He drops his bag and storms toward me, pulling me up from the barstool and kissing me hard, taking my breath away. He then shoves his hand down the front of my leggings and pushes his finger possessively inside of me. He sighs against my mouth and pulls away.
He then takes my hand and drags me behind him to the bedroom. “Bend.”
One word is filled with so much promise.
I do.
He pulls my pants down and thrusts his thick cock inside me. Lazily, he moves in and out. Each time I try to push against him, he holds me still.
I feel him pulse and whimper, “I’m close.”
He spurts off inside of me then pulls out.
Kissing the back of my head, he says, “Tonight, when you sit at dinner across from that piece of shit, know that my come is filling your pussy. I own it.”
“I am so pissed at you.”
“Uh-huh,” he says. “But when you’re in that house, whose cock will you be thinking about wanting? Don’t answer. It’s mine, Lo. Mine.”
“All I want is you.” I almost can’t fight back the tears. I need him. I want him, and he is punishing me.
“You’re damn right you do,” he snaps.
Chapter Twenty
I’m an asshole. Time and time again, I have told her there is a monster inside me. She wants to find the good when there is none. I’m punishing her, and I’m punishing myself. I don’t want to fuck her angry, but I need her to know she claimed me as much as I claimed her. This is us.
This is different. I don’t want to hurt her. The thought of my hands on her in anger makes me sick. I just want her to see that we need to do things together. Punishing her, I am punishing me. The push and the pull runs through my veins. Every breath I take is a fight inside not to repeat the same mistakes. Everything between us pushes me not to push her too far. I find the ways to hold back; even when I don’t think I can, I do.
I am quiet as we make the drive to the Bennett family home. Tonight will be our make it or break it. I will be here where she needs me. Before I put my mark on that pussy anymore, though, she needs to know exactly who she crawled into bed with. To do that, she needs to know my past. She needs to know I have the power to hurt her, and I don’t just mean break her heart.
There is a poster at the gym: a real man owns his mistakes. a real man uses the fight inside to face them and never make them again.
We are not going to be another mistake in the long line of mistakes I make in life. Tonight, I will lay it all out for her. If she chooses to walk away, I will use the fight inside to let her go. What I won’t do is make the same mistakes again.
Reaching over, I squeeze her hand as I park the car. Hand in hand, we make our way inside the overdone home.
As we enter, I can’t help tensing up. It reminds me of the lavish place I grew up in. Behind such beautiful doors were many secrets. Is this house the same?
Dr. Bennett comes around the corner to greet us. He quickly hugs Lo tightly, not hiding his look of distaste for me.
“Lorraine, we’re so glad to have you home,” Mrs. Bennett says, following not far behind her husband.
She gasps as she looks at me. I want to laugh because I see the lust in her eyes as she licks her lips, looking me up and down. She keeps watching me as she hugs Lo.
The collar of my shirt hides my neck tattoo. I’m not the pretty boy in dress pants and a button-down she thinks I am. I want to tell her I’m not the pool boy or her tennis coach, so she need not ogle me further, but then Ryan Bennett comes down the stairs, and my eyes meet his narrowed ones as rage automatically runs through my veins.
Hugging Lo, he sneers over at me. Then I hear him whisper, “What did you bring him for? This is a family dinner.”
“She asked me to come.” I step up with her back now against my front, my hands on her shoulders.
His hand grazes my abs as he pulls away from her.
Dr. and Mrs. Bennett smile politely while giving their son a stern look before escorting us to their dining room.
Pulling out her chair, I make sure Lo is situated before I sit beside her. Then I reach over and give her thigh a squeeze just as a raven-haired woman walks in with a surprised look on her face.