I didn’t believe there was an all when it came to me. All had been chopped into tiny little pieces by life, scattered and lost, hardened and honed by death, and I couldn’t be put back together again. It wasn’t possible. If it had been, I’d have done it for Abby a long time ago.
Her fist came up to press hard over her heart. She closed her eyes, and I could see her mentally trying to pull herself together. To re-form the shell that protected her from hurt. From me.
The animal deep inside roared a denial.
“I can’t,” she finally whispered, the words as broken as she looked. “I can’t be with you, Levi.”
The animal tore free. “You damn well can,” I shouted, stalking toward her.
Abby backed up, her shoulders hitting the concrete wall. “Why? So I can lie there at night and watch you walk out the door? Why is it so easy for you to leave me? And I can’t do the same?”
She thought it was easy? When it felt like tearing my guts out every time? But the pain was worth it if it kept her safe. It wasn’t easy; it was necessary.
I gripped her arms, my fingers biting into her flesh harder than they should, but I couldn’t stop them. Couldn’t stop the heartbeat banging in my throat and the blood pooling low in my gut, screaming at me to subdue her, take her, force her to see that she would never walk out of my life. “You’re not leaving. You’re staying with me until we get this shit figured out. You’re going to be safe.”
“My body, maybe. You’ve already destroyed my heart.”
The words pierced me, the stabbing pain making me want to curl up and protect my vulnerable underbelly. Too late. She’d already gutted me.
“I won’t leave my life behind to skulk in the shadows, waiting around for you to notice me,” she was saying.
I barked a laugh through the agony ripping me apart. “You breathe and I notice you. I can’t stop noticing you. I take one look and my dick is rock-hard and my entire body hones in on one thing: you. Getting you beneath me.” I shook her as if it was her fault, because it was. All her fault. “I can’t breathe for wanting you.” One step and our bodies came together. Her nipples were hard, poking through the cotton of her bra and my dress shirt. She didn’t want to leave any more than I wanted her to.
Abby licked her lips, turned her head away from me. “I’m not talking about sex.”
“I am.” It was all I knew. The only way to share myself with her. And right now I needed it just as much as I needed my next lungful of air.
The kiss I took then didn’t feel like love. It felt like conquering. Overpowering. I pried her lips open with my own, and when my tongue invaded her mouth, she shuddered—not with fear or pain, but with need. I knew because her teeth unclenched and she let me in, a whimper of defeat echoing between our lips. I plundered and invaded, every crack and crevice, until her head was bent back like a broken reed and her eyes were dazed with hunger. Only then did I bury my face in the hollow of her neck. When I bit down on her shoulder, she startled against me.
“You’re not leaving,” I growled around her flesh.
“Yes, I am.”
I nipped the tender line of her shoulder, my fingers tightening on her once more—a threat, a promise. “No, you’re not. You’re coming with me.”
She shook her head as much as she could with my face in the way, my teeth gliding along her skin. “Whether I want to or not? For how long, Levi?”
Forever. “For as long as I say.”
That sick little chuckle again. “And what about what I say?”
“Doesn’t matter.” I could change what she said, whether she chose to acknowledge that fact or not. We both knew it.
I felt her inhale, readying to fight me again. Her chance was cut off by a knock on the door.
I stepped back and stared her down. “Come.”
The door opened. The steps hesitated before moving around to where I could see the intruder. Remi.
“Sorry to interrupt, but there’s a development you need to know about.”
Nothing could be as important as the battle of wills going on right here in this bedroom. The battle for the future. “What?” I barked.
“Lance Heinz is dead.”
And God help me, but satisfaction settled low in my gut even as the last bit of light died out of Abby’s soulful eyes.
∞
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“Ms. Sheridan writes suspense that grabs you and won’t let go.”
~ Tea and Book
About the Author
Ella Sheridan never fails to take her readers to the dark edges of love and back again. Strong heroines are her signature, and her heroes span the gamut from hot rock stars to alpha bodyguards and everywhere in between. Ella never pulls her punches, and her unique combination of raw emotion, hot sex, and action leave her readers panting for the next release.
Born and raised in the Deep South, Ella writes romantic suspense, erotic romance, and hot BDSM contemporaries. Start anywhere—every book may be read as a standalone, or begin with book one in any series and watch the ties between the characters grow.
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