There with You (Adair Family 2)

Thane could deal with the fire. Fire was good. It was emotion. Flatness meant she no longer cared. And that, as fucked up as it was, he couldn’t deal with. Staring at her, her chest heaving with agitation, her lips trembling with emotion … God, he missed her. It had only been a week, and yet it felt like months since he’d held her.

“I gave her my jacket because she was cold. End of story.” He moved toward her again, and although Regan didn’t retreat, she eyed him warily.

“It’s none of my business, I guess. You’ve made that clear. I just thought you’d have more class than to move on to someone else less than a week after we broke up. She’s my age, you know.”

“I’m not moving on to bloody Angeline Potter!” he yelled, beyond frustrated now.

“Like I said, none of my business. Just like I’m none of yours.”

Yes, you bloody are. He stalked ever closer to her, eyeing the stupid cravat Lachlan made his staff wear, his fingers curling at the thought of ripping it off her throat so he could cover her skin in kisses and feel the throb of her pulse beneath his lips.

“You can kiss or sleep with whoever you want,” Regan continued with a shrug. “Just like I can.”

“You wouldn’t,” he bit out harshly.

Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, I would. Hell, Jared McCulloch has made it more than clear that he’d like me in his bed.”

Jealousy and rage flared through him as if she’d just dropped a match on a pool of petrol at his feet. “That pup?” He closed the distance between them, forcing her to tilt her head to hold his gaze. The image of Regan naked beneath McCulloch’s grandson nauseated him. “You’d only be doing it to fuck me out of your system, and you’d think of me the whole time.”

Devastation leaked through Regan’s defiance, cooling his anger. “True,” she whispered. “I’d wish it were you instead of him … but it wouldn’t change the fact that it would be him inside me. His cock, his lips, his hands, his—”

Thane hauled her against him, swallowing the words he couldn’t stand to hear. His kiss wasn’t gentle or gentlemanlike in the least. Holding her by the nape so she couldn’t move, Thane kissed her like he wanted to fuck her. Hard, ravaging, deep. Pushing her toward the bookshelves, trapping her against them, pulling at her thigh to spread her so he could fall between her legs. The roles were reversed, he thought, a tickle of amusement softening his furious lust. He had easy access beneath his kilt, but Regan was in trousers.

Never leaving her mouth, barely giving her time to breathe, wanting her to be overwhelmed by him, Thane fumbled for the zipper on her uniform trousers.

He’d barely touched it when she pressed her hands against his chest. At first, he thought she was holding on to him.

But then a definite shove filtered through the fog of desire, and he released her quickly, stumbling away.

His chest heaved as he panted. His lips were as swollen as Regan’s looked. Curling his hands into fists, Thane had to force himself to stay still, to not fall on her like a starving man again.

That became easier when he realized she was crying.

“Mo leannan,” he whispered hoarsely, reaching for her.

“Don’t!” Regan pushed away his arm and rushed past.

“Regan!”

She whirled, looking so young and so … lost.

His heart thumped painfully.

“Do you know?” Regan asked, half yelling, half crying. “Do you know what it’s like to love someone this much and have them only want this one thing from you?”

No, she couldn’t think that. He shook his head to explain, but she cut him off as she continued, “And I was going to let you. I was going to let you screw me just so you could turn around and abandon me, again. Am I right? If we had sex right now, it didn’t mean you were giving us a real shot, did it?”

Shame flooded him, making his skin too hot, too tight.

She laughed bitterly. “I didn’t think so.”

“Regan—” He had to clear his throat; her name came out like he had gravel in there. “I just don’t want you to have any regrets about me.”

“Too late,” she bit out, backing away toward the door. “Because I already regret you. I regret every kiss I ever gave you, every piece of my heart … because as precious as every kiss and every piece of me is … you threw them away like I was nothing. And I’m the idiot who listened to everyone who said I should stay and fight for what I want. To show you I’m not going anywhere. But it will never matter, will it? I’ll never matter to you like you matter to me.”

Everything within him roared in outrage at her words, but it was like a raging fire bottled by fear. Before he could wrestle it open, Regan turned on her heel and fled.