck my chin up and crossed my arms over my chest. Brando without a shirt and with only jeans on…my body said,yes, sir!but my mind continually reminded me of the hurt in my heart.
Well, the unhitched part of my mind did. The sane part whispered that perhaps what he said about the blonde hurt me deep because I had issues from my father that stemmed from his countless affairs. Again, the screeching was coming from the irrational part, and nothing was truly making it through.
When he advanced, though, I backed up. The mind doesn’t need to be on point for survival instincts to automatically move legs. We played a sort of dodge and lunge game around the bed. He was stronger, but I could maneuver.For the time being.
