Then he grins. A little feverish, a click of his tongue against his upper teeth. “Next time you decide to become mine, don’t go on dates with other fucking men.”
NINE
CADE
For twelve months,this moment is all I fantasized about—and it’s living up to every expectation.
Aspen throws herself farther away, not understanding there is nowhere for her to go. When she rolls off the bed and gets to her feet, I’m quicker, snatching her face between my thumb and forefinger until digging into her cheeks. She inhales sharply, gaze darting to the dried blood on my fingertips, but if she wants only clean skin to touch hers, then no other man will go near her.
She attempts to rip from my hold, to yell, but it only comes out as a grunt. Apparently, announcing her date is indisposed may not have been the best way to reveal my return. He’s alive—unfortunately—but he won’t be walking right for a while.
“You’re a maniac,” she garbles, once again trying to shove away from me. My free arm bands her waist to pull her closer.
“Ah, ah. I’myourmaniac. I’m yours and you’re mine.”
“What are you talking about? We barely know one another.” Her eyes narrow, chest rising with deep breaths, drawing my attention to her body. No bottoms, just panties, and an oversized shirt that hangs barely past her hips.
I loosen my grip on her face before accidentally bruising her. “You were given to me through the program. You spoke to me. You came to visitme, and you mademegifts.”
Her head flings backwards, her attempt to escape once again going nowhere. Fire burns in her bright blues, and I fucking love it. This right here is the light I witnessed simmering across a metal table. Dressed up like a good girl, but vicious beneath those thin-ass black tights that filled my dreams.
“It was aprogram.”
“It could have been a fucking church—it doesn’t change that your soul was marked as mine.”
She scans the room and then me, her eyes flicking over my face, the blood, before a chill settles over her and her breathing turns shallow. “A-are you going to hurt me?”
“Not in any way you won’t enjoy. What part of ‘you’re mine’ didn’t you understand?” I’d bet my next ten years of freedom that she prefers it rough over gentle. A fucking rather than making love. Whether she’s aware of this yet is a moment I anticipate discovering.
Apparently my words made her decide she’s safe enough to go on the attack again. It shouldn’t surprise me, considering this is the woman who once wore a dress into a prison’s visitation where men have gone years without pussy.
“You’re insane. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
You’re what’s wrong with me,I answer her last point mentally, skip the second, and reply to her first. “I know you. I know you’re adorable and sexy and fiery. You go on dates with strange men when you’re already taken. Tell me, Aspen”—I bear down on her, her toes painted with a pink nail polish brushing my boots—“how many of them did you let fuck you?”
How many men will I be killing?
She gasps. “None, not that it’s any of your business.”
The blood has long been dried, so I make a show of licking the red marks on the back of my hand—the one tattooed with her name, if she were to pay attention. “Considering I’m the one coated in your date’s blood, it’s very much my business. I can forgive you for tonight, and maybe all the others since you didn’t let them touch you because you knew you were already taken.”
She seethes, but at least she stops fighting as she repeats with a low tone, “What did you do to him?”
“Do you care?” Challenge meets challenge, proving she’ll be so fun to play with. “He’s still alive, if that’s what you’re asking. Had you gone home with him, we’d be having a different conversation.”
Her steps take her backwards, to the wall, which only helps me in the end. “When did you get out?”
“Two days ago.”
Her eyes cut to the corner of the room as the math almost visibly plays out. “Wait, so you came right to me? That’s how you know where I live—you’ve been stalking me.”
What part of this whole thing does she not get? Although her fear is understandable, it’s nothing I will stand for. When I was locked up and she was my visitor, my mood remained polite, but that isn’t the man she’s getting. Being the good prisoner and avoiding infractions ensured my sentence had no reason to get extended.
Then I met Aspen, and my sentence was a ticking time bomb.
Her eyes briefly tighten shut before centring on me again. At least there’s some sense in that pretty head of hers.Don’t take your eyes off danger. “Cade, the last time I saw you, you were?—”
“Watching you walk away from me, unaware it’d be the final time I’d get to see you for a while. That you’d enter my life, make me addicted to your very essence, and then march your sexy ass out of it. At least this year, we’ll have a better V-Day together.”
