He needs to understand that if he’s not willing to step up for me, to give me what I need, to give me himself, then one day someone else will.
And that will be a shame for all of us. Because he’s the one I want. And I’m pretty sure he feels the same. If only he’d give into this thing between us.
Stop this.
Show me you’re ready.
Claim me.
‘Wait outside, dog,’ Harrison hisses.
Archie’s huge blue eyes shoot daggers through the moonlight. ‘Are you really going to do this?’ he asks, his voice sharp, cool and utterly disapproving.
The time for questions is over.
He shouldn’t be asking.
He should be acting on impulse. I’d throw his date out of the moving vehicle if the roles were reversed.
‘It’s one drink. I won’t be long.’
Archie’s knuckles are whiter than fresh snow as I step out of the vehicle and follow Harrison into his house.
18
ARCHIE
Harrison’s front door slams shut with a bang loud enough to wake the entire street.
Adrenaline furiously soars through every artery and vein, and my heart hammers in my chest. I hop out of the car in a fit of rage. My foot connects with the back wheel, but no amount of kicking will resolve my anger. ‘Fuck it.’
What the fuck is Victoria playing at?
Is this some sort of punishment for the other day?
Because I wouldn’t take it further between us?
Doesn’t she realise I already broke my own moral code for her?
I’m teetering on the edge of doing something that will ruin me, or her, or potentially both of us, and it’s taking every modicum of my willpower to stop myself. I’m desperately digging my claws into something concrete before I slide off the edge for good.
My rejection wasn’t because I don’t want her, but because I do. Because I care for her so fucking much, I’d willingly die for her. I signed a fucking contract to prove it.
Every cell in my body hums with irrepressible anger. I vowed not to take another life unless absolutely necessary, but tonight, that promise means nothing to me.
Horrifying multicoloured images of what might be occurring behind that front door flash through my mind like one of those super-sized digital photo frames with a million pixels.
Harrison’s filthy, clumsy hands on Victoria’s bare, silky skin.
His blundering lips plundering hers as she grinds herself into him, the way she did to me.
She wouldn’t, would she?
Bile burns the back of my throat.
I stalk across the street, pacing the uneven garden pathway with the intention of dragging Victoria out of there. Claiming her as my own. Taking her right here in the street just to show her exactly who she belongs to.
Despite her little show, it was painfully obvious she has no interest in Harrison. She’s trying to rile me. And even though I see through her little charade, I can’t see past it. Anger simmers in my blood. With him. With her. And with myself for caring.
