“Why?” I plead for her to explain, to give me a reason not to kill my friends.
“Rose,” she whispers. “I kept seeing her in the crowd. The night I met you, it was our first party, and we were so excited. I kept seeing her…” Her voice drifts off, and the tears stop falling.
I cup her cheek and turn enough to take the bottle and press it to her lips. “Take a little sip for me, Angel. You’re in shock, and I need you to take a sip and let it help calm you down.”
She blinks lazily and then does as I ask. Once she swallows, she looks at me again. “Adrian? What’s going on? Please. Take me upstairs. I need…”
I’m already moving before she finishes her sentence. With the bottle still in my hand, I pick her up and carry her to our room, slamming the door behind me. She jolts at the sound but settles as I carefully set her on the bed.
I gently peel off the jacket and then ease off the dress hanging off her waist. She doesn’t assist or try to stop me. Next, I ease all the pins from her hair and massage her scalp. Once I tossed them on her sink in the bathroom, I bring out a makeup remover wipe, and as thoroughly as possible, I wipe away her smeared makeup.
“Tell me what you need, Angel. I’m right here.”
She reached out to cup my cheeks. “You. I just need you.”
I move to get on the bed, but she stops me, scratching at the buttons of my shirt. After I start to quickly undress, she lies down on the pillows watching me. There’s no heat in her gaze, no response to either of our nudity as I climb into bed naked beside her.
She curls up, her back to my front, and I pull her into me. “Angel?”
“Mm-hmm?”
“Talk to me. Are you okay?”
“Fine. I just need you to touch me. Chase away the memories and make them good again.” As she speaks, she guides my hand down her belly to her pussy, urging my hand between her thighs.
“Did he touch you…?”
“No, he didn’t get the chance. Rose...” She breaks off, and I wait, holding my breath.
When she doesn’t continue, I prompt her. “Rose, what?”
“It’s nothing,” she murmurs and rolls over to face me. She rearranges my hand so I’m cupping her gently.
I want nothing more than to part her warmth and sink my fingers inside her. To give her something to chase away the pain, to erase that bastard from her mind, but I can’t bring myself to touch her right now. Not because I don’t want to, but because I don’t trust myself to stop. Everything in me is screaming to claim her, mark her, take her as mine. But I can’t do it with this glassy look in her eyes. Not when she still thinks I plan to give her up one day.
“Angel, talk to me. Tell me how to help you.”
She wiggles against my hand and closes her eyes. “Touch me, please. I need you.”
Fucking hell. There’s only so much control a man can have. But she looks so fragile and so young spread out on my bed.
“I can’t do that right now, Angel. Not until you’re more like yourself.”
Her lip quivers. “Then you don’t want me. It was all a game. That’s why we haven’t had sex yet.”
I roll her onto her back in one quick move, shoving between her thighs in the next. My hard cock is right against her, and I know she can’t mistake it.
“Let’s get one thing straight. I want you more than I want my next breath. I want to shove into your tight little body until you scream my name. And when I spill my load, I’ll stay inside you until I know my child is growing in your womb. You’re mine, and only mine, Valentina. I won’t be letting you go anywhere.”
Her eyes are wide now but calmer and more alert. A pink flush stains her cheeks, and I drop my mouth there, kissing her warm skin. “I’m trying to be gentle, Angel, but it’s not in my nature. I only know how to take, and right now, it’s all I want to do.”
“Touch me, please,” she whispers. Her hands cup my cheeks, and I stare down into her eyes. “Touch me and let me feel something other than fear, or anger, or pain. Give me pleasure to chase away this black hole inside me. It’s threatening to eat me alive, and I’m so tempted to let it.”
I press down on her so I can frame one of her hands, my other arm supporting some of my weight. “Don’t you dare. You belong to me. We made a deal, remember? We haven’t fulfilled any part of it yet.”