‘Why?’ Her question in plaintive, but my answer is out in the air, prepared with little thought.
‘Because I’m a big fan of the female reproductive system.’
‘Great. You just carry on playing the clown. Do you realise what a fool I’ve just made of myself in front of Ella? Or was that the plan? Yeah, maybe that was it,’ she says, warming to her theme. ‘I mean, her husband seems more than a little pissed at your fascination with his wife, so maybe that’s what this was all about. Am I a fucking decoy, Will?’
‘That’s not what this is,’ I answer, suddenly tired as I wipe a hand down my face. ‘Ella and Mac are madly in love, and I couldn’t be happier for them. This was about me. My error in judgment. I thought you’d see the humour in it when you finally found out.’
‘You are the most egotistical, untrustworthy... jerk,’ she growls.
‘Perhaps. In some senses.’
‘In some senses? Inallthe senses,’ she then yells, her hands rising and falling along with her frustration. ‘You wouldn’t know truthful if it jumped up and slapped you in your pretty face.’
‘I apologise.’ Prettily, apparently. Almost as prettily as the lace bra the rain reveals under her dress. ‘I admit I may have strung you along a little, but I didn’t do it to hurt you. To be honest, I thought Kallie might have told you that first night after we spoke. She asked me if I was an actor, do you remember?’ I suppose I just enjoyed playing my part just a little too much.
‘You lied to me,’ she says quietly, staring at the wet, weed choked ground.
‘Come on.’ I step to her and tip her chin with my finger. ‘I’m sorry. It was just meant to be a little bit of fun.’
‘No, you did what made you feel safe.’ Her green eyes burn with fury and with the truth. At least, as she sees it. ‘I saw it on your face this morning as you picked me up. You were quiet on the journey over—probably wondering why you’d asked me to come. You let me believe you were... billable by the hour, so I didn’t get attached to you. You don’t want a relationship or even a friendship. You just want to fuck me.’
‘Says the girl in the market for a whore.’ Like a kicked dog, I retaliate.
‘Fuck you.’
‘I don’t know,’ I answer immediately. ‘Will you want me to now that I can’t be paid?’ Now it’s her turn to look like the one slapped. ‘Who’s trying to stay safe here? You want to talk about the truth? How about the girl who won’t even admit to herself the reason she’s seeking love on the other side of the world is because she’s afraid? Afraid she might find it . . . afraid she won’t? Who the fuck knows. Not that it matters because, if she chooses, she won’t ever have to set eyes on the person again.’
‘Away home, you couple of numpties. You’ll catch your death of cold!’
Neither of us turn to the direction of Keir’s voice, each silently willing the other to back down. The rain falls in streaks down her flushed face, soaking her dress and rendering the cotton almost completely transparent. Strange that it barely touches me. At least, I can’t feel it. I think my skin burns so hot the droplets must be turning from water to vapour on contact. Because I fucking burn. With indignation. With anger. With hurt. But mainly, I burn for her.
I want to tear off her clothes and lick every drop of rain from her skin. I want to pull her down, force her to her knees until the gravel digs like thorns into her skin. I want to fuck her like she’s an animal in heat. Own every inch of her skin.
‘Get in the car,’ I growl, noticing the flush creeping up her neck, knowing instinctively it isn’t just anger or embarrassment as her breath quickens, her chest rising and falling along with it.
‘Why don’t you make me?’ She quirks a brow, her tone dripping with scorn and rebellion—the kind that has my cock throbbing in my jeans.
‘Don’t play with me.’ My heart beats in my ears, the blood in my veins vibrating with suppressed need.
‘You should be so lucky.’
I answer her with a small smile as I try to conceal just what the thoughts ofmaking herdoes to me. Who doesn’t like a little fight in a girl? It makes the win all the sweeter for her fight.
Chapter Sixteen
WILL
My fingers twitch against the steering wheel with a mixture of anger and need, and I try not to tear out of the carpark in my rush to get her home. In my rush to get inside her. She has no fucking idea. And her anger? Fuck me, it makes me want her all the more. I want her rage—her scratching and biting as she comes around something other than my fingers this time. I crave the taste of her on my tongue and the feel of my dick in her throat.
Sometimes sex and violence can go hand in hand. Boundaries can be blurred to satisfy a need. And acting? She has no idea how I can take up a role.
‘You want to know why I was quiet on the way over here?’ She turns her head to look at me, insolence written all over her face. Insolence I’ll replace with ecstasy sometime soon. ‘Because your assumptions were way fucking off, babe.’
‘Don’t call me that,’ she whispers, turning her head back to the windscreen.
‘You don’t mind darling, or sweetheart, or love, but babe is off limits?’
‘That’s right.’
