A beat. A breath. Then the truth.
“Fuck… I’ve loved you since the day I laid eyes on you.”
It slips out like it’s always been there, waiting to be admitted—waiting for the moment I stopped pretending this wasn’t deeper than control or lust.
I love her. And I’ll ruin anything that tries to take her from me.
Even her.
Chapter 15
Ruin Me
Summer
The truck growls to life, headlights carving through dusk. My chest is still pounding, not from fear—at least not the kind I can name. From the kiss. From the way he lifted me like I was nothing, slammed me into steel like I belonged there, and kissed me until I forgot my own name. But that isn’t what claws at me now. It’s what he said after.
“I need you—fuck… I love you.”
The words loop in my head, relentless, like a song I can’t turn off. I stare at the windshield, hands locked in my lap, thighs squeezed together so tight I can barely breathe.
He said he loves me.
Jacob Darnell. Sheriff. Executioner. Captor. The man who dragged me into his world and called it protection. Who punishes me for glances, who burns hotter than hell itself when I resist, who’s spent every day proving he’s too dangerous to love anything. And now he’s said it. Love.
The word guts me—warm and brittle, a knife I can’t decide if I want pulled out or driven deeper. I should be scared. I should laugh in his face. But all I feel is ache.
The same ache he started last night when his hands stripped away every wall I had. The ache still humming beneath my skin,restless and alive, like my body remembers him even when he isn’t touching me. And God help me—I don’t want it to stop. I don’t just want his hands. I want him. All of him.
Jacob doesn’t do soft. He isn’t built for gentle. He’s built to ruin.
I’m about to give it to the man who could cave a man’s ribs with a single punch. I can’t stop myself from imagining, from wondering what’s going to happen the second we step through that door.
I want the danger, the hurt, the stretch, the way he’ll hold my hips like I’m something he’s anchoring to this world.
I squeeze my thighs tighter, trying to stop the pulse between them. It doesn’t help. I’m throbbing. Desperate. But I’m also afraid. Scared to the core that he’ll know he’s not my first. But I won’t ask him to slow down, because deep inside, I want it to hurt. I want him to break me open.
And I want to love it.
We head down the long stretch of road that leads to his house. He pulls into the driveway without so much as tapping the breaks.
The truck slows to a stop.
He doesn’t move. Neither do I. His hands grip the wheel, knuckles white, like he’s holding something back. Then he turns, dark eyes dragging over me like fire catching dry grass. He looks like a man seconds from breaking every promise he’s ever made.
He leans in, voice rough enough to scrape skin. “You know what’s coming when we walk through the door. If you don’t want this, tell me now. If you do, get inside.”
And I do. God, I do. I open the door. My legs tremble, my panties are ruined. I step out knowing the next time I walk; I’ll know exactly what it feels like to be fucked by the devil.
He’s behind me—always behind me. His presence crawls up my spine. The door slams. The lock clicks shut behind us. My breath stutters. My feet move anyway. I make my way to the den. I stand at the sofa. Too nervous to sit.
He doesn’t hesitate. He shrugs out of his jacket and throws it onto the sideboard, eyes locked on me. His voice comes low, lethal. “You know what happens now.”
The words fall heavy between us, the air thickening until it hurtsto breathe. He steps closer—slow, dominant—until the heat of him is everywhere. Two fingers lift my chin. His gaze pins me in place, dark and certain.
“I’m going to destroy you, Summer. And you’re going to love it.”
The words hit like a slap and a prayer all at once. My breath catches. Fear tangles with want until I can’t tell which is which. My body burns under the weight of his words. My pulse thrums so violently it feels like my skin can’t hold it. Because I know exactly what he means—and worse, I want it.
