“And you justtookit? You havenoboundaries.”
Bishop shrugged as he pushed my front door shut. “Never really needed any. Austin said you had a rough day. I did too. And this really seemed to help us both last time, so…” Another shrug, as he pulled his shirt over his head.
“Stop! Don’t take anything else off.”
“Okay. That’s a weird kink. Religious overtones. But I’m into it, if that’s what you—”
“No, I— I thought you felt guilty last time, after we…helped each other.” That’s what that was, right? Mutual therapy? Mutualnakedtherapy…and nothing more.
This wasn’t supposed to happen again.
“I did. But I’ve been thinking—”
“God help us all.”
“—about what you said. Afterward. About that fucked-up merry-go-round of emotion. And about release. Ineeda fucking release right now.” Something dark peered out at me from behind his eyes, his inner cat pacing. Menacing. Claws extended and ready to draw blood.
“Why? What happened?”
“Talking doesn’t always make things better, Marshal.” His voice deepened and that darkness swelled from within him, threatening to swallow any light. All of his hope and good humor. Leaving nothing but that stalking, ravenous beast. “It doesn’t have to be this.” Bishop’s gaze raked over me, and heat burst from the pit of my stomach, throbbing as it spread throughout my body. “But it’s gonna be something.” The words rolled from deep in his chest on a low, savage growl, and I couldfeelhis rage boiling beneath the surface. “I…I’m near my limit, Charley.”
Charley. My actual name.
“And when I hit my limit, bad things tend to happen.”
Jesus.
“I just thought maybe we could let something good happen again, instead. If you need a release, too.”
I mean…It’s not like I was sleeping.
“This is a bad idea,” I whispered, my gaze caught on his chest. On the chords of muscle standing out in his arms.
“Then tell me you don’t want it. Say that, and I’ll go.”
“There’s no way this is going to end well,” I said instead, so softly I could hardly hear my own words. “You know that, right?”
Bishop grunted. “No sense worrying about the end of something that never really began. This is what it is, right? We’re just grindin’ it out to feel better. Nothing more than that.”
“Nothing more.” But it was nothing less, either. “As long as we understand each other.”
“Marshal, I understand more about you than I ever intended to.” The space between us disappeared. Bishop’s mouth crushed against mine, demanding as much as it gave. His teeth sank into my lower lip, tugging gently as his hands wandered beneath my tee shirt, dragging the material up slowly. He licked my lip, but didn’t release it, and when I whimpered from the sting, he growled softly into my mouth.
He would release me when he damn well felt like it.
I groaned, throbbing in low, warm places.
Bishop sucked on my lower lip for a second, then let it go as he dragged my shirt over my head. I shivered from the chill, but he grabbed my arms before I could cover myself. “You want it like last time?”
I hesitated for a second, my throat tight. My heart racing. Then I nodded.
He took my chin and tilted my head up. “You’re gonna have to say it, so there’s no misunderstanding.”
I blinked up at him defiantly. I didn’t have to say a damn thing. He wanted this as badly as I did, and he wasn’t going to walk away, even if I didn’t play by his rules.
“We like what we like, Marshal. No shame in it. So tell me what you want.”
I jerked my chin from his grasp and stared up at him. “I want it rough.”
