I spin her into the small room, pulling the string on the light and closing the door behind us.
“What the hell are you doing?” I snarl.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m havingfun.”
“Fun?” I echo with disgust. “Thisis fun?”
“Well, it was two seconds ago.”
“Don’t lie to me, Alana. What the hell are you doing?”
“What were you doing with Macey?” she accuses.
Shock and fury mix into one. “Are you kidding me right now? That’s what this is about?!”
“No.”
“Yes, it is! You got jealous, so you’re trying to makemejealous by acting like a child. What happened to ‘you can’t fill voids with meaningless actions,’ huh?”
“It’s not a void—”
“Bullshit. You’re mad about what you saw, so you’re trying to get my attention.”
“Oh, whatever.”
“And, dammit, you fucking have it, okay? You have all of it.” My voice is dark and sharp, anger and desire and hurt sewn into one.
“I don’twantyour attention, Jake.” Her prickly tone tingles on my skin, fanning the flame inside me.
“See, I find that hard to believe,” I say, leaning into her. “Because you say that, but then you do the exact opposite. You say you don’t want anything to do with me, but then you look at me like I’m everything you’ve ever wanted. So, which is it, Alana, hmm? You want me. Then you don’t want me. Tell me what comes next.” I take a step closer, her back already against the metal shelves behind her.
My voice is thick and dripping, a sinister bellow. “Let’s line this up, shall we?” I cage her between my arms. “You don’t want to see me sad, so you try to help me. You don’t want me to helpyou, so you try to push me away. You don’t want to be with me, but you don’t want me with anyone else. That right so far?”
She swallows in response.
“What comes next, Alana?”
“I don’t know,” she breathes.
“Oh, I think you know. And that’s why you’re trying to hurt me.”
“I’m not trying to hurt you, Jake.” Her voice trembles, and her eyes fill, not with fear, but with something darker. Something deeper. Something that screams her lustful desires.
“Yes, you are,” I drawl. “You’re trying to hurt me so I won’t want you anymore. You’re trying to push me away so I’ll leave you alone, but that’s not gonna work, Alana.” I close the rest of the space between us, our noses nearly brushing. My body surges at our proximity, burning me from the inside out. “Because I know you. I know what you’re thinking, and I know what you’re doing. And Istillfucking want you. And I know you want me, too. I can see it in your eyes right now. I can feel it coming off your body like a fucking heatwave.”
“Jake—“
“Tell me what comes next.”
Neither of us says a word for several heated seconds. Desire pulsates on my lips, my hands, my whole damn body with an electric shock. My eyes fall to her lush lips and climb back up to her stormy gaze. Her breasts rise and fall quickly against my chest, her breaths shallow and shaken. Her throat dips as I watch her. In my mind, I’m already running my tongue over every inch of her.
Her gaze burns through me, fierce and glassy. “You don’t get it, Jake.”
“Thenmakeme.” My one hand holds her face before it falls to necklace her throat. She swallows, the movement making my dick twitch. She closes her eyes slowly before they open again.
“I can’t. If I let you in, I won’t want to let you go.”
“Then let me stay,” I breathe.
