“Thank you,” she whispered against his neck, her soft breath blowing warm over his skin. “You continue to get more awesome every single day. Just when I think you can’t possibly top the latest thing you’ve done for me, you somehow manage to surprise me all over again.”
“What are you thanking me for, princess?”
“As if you don’t know,” she said in amusement as she drew away and out of his hug.
He took a step toward her, not liking the sudden distance between them.
“I just got a visit from a slimy, deceitful insurance salesman who just happened to crawl out from under his rock long enough to travel all the way to New York City so he could personally deliver a check for the full amount of my father’s benefit plus a substantial amount over that for things he called inconvenience, pain and suffering and funeral costs.”
She stared up at him, her eyes glowing brightly. Damn it. She was looking at him like he was a fucking hero. Did she not understand what happened to the guy? She couldn’t have missed the way his face looked, and yet she was thanking Silas?
“Some business trip. You certainly took care of business. I only regret not being able to land one punch,” she said, her expression rueful. “I can’t believe you did this absolutely amazing, wonderful thing forme.”
He gaped at her. He couldn’t help it. She was thanking him instead of condemning him? Did she not see what a monster he was? What he was capable of? He’d lived his entire life surrounded by violence only to embrace it when he was much older. But on his terms. Always on his terms.
Before he could question her or figure out what he was missing, she took a step toward him, closing the distance between them, and then she rose up on tiptoe and slid her arms around his neck. He didn’t have time to think better of letting her kiss him. He wanted it too damn much.
Her lips pressed so sweetly over his that he groaned low in his throat. She licked delicately at his mouth, coaxing him to open to her. Just as he surrendered and allowed his lips to relax, he gathered his senses and placed his hands around her shoulders to pull her away.
Shame and humiliation crept into her eyes, a dull shadow masking every bit of the joy and mischief that had been there just a few seconds ago.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I misunderstood. Again.”
“What did you misunderstand, princess?”
“Don’t call me that!” she said sharply, hurt edging the words. “I thought... I thought you felt it too. What is between us. I thought you wanted me as much as I want you. I’m sorry. I should have never placed you in this position.”
He emitted a strangled sound. “Not want you? Jesus Christ, woman. If I wanted you any more I’d be a walking idiot unable to form a coherent sentence. Don’t you get it? You deserve so much better than me. I have nothing to offer you except pain and violence. And...”
He closed his eyes, refusing to voice the last.
“And what?” she asked softly.
“Control,” he said flatly. “Total and absolute control. And what you don’t understand, my beautiful girl, is that my control would not just extend to the bedroom or while we’re having sex. I would control every aspect of your life. I’m not proud of that fact, but it’s who I am. Sooner or later I would drive you away and I don’t know if I can bear to lose you once I’ve had you.”
“Who says you’ll lose me?” she asked gently. “You act like I don’t know all of this already, Silas. Granted we haven’t known one another very long, but in that time, I’ve seen your need for control. I’ve seen you exercise that control. Even with me. Heck, what do you think I’ve been doing the past few days? I’ve been escorted everywhere by your men. Men you gave me no choice but to go everywhere with. Did I complain?Did I put up much of a protest? Why don’t you see yourself the way I see the man in front of me? You seem to think you’re nothing but poison for me, and you know what? It’s a load of crap. You are the very best kind of man, Silas. Next to my father, you are the best man I’ve ever met in my life. So stop with the excuses. If you don’t want me, then just say so and I’ll never throw myself at you again. But if you want me but you’re just too afraid of scaring me or pushing me away, then I call bullshit on that too. How about you ask me whatIwant? Not whatyouthink I want or need. Askme, Silas.”
“You can stand there and say all that after knowing what I did to that bastard who fleeced your father? I would have killed him if I didn’t need to make damn certain he got a check to you. I still might,” he muttered.
“I’m sure there are plenty of other people who would like to do to him exactly what you did,” she said, her nose wrinkling in distaste. “If you’re looking to me to throw judgment at you, then you’ve come to the wrong woman. I don’t care about whatever horrible sins you think you’ve committed. I know the truth and I see the truth every time I look at you, and nothing you say will ever persuade me any differently.”
“Be sure, princess,” he said hoarsely. “Be very sure. Because once I claim you and possess your body Iwillown you. Body, heart and soul. All will belong to me and you will be mine to do with as I wish, anytime, anywhere, any way I want.”
“Then claim me,” she murmured as she lifted up on the balls of her feet once more to brush her lips over his.
With a savage cry, he lifted her into his arms and strode toward the bedroom, his blood on fire in his veins, burning from the inside out.
21
Silas’s heart was thundering so hard that all he could hear was the roar of his pulse in his ears. He set Hayley gently down on the bed and then took one step back, knowing that if he didn’t give himself a few minutes to get it together, it would be over in a matter of seconds. His need to claim her, to mark her, to possess her until she cried out his name was a living, breathing necessity inside him. Stronger than any other compulsion he’d felt, and his life was riddled with compulsions.
He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. “I have to go lock up and check the monitors and turn the security system on. When I get back, I want you naked and kneeling in the middle of the bed. Make sure your hair is down but not covering your breasts. I want to see the nipples that now belong to me. I want to be able to see the sweet little pussy that also now belongs to me. Understand?”
She swallowed and nodded, desire and need glittering in her eyes. He kissed her one last time and then yanked himself away from her. He strode into the living room and mechanically went through the ritual of locking up for the night. He had perimeter alarms in every conceivable vulnerable point and cameras that not only circled the entire block but covered across the street and a radius of six blocks in each direction from his building.
After what had happened to Evangeline and her getting snatched literally feet from the front entrance to this building, there was no such thing as overkill or being too extreme in his paranoia. If it could happen to Evangeline, it could happen to Hayley. His blood froze and for a moment he couldn’t breathe at the image of Hayley hurt, scared, alone.
No, she would remain in this building where he knew where she was at all times. And now that she had committed herself into his keeping, she would no longer have any use of her own apartment. She would be in his bed, his apartment, from now on. Maybe he could go ahead and do the renovations again to extend the reach of his apartment from wall to wall on the fifth floor.
