He laughed then, a cold, dangerous sound. His eyes held me prisoner, burning with determination and I knew if I didn’t get out of here soon ... he’d win. “You’re right,” he murmured, his gaze taking a cruel edge. “Even if you weren’t one of us … Delta, I wouldn’t fuck you. Poor little orphan girls are too needy.”
Rage burned in me, and my free hand cracked him clean across the face. It was a better slap than the clumsy hit I’d delivered to Catherine earlier. This one was crisp, snapping across his face with a satisfying sound but instantly, I regretted it.
What thefuckwas I thinking? This was a man I’d literally seenkill peoplea mere twenty-four hours ago. He’d shot them as casually as turning on the TV, and here I was ... slapping him. Had I damaged my fucking brain in the plane crash?
“Beck...” Panic gripped me, and I froze, waiting to see what he’d do. My hand was tingling from the slap, and a red mark was coming up on his cheek already, but he just stared at the wall. His jaw was so tight as his cheek ticked, and his hand still gripped my upper arm like a manacle.
Licking my lips, fucking terrified, I tried again. “Beck, I—”
Whatever I was going to say, I cut off with a squeak of fright as his furious glare swung from the wall back to me. His other hand came up to the back of my head, his fingers tangling in my long hair and I braced myself for his retaliation. Beck seemed like the tit for tat sort of guy.
My whole body tensed, but the blow never came. Or rather, it did ... just not in the way I was expecting.
Tightening his grip on my hair, Beck tipped my head back and crushed his lips to mine in a bruising kiss. For a long moment, shock held me totally immobile and I did nothing to push him away. Instead, I just stood there and let him kiss me while my brain ran around and around in circles screamingwhat the fuck is happening?
When my body finally caught up with my brain, I braced my hands on his hard, muscled chest and shoved him back from me, glaring up at him in fury.
“What thefuckdo you think you’re doing?” I shouted, feeling a bit like a banshee.
Beck shook his head slowly, breathing deeply as his gaze remained glued to my lips. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “This is insanity.”
But sanity was overrated. Right?
Impulse overtook my better sense, and my fingers curled in his black t-shirt, dragging him back to me and returning his kiss with one of my own, just as rough, violent and demanding as his had been. Our lips parted and our teeth clashed. It wasn’t pretty, but it was primal and needy and as hot as all fuck.
Beck’s huge hands grabbed me by the ass while my arms wound around his neck, desperate to get closer to him. Apparently he was on the same page, hoisting me up and letting my legs wrap around his waist as he walked us out of the room. Where he was taking me, I didn’t care. So long as hetook me.
Ugh, that scotch was fuzzing my brain and making me cheesy even inside my head. Whatever, who wouldn’t short circuit from kissing Sebastian Roman Beckett.
That thought sent my mind down a dark path, and I peeled my lips from his with conflicted reluctance.
“Nope,” I announced, shaking my head. “Nope, I’m not doing this. Put me down.”
Beck just chuckled, a shadowed noise that wasn’t humor so much as disbelief. “Not a chance in hell, Butterfly.”
“Sebastian,” I snapped, struggling in his grip and getting nowhere. His hands still held me tight against him, and his steps didn’t falter once as he carried me up the stairs and into the first bedroom on the right. “Put. Me. Down.”
“Or what?” he taunted, kicking the door shut.
Glaring at him, my hands braced against his chest, and I desperately tried not to caress all those hard muscles. “Or I’ll scream.”
This seemed to bring a genuine—if not mocking—smile to his face. “Maybe I’d like to hear you scream.” He said it in a way that left no room to mistake his meaning. He’d like to hear me scream ...his name in ecstasy as I came all over his cock. Yeah, I could fill in the gaps.
Even so, he did what I asked. Sort of.
He took a couple of long strides across the room, then released me rather abruptly, dropping me onto a ridiculously soft bed before standing over me.
“Do you really want to leave, Riley?” he asked in a more serious tone of voice. His eyes were dark, guarded, and his expression unreadable. “You can walk out of my house right now and we can pretend this never happened. Just go back to how things were. Is that what you want?”
Fuck no!My conscience was screaming,howlingdenials, but I just bit my lip.
Was that really what I wanted? To pretend this never happened and potentially miss my opportunity at ever exploring this fucked up chemistry between Beck and me?
“No.” The word fell from my lips like a fucking prayer, reverent and loaded with conviction.
It was all he needed. His weight dropped down on me, his lips on mine and his hands on my body. My mind was made up, I was all in. Fuck it, even if thingsdidgo back to normal tomorrow, at least I wouldn’t be wondering anymore.
Beck’s hands shoved my robe off my arms, then stripped my t-shirt over my head in one quick move—barely even breaking our kiss for a moment. Damn he was good. Must have been all the practice...
