“You need me to stay, boss?” Ian asked, eyeing me up and down, checking for signs of distress.
“Go,” Garrett commanded in a rock-hard voice. “Make sure she’s on the next fuckin’ plane out of LA.”
He nodded and disappeared from the room, leaving me with Garrett and his palpable fury.
TWENTY-FOUR
It wasGarrett coming at me that finally snapped me out of my stupor. He was closing in, reaching out to touch me when I stepped back. Rationally, I knew he’d never hurt me, but his anger and stony expression made me nervous. I’d seen him mad before, sure. But never like this.
I paused as the muscle in his jaw ticked. His voice was like gravel when he spoke. “Don’t be scared of me. Not you, Gwen.”
“I-I’m sorry,” I stuttered. “I just—”
I didn’t realize I’d been crying until he closed the distance and cupped my cheeks, his thumbs brushing away the tears only to have more fall. “Are you okay? Christ, I’m so sorry, baby. I didn’t know she’d….” He squeezed his eyes closed for a moment. “Why did you leave by yourself? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I—” I hiccupped and sniffed back the tears. “I just needed to get out of there. Garrett, I didn’t belong—”
“That’s bullshit!” he snapped, his fingers clenching tighter around my face. “That’s just Kimber filling your head with shit. You can’t listen to her.”
“But she’s right!” I cried, pulling from his hold and moving across the room. I needed space to think. When he was near me,I couldn’t concentrate on anything but him, how he made me feel. I needed a clear head, not one full of all things Garrett. “She was right, Garrett. She didn’t say anything tonight that I wasn’t already thinking myself. Why do you think I left?” More tears spilled past my eyelids and down my cheeks. “I don’t belong in that world. I was so out of place, so uncomfortable. You were in your element tonight. I could see it written all over you. You fit. But I didn’t. Youwillget bored with me. Or end up resenting me, which is even wor—”
“Stop it!” he boomed, charging me. But I moved around the bed.
“Think about it, Garrett. If it weren’t for Liddy, you never would have looked at me twice. We wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
“Goddamn it!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, then snatched the lamp off the bureau and sent it flying across the room. It smashed into the wall and broke into thousands of tiny pieces, the crash so loud I let out a startled yelp. He lunged, too quick for me to escape that time. His arms were like steel bands, wrapping around me and pinning me against him. “Stop it!” he shouted. “Just stop! You promised, Gwen. You said you were in this with me!”
“I am!” I choked out. “But what does it matter if you aren’t going to feel the same in a year, or two years? I—I can’t… Kimber was right. I can’t give you what you need.”
“I need you,” he croaked, his voice sounding like he’d just swallowed glass. “Christ, Gwen. I needyou. You and Liddy. Can’t you see that?God. Baby, nothing matters if I don’t have you. I’m so fuckin’ in love with you ithurts.”
A sob worked its way from my throat at his declaration.
“You promised me,” he continued, his words and his hold on me growing desperate. “You promised. You can’t leave me.”
“Garrett—”
“You can’t.” His lips smashed against mine, bruising, punishing, owning. His tongue forced its way into my mouth. His need for me was almost as ravenous as mine was for him.
The sound of fabric tearing was quickly accompanied by cool air on my skin as my tattered dress fell to the floor, leaving me in nothing but a small, lacy pair of panties.
“Oh God,” I moaned, my head dropping back as Garrett sucked one of my hard, puckered nipples between his lips. His teeth scraped the delicate skin, sending shockwaves of pleasure through my whole body.
“No one can do this for you,” he panted, one arm still holding me steady as the other skated between us. He shoved his hand into my panties and began toying with my slit. “No one but me. I’m the only one who can touch you like this, who can make you wet, who can fuck you until you see stars.”
“Garrett, please,” I begged, lost to everything but his touch and his words.
“Stay with me, baby.” His words were dripping with distress as he continued to manipulate my body. “You promised you’d stay with me.”
I fisted his hair and pulled until I could reach his mouth. “I’m here,” I breathed, standing on my toes to kiss him. “I’m here.”
“When Ian told me you left,” he said against my lips, his face ravaged. “God, Gwen. You can’t do that again.”
I fought with his shirt, pulling and stretching the cotton. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Within seconds we were both naked. Garrett fused his mouth to mine in a hungry kiss as he pushed me back onto the bed, following after me. “Let me in,” he demanded. I spread my legs, wrapping them around his trim waist. His cock drove into me with one brutal thrust. “Let me in,” he repeated as he began fucking me so hard my teeth clackedtogether. That was when I knew he wasn’t just talking about physically.
“Look at me,” I coaxed as he continued to move, each plunge of his thick cock driving us farther up the bed. His eyes hit mine, the green nearly black with need and longing even though we were already closer than two people could be. “You’re in,” I whispered, meaning it in spite of how terrified I was. Then I said those three words I’d only spoken to four people in my whole life: my parents, Corrine, and Liddy. Three words that meant everything to me. I couldn’t have contained them if I wanted to. “I love you.”
