It was weird, it felt like there were things Dragon wanted to say, and yet he kept his mouth shut and stood there like an immovable mountain.
Her pain quickly morphed into frustration. Coming here was a stupid idea, and she didn't know why he’d done it. What she did know was that she wasn't standing around waiting to see what he wanted. She’d been on her way out, and she saw no reason why she should hang around now that Dragon had deemed her worthy of his time.
“I’m on my way out,” she said dismissively, glad she’d already put on her shoes and that her purse hung by the front door.
Reaching back to grab it, she slung it over her shoulder, pulled the door closed, and attempted to brush past him. His hand darted out quicker than she thought a person could move, and closed around her wrist, holding her in place.
Staring at his large fingers curled around her slender wrist, Cassandra couldn’t help but note that while his grip was firm, it was also gentle. He was taking care not to hurt her. This time anyway.
“Let me go.” Cassandra hated that her order didn't come out strong and commanding. Instead, it sounded breathy and insubstantial. Why did this man have to affect her so deeply? Especially when she now knew he didn't feel the same way she did.
“No.”
The single word was all she got, and it ignited two fires inside her. One low in her body where she couldn’t help but respond to the man she was wildly attracted to, the other set her anger boiling over.
“You don’t get to say no. I called you, told you what she said. I have nothing else to give you. I'm not hanging around now because you’ve decided that I hold some sort of value, that my words or opinions matter, when before you told me it didn't concern me and not to insert myself where I wasn't wanted or needed.”
It was annoying that the pain she’d felt at being dismissed like that seeped into her tone, but she was only human, and she couldn’t keep all her emotions under control all the time. It just sucked that she slipped now, letting her vulnerabilities out with the one person she knew could exploit them if he wanted.
Instead of saying anything, arguing with her, Dragon merely bent, plowed his shoulder into her stomach, and used his hold on her wrist to lift her up.
“Hey!” she squawked as she found herself hanging upside down, Dragon’s arm banded around her thighs, keeping her in place, her face right by his toned butt, which felt wildly unfair since attraction was the one thing she couldn’t just shut down easily. “What do you think you're doing?”
Again, she got no answer. Dragon snatched her purse from her hands, found her keys, and let himself back into her home, carrying her in with him like he owned the place. If her anger had been boiling over before, now it was exploding out of her.
Who did he think he was?
Did he think he could push her out of his life and then stroll back in when it suited him?
Did he think she’d been sitting there pining for him these last couple of months?
Okay, she’d thought about him more than she wanted to, even attempting to get herself off while pretending he was the one touching her a couple of times, but he’d hurt her, and she knew she’d made the right choice by leaving. She didn't want him back in her life, not when she was already struggling just to hold it all together.
In her living room, Dragon tossed her purse on the couch, and then slowly lowered her back so her feet touched the ground. Before she could tell him off, he grabbed her shoulders and leaned in to crush his mouth to hers in a bruising kiss that stole her ability to think, to do anything other than feel what he was doing to her as he broke down all her walls, leaving her utterly defenseless.
Chapter
Four
January 4th
11:59 A.M.
This was a bad idea.
Definitely not the way to get back in Cassandra’s good graces, yet as Dragon swept his tongue inside her mouth, he couldn’t seem to find the strength to care.
Laying eyes on Cassandra again was everything he’d wanted and everything he’d feared.
She was angry with him, he’d known that, but worse, he’d hurt her when he hadn't listened to her concerns that going after Rose wasn't the right move. That focusing all his energy on revenge and being prepared to go to any lengths to get it would only turn him into the monster he’d spent most of his life trying so hard not to become.
Hurting her hadn't been his intention, he just hadn't been able to see past his own goals.
Even after they’d abducted Rose and started torturing her, he’d held on longer than the rest of his team, refusing to allowhimself to admit that using her was wrong. Because if he had to admit that, then he had to admit he’d lost Cassandra for nothing.
When small hands shoved hard at his chest, he finally pulled back, ending the kiss before he could take things further. Which he might have been unable to stop himself from doing. This woman clouded his judgment at a time when he needed to have a clear head.
“You can't just drag me back in here and then kiss me,” Cassandra snapped. Anger danced in her pretty green eyes, arousal too. Her body responded to his even though she didn't want it to.
