“You can’t run from me. We’ll always be tied together now, until death.” He nipped my chin, teeth scraping over my skin, eliciting a sizzle of heat skittering through me.
“Oh, I’m not running, Boss, but I’m not giving in, either. You destroyed something important to me, and I’m not forgiving you.” I resisted the urge to headbutt him because as angry as I was at him, I’d never actually hurt him intentionally. The rage was a pounding intensity in my chest, though, and it was hard to breathe around the throbbing of my heart. “It wasmine. I had a connection to that greenhouse, and you took it away from me. You wounded me.”
“I’ll rebuild it, Pet. Better than before.” His tone softened.
I laughed scornfully. “It won’t be the same. You don’t get it. That was yourmom’sgreenhouse. I felt a bond with her, to a woman I didn’t know.”
He frowned. “Why do you want one?”
“Because of you.” I slammed the heel of my palm hard against his chest. “Because you loved her and I love you and I wanted to know the woman who gave birth to you and raised you and loved you as much as I do.” I firmed up my jaw and jabbed my finger into his right pec. “You destroyed something important to me and I’m fucking mad.”
I’d never thought there’d come a time in my life where I’d grieve for a building, but I was right now. I’d never had a home. Not even the Virtue—it was a place I stayed as a kid. Sloan’s house became mine and the greenhouse was my sanctuary. Now it was gone, taking a piece of me with it.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, brushing his knuckle down my cheek. “But it made you sick and I promised I’d keep you safe.”
“You don’t know that.” My nostrils flared as I exhaled loudly through them, too angry to accept any kind of apology from him. “You have no fucking idea where I got the meningitis. You’re only assuming because itcouldhave come from fungus in there. It’s an infection. Who the fuck knows where it came from?”
He pressed his forehead against mine, and I breathed him in because he always smelled delicious and I couldn’t resist getting a whiff off him. “I told you, I’d burn down the world to protect you. I’m sorry, Pet, but that greenhouse had to go.”
“Then, you can go fuck yourself.” Rage bubbled in my stomach, but it joined the strong need for him. No matter how angry he made me, I always wanted him, and that only irritated me further.
He smashed his mouth against mine, and I growled into the hungry kiss, nipping at the spot I’d already marked on his bottom lip, the skin splitting under the attack. More blood seeped between us, joining in on the passionate battle of our tongues.
I ripped at the rest of the buttons of his shirt, and when I couldn’t get them undone because of my shaking fingers, I tore the material apart. Buttons went flying,dingingagainst the mirror behind my head and scattering across the floor.
Sloan broke the kiss to glance down at his shirt, raising one eyebrow in a way I simultaneously loved and fucking hated. “That was an expensive shirt, Pet.”
“Shut the fuck up. Don’t speak. I don’t want to hear you right now.” I slammed my hand over his mouth and dipped down to suck a bruise onto his chest, right above his right nipple.
He nibbled my palm, and I focused on littering angry bruises across his skin. He grasped my hips, yanking me against himself, his hard bulge rubbing against mine. I couldn’t help the hiss of pleasure that slipped out. I threw my chin back, giving him room to suck on my neck, his teeth sinking into my flesh, eliciting a ripple of pleasure that had my dick throbbing.
He was warm and solid against me, and I craved this no matter how I felt. It was as though my body called for his.
He tore the shirt off his shoulders and moved on to my clothes, yanking my shirt off before he worked on my tight jeans and underwear until I was naked, my dick free and bobbing in the air. Sloan’s pants, briefs, and shoes went next, leaving him in only his socks, which I shouldn’t have found so hot, but I did.
His hard-on was flushed red at the tip, precum beading in his slit, making my mouth water for a taste. All the reasons I shouldn’t do this were difficult to remember when I had his naked body in front of me, ready to give me exactly what Ialwayscraved.
He smirked, and I glared, nostrils flaring. Nope. Sexy or not, I refused to forgive him.
He grabbed my knees and dragged me close again before opening a drawer to his right and pulling out a bottle of lube wekept there. He pumped some on his fingers, but when he reached for my hole, I seized his wrist.
“No,” I growled out. “If you want to fuck me, do it, but don’t stretch me.Just. Fucking. Do. It.”
“Pet—”
I slapped him across the face, not hard enough to truly hurt him, but to shock him. He blinked, and then his gaze slid back to me. His fingers brushed over the cheek I’d hit, and I exhaled through my nose.
“Fuck me.” I stared him down, our eyes burning into each other’s before his nostrils flared and he placed a hand on my chest, shoving me.
My upper back hit the mirror, and he yanked me toward himself again, spreading my legs as he added the lube on his dick. The moment he lined himself up, I took a deep breath that I let out a few seconds later as the head of his dick speared into me.
His hands seared my hips where they rested, a burning reminder of who I belonged to. All it took was a touch and he was claiming me. I was his—body, soul, and fucking heart—and as much as I wanted to hate it, I couldn’t. He’d been the first person who wanted me regardless of my flaws, and I felt like I could fly with him around. He was my wings. Without him, I’d crash to the ground.
His width spread me open, the burning sensation spiking through me and adding to the increasing pressure. He watched me, eyes intent on my face as he pushed inside. Despite my resentment, my heart squeezed at how caring and careful he was with me.
When he was balls deep, his dick nestled in my hole like it was home, he grasped my face and kissed me gently—too gently. I yanked away from his mouth and turned my head, teeth clenching. Not today. If he was going to fuck me, he’d do it right.
Pleasure bubbled in my stomach, and I entwined my legs around his hips, dragging him against me. His gaze was a fiery inferno, hungry desire lighting up his irises and promising the best fuck I’d ever get from him. I hoped so.
