I try to ignore it, but the longer he just stares down at me, the worse it gets.
Fuck, why does he have to be so damn handsome?
“Gabriel, please get off me,” I plead softly, switching tactics and hoping playing nice will get me my way.
“Well, since you asked so nicely…” he drawls out and suddenly pushes up.
He rises above me and grabs the bottom of his shirt before tugging it up and over his head.
Tossing the shirt away, his attention snaps back to me as I gasp.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask, frozen in place.
The sudden sight of his bare chest and all the naked skin is such a shock that I forget that I can move now.
“Finishing what we started in the parking lot,” he says as he reaches down to undo his pants.
“We didn’t start anything in the parking lot,” I sputter.
I know I should look away as his fingers yank down his zipper, but I can’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I watch, almost entranced, as he shoves his pants down to the floor and steps out of them.
Straightening, his expression darkens as he says, “You tried to run…”
“Yeah? So?” I push out of my throat.
The damn thing is closing up as my eyes take all of his glorious body in. He’s so damn big, all over, and so damn intimidating.
My thighs twitch with the muscle memory of him between them, and I squeeze my knees together in an attempt to stop it.
Lashes lowering, his already dark expression twists into something that’s downright feral. “Never run from me, Meghan.”
Suddenly he lunges for me.
Before I’m even aware of what I’m doing, I’m scrambling backward. My brain screaming for me to flee.
I don’t get far enough away, though. Grabbing me by the leg, he yanks me down the bed.
“Not only does it make me angry,” he grunts as he comes down on top of me.
I smack and slap at him as he releases my leg and slides up my body. I get one good slap in on his cheek and we both freeze.
I slapped him so hard my palm stings, and I seriously consider smacking him again, but fear holds me back.
One heartbeat passes, then another.
A slow, maniacal grin stretches across his lips. “It makes me hard.”
Grabbing up my hands like it’s no effort at all, he pins them above my head.
I writhe and twist, trying to escape his grip.
Bringing his weight down on top of me, he rolls his hips, his hard cock grinding into my sex. “It makes me need to stake my claim on you.”
Despite my panic, that rolling grind of his cock sends a spike of pure pleasure through me, and all it does is make me angry.
Did I say I didn’t hate him? Well, I think I change my mind…
“You already own me, asshole. We’re married,” I snarl at him. “What more do you want?”
Head dipping down, he licks and nips at my ear before he purrs, “I need to be inside you, Meghan.”
A wave of pure weakness flows over me and for a moment I’m dangerously close to melting beneath him. But then that fear, that pure, icy cold terror of all the things he could do to me rears its ugly head.
Switching both of my wrists into one of his hands, he begins to lick, nip, and suckle his way down my neck.
“I need to be buried so tight and deep, I know you can never get away from me again.”
My toes curl inside my boots even as my brain strains to think of a way to get him to stop before it’s too late.
If I let him in again… if I open myself up… he’ll completely destroy me.
His hand drags down my side and then his fingers grab at the waistband of my pants.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out in a panic. “I promise I won’t run again.”
Slowly his head lifts up and his eyes clash with my eyes. It takes only one breath before I see doubt and mistrust staring right back at me.
I swear it looks like he can tell I’m lying.
“Oh yeah?”
I try to push down the thought that I’m running at the first chance I get, and say more firmly, “Yes. I won’t run, I promise.”
“That’s good,” he smiles, but the smile doesn’t move past his lips.
That should tip me off that he doesn’t totally believe me, but a bit of hope lights up inside me, regardless.
I find myself smiling back at him, even relaxing a little bit as his grip around my wrists loosens.
But then his hands are suddenly dropping down to my waist and he’s grabbing me by the hips.
He flips me over before my dumb brain can even process what the fuck is happening.
And then his hips are against me, his erection digging into my ass.