When I eventually fall asleep, I dream of her and wake up drenched in sweat and still angry with desire.
***
Over the next few days, we barely speak. She's furious with me, and I'm happy to avoid her because I don't trust myself. The brief moments when we do interact are tense and awkward.
Now and then, I see her looking at my fists. At the faint bruises over my knuckles from the beating I gave that asshole.
She doesn't know that I can recognize a monster when I see one. Maybe it's because I am one too. Maybe not. But that man had no intention of letting her leave. He was going to get what he wanted from her. Men like him… Let's just say he got what he deserved. And if she hadn't stopped me, he would've ended up very close to death.
I'm in the kitchen, and she's standing at the counter making pasta for dinner. She looks gorgeous in her pink sweatpants and a white crop top. Fuck. I don't even think she's wearing a bra. Why would she taunt me like that?
But her eyes are on my hands again, and I pull them away from the fridge door, shoving them into my pocket and kicking the door closed with my foot. I don't need her judgment.
I need something else from her.
Dammit, Bardil, get a grip.
Without a word, I walk out of the kitchen. I'll come back when she's done in here.
Behind me, I hear her breathe a sigh of relief. When I glance over my shoulder, her cheeks are flushed pink, and she's watching me. Her nipples are hard against the fabric of her top. Fuck me, that's gorgeous. She hurriedly turns away and lets out a sharp breath.
Did I just read that right?
Maybe she's not as angry with me as I think. Maybe she's still angry about the fact that she wants me so badly. She didn't hesitate to kiss me in the car. Those little moans of desire that melted from her lips when I kissed her and pushed my cock up against her… She couldn't fake that. And that kind of need doesn't just disappear.
She wants me as badly as I want her. Her body seems to be screaming it.
Stop this. It doesn't matter. It doesn't mean you can have her. Leave these thoughts alone.
Urgently needing space between us, I head to my room and close the door.
My stomach is growling with hunger, but the other hunger coursing through my body is the one I'm more worried about.
If I convince myself she wants me too, then there will be no stopping me.
One more second in the kitchen, one more moment staring at those perfect, hard nipples against her tight top… Onemore glance at her full, peach lips. I would have lifted her onto the counter and fucked her so hard she'd be bruised the next day. I would have pushed her legs apart and shoved my tongue into her pussy to taste her insides and hear her cry from pleasure.
My cock pulses harder and harder.
"Fuck!" I shout, marching toward the bathroom and turning the shower all the way to the cold side as I strip out of my clothes to climb beneath the icy water.
I hear movement outside the bathroom. She's done in the kitchen and heading into her room. Good. There's no chance of me bumping into her again.
Naked, I step into the shower and lean my hand against the natural stone wall I incorporated into this bathroom's design. Water streams over me. I let my eyes play over the ferns and leafy plants I have living in the corner of the shower. A piece of nature inside the cabin. I wanted this place to be a part of the forest instead of a glaring modern comfort that doesn't belong here.
Most of the walls have big glass panels in them to break the gap between wild nature and living spaces. Even this shower has a full-length window looking out into the forest.
I push the shower handle over to the warm side to try and smooth the goosebumps from my skin. Turning my back to the water, I stare into the tree line while the window slowly mists up.
It's dark outside, but movement catches my eye, and my entire body goes rigid. What the fuck was that?
A bear? An animal? Didn't look like it.
I rub my hand over the glass, clearing the condensation.
Fuckers. Two men are crouched in the darkness. My keen eyes pick out their silhouettes easily against the otherwise familiar shape of the trees.
They must see me peering through the glass because they fade back into the tree line. Hiding from sight.
