I whimpered. Actually whimpered.
His mouth demanded more, and I complied. My hands flew to his hair. I yanked him closer, trying to climb him with my body. He groaned into my mouth, and the sound did something unholy to my insides.
My back hit the brick wall next to the window. Snow melted beneath my overheated skin. The world faded away and there was nothing left but him.
He ran his teeth over my bottom lip, nipping it hard enough for me to taste blood, and then his tongue swept into my mouth, claiming, taunting, tangling with mine until I couldn’t thinkstraight. He devoured every sound I made—every breath, every moan—like he was starving for them.
I was drowning in him, in his scent, his heat, his brutal grip. Aching with need, I pressed my center against his thigh. My body was betraying me with every heartbeat.
Then he ripped his mouth away.
I swayed in place, my eyes still closed. The cold air brushed against my heated face as I stood there, dazed.
“Delgado’s man is gone,” he said. “Off to tell his boss I was here,marking you.”
I blinked up at him, lips swollen, pulse erratic.
My stalker looked at me like he already owned me, then released my hair and stepped back.
The loss of heat, the loss of contact, felt like free fall.
“That’s what it feels like to be kissed by a real man,” he said with a smirk.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
His voice dropped, becoming cold again. “Don’t get too excited. That was just a message.” He adjusted his coat, as if none of it had affected him. “I kissed you so Delgado knows I’ll take what I want. Even from him.”
My body still hadn’t recovered. My lips still tingled.
He stared down at me, his eyes merciless.
“You should listen to Carmine and leave this city while you can. But that fucked-up look on your face tells me you won’t.” He shook his head once. “Not smart. You’d better wise up, sunshine.”
Then he turned and walked away, the snow crunching beneath his boots.
I stood there, breathless, shaking, stunned.
What the hell just happened?
One second, he’d been threatening to ruin me with discipline and pain, and the next, he was kissing me like I was already his. Then suddenly he was acting as if none of it mattered.
Brutal emotional whiplash.
I pressed my fingers to my lips, bewildered.
Ishouldgo. Just get on a bus. Back to Tennessee. Back to my safety net.
But then I thought of Ruby Vance and my chance of a lifetime. I thought of my shitty little apartment and my roommates and the way I’d clawed my way here with nothing but a duffle bag and a heart full of dreams.
No! I wasn’t about to give up.
Fuck him. Fuck all of them.
I wasn’t just some little country mouse who ran at the first sight of danger. Not anymore.
I brushed the snow from my coat and marched back into the coffee shop.
Trina looked up from behind the counter, one brow raised. “You good?”
